June 24th, 2006 Sandra Friend
Summer hiking in Florida? Surely you jest, say most folks who wilt when they step out into 90*F heat. Never mind the mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, and afternoon thunderstorms like clockwork. Still, there are many of us who just have to be outdoors no matter the season, especially when doctor’s orders say ‘thou shalt exercise’ or else! Obviously, it’s not prudent to do a long hike on a hot summer’s day, but think of summer hiking as the appetizer to the rest of the year’s banquet of opportunities. Here are my tips for summer hiking in Florida.
1. Do it Early. And I mean really, really early. Wait until the dawn-loving mosquitoes disperse and then get out there, especially if you want to knock off 5 miles or more. Finish up before 10 AM if you can, and noon if you must.
2. Do it Smart. Use generous amounts of bug spray, tuck your pants in your socks to help ward off ticks, slather on sunscreen, wear a hat, and always wear long lightweight pants and full-coverage shoes. Unless you want to be a walking banquet for insects, skip the Tevas and shorts. Post-hike, soak in a hot bath (or a hot tub) to help kill the chiggers and do a through tick check. Keep guard against heat-related problems, too: hot sun + not enough water = heatstroke. Hike with a buddy so you can make sure you’re both doing okay. Get off the trail sooner if you’re not.
3. Stay Hydrated. Bring double or triple the water you’d normally carry and consider sports drinks for electrolyte replacement, cut in half with water if you don’t like the taste. Make sure you drink what you bring, too!
4. Keep it Short. I like to lead Crack O’Dawn hikes for the Florida Trail Association in the summertime, as it’s fun to get out for a little touch of nature and then go to breakfast together. On your own? Keep your hike under 3 miles (1 to 1.5 hours) so you don’t wear yourself out.
5. Make it Urban. Even a walk at a local park will feed your need for green. Walk a paved path or boardwalk in a shady place; you’d be surprised at how many urban areas in Florida have nice short trails available: see Hiker’s Guide to the Sunshine State for details!
6. Make it Fun. Keep cool and have a blast by combining hiking and swimming. Florida has plenty of springs with nearby nature trails (Juniper Springs is one of my favorites) and beachfront parks with nature trails as well. Add a picnic or paddle or snorkel to the mix, and you can plan a whole summer day outdoors!
Don’t suffer from nature deprivation: get out and enjoy summer in Florida!
Posted in Hiking Tips, North | No Comments » Post to del.icio.us
June 8th, 2006 Sandra Friend
A diversion: a writer’s conference on Mackinac Island, my first SATW regional conference, and with free time available here and there during the week, I set my sights on exploring the island - by foot. 
Tranquil Bluff Trail
Established in 1895, Mackinac Island State Park covers more than 80% of the island, which means shady arboreal forests where wildflowers carpet the forest floor.
Being a geology buff, I got Bob Tagatz, the Grand Hotel’s fount of information, to connect the dots on a map for me. Since cars are banned on the island, the only modes of transportation are bicycle, horse (and horse-drawn), and your own two feet. Okay, I saw a kid on a scooter, too, but skates and skateboards are banned too. So it’s a great place to walk. My journey took me past the Governor’s Summer House and Fort Mackinac to the South Bicycle Trail, a paved path open to folks on foot; a trodden track adjoins. The mixed forest of spruce, pine, and hardwoods hosted bouquets of yellow lady’s slipper in bloom, a delight for the eyes; lily of the valley grew in clusters, reminding me of a ribbon-wrapped bouquet from a sweetheart nearly 30 years ago. I don’t have a flora id book with me (yet), but it’s spring here, folks, and everything’s in bloom.
Arch Rock was the first stop on the geology tour, the natural bridge framing a view of crystalline Lake Huron and the Canadian shoreline in the distance. I continued along the Tranquil Bluff Trail, and it was indeed - a steep drop to the shoreline, the footpath steep enough in places I pondered sliding down it. The lip of the bluff dissuaded me. I enjoyed my lunch at an overlook, and backtracked to find a trail to the next stop, the Hay Stack. 
No luck, I missed the natural footpath, so I followed the roads until I found another footpath. This one showed much use by horses (in the form of road-apples), and giant trillium sported faded blooms. The Hay Stack, a large breccia column, is a nexus: in its shadow, hikers, bicyclists, folks on horseback, and horse-drawn carriages met. But only hikers could ascend the 140 steps up a breccia cliff to Point Lookout, a most excellent view. I continued along the ridge to walk around Fort Holmes for more panoramas, and took Henry’s Trail (a steep one) down to Skull Cave, where fifth graders on bicycles were giggling. No footpaths headed west, so it was back to the road for a walk past all of the cemeteries, Turtle Park, and the Airport to find the path to The Crack in the Island. Mind you, I was warned it wasn’t as spectacular as it sounded. But it was still very fascinating. This narrow cleft in the bedrock of the island is too narrow to walk through, but you can still get down in it and stare down it and wonder where the rattlesnakes are, since it looks like a perfect snake den area. Nearby, the Cave of the Woods was a small limestone formation big enough to sleep inside.
My time was running short, so I looked for a way to walk a footpath back to the Grand Hotel and found the shady Allouez Trail. Two groups of folks on horseback passed by. The trail crosses ones with names like Trillium and Indian Pipe, and you’ll find them all here on the lush forest floor. Popping out into a residental area with gingerbread Victorian homes tucked under the pines, I found my way back down the bluff to the hotel. Total travel time, 3.5 hours. And well worth the walk. Yes, you could bicycle most of the journey, but it just wouldn’t be the same
Posted in Diversions | No Comments » Post to del.icio.us
June 3rd, 2006 Sandra Friend
After hiking and backpacking for years in Pennsylvania, I moved back to Florida and immediately looked for someone to hike with in July. Well, surprise to me, hiking in Florida virtually shut down during the summer months. I bothered folks anyway and insisted on doing hikes of 4-12 miles during the summer months that year and the next until I finally saw the light. Summer hiking in Florida is not about covering distance! It’s about getting about briefly and enjoying the outdoors before the heat, sun, and hordes of insects get to you.
And thus it was this morning, National Trails Day, in Florida. Lots of outdoor activities celebrating trails, all pretty much held first thing in the morning and over by lunchtime. I joined my fellow hikers for an outing at Camp Crystal Lake, Keystone Heights (in Clay County, not that fictional Friday the 13th place), where we wandered off down the Florida Trail for an hour’s refresher on how it felt to be outdoors. And it felt good. We used one of the camp’s haywagon trails to make a shortcut to a large sinkhole pond and joined the Florida Trail there, wandering through oak hammock and upland forest before dropping down a deeply forested slope to cross a clear sand-bottomed creek. The waters burbled over a small set of rapids and flowed towards Crystal Lake, where our journey ended at an overlook. It was a short hike, but it reminded me of the connections between people and landscape and each other, the importance to get together and take a walk no matter the season, to refresh the mind with a dash of green.
Thanks to all who celebrated National Trails Day in their own way. Keep the spirit of hiking alive!
Take a Hike! Camp Crystal Lake is an Alachua County School District environmental education camp where a little more than 3 miles of the Florida Trail crosses the property. The trail crossing is near the camp entrance, which is east of SR 100, 4 miles north of Keystone Heights off Airpark Road. The trail leads east and west from the crossing; our journey took us east.
Posted in Florida Trail, North | No Comments » Post to del.icio.us
