November 26th, 2006 Sandra Friend
Sea grapes on the Beach Hammock Trail: Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. This was once an unbroken canopy.
I’m exploring natural areas in Broward County for my new “Exploring Florida’s Botanical Wonders” and am saddened to see the extent of Hurricane Wilma’s destruction on the natural habitats in this area. Certainly, we saw what happened in urban areas, it was all over the news. But in the “backcountry” of Broward, the mighty giants have fallen. At Hugh Taylor Birch, the canopy is gone. Ditto at the Bonnet House, where they lost the grand champion paradise tree and virtually all of the canopy of live oaks, sea grapes, ficus, poinciana, and gumbo limbo. At Snake Warrior Island, the ficus showed signs of hurricane trim, while Fern Forest was downright heartbreaking in the loss of the cypress forest along Cypress Creek. The boardwalk remains closed, although the rest of the park is bouncing back. The good news is that nature always rebounds. And given the sunshine, the humidity, the tropical clime, these trees will flourish once again.
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November 24th, 2006 Sandra Friend
I had the honor and pleasure of being at Pahokee once again for the kickoff of the annual Big O Hike around Lake Okeechobee. Now in its 15th year, it remains the premier FTA hiking event, with more than 120 people participating in the kickoff on Nov 18th and at least 65 people continuing on for the next couple of days. Typically, no more than three dozen hardy hikers actually walk the entire 109 miles around the lake but there are an increasing number of folks who come along for the camaraderie and hike parts of the trail.
The photo is of Lee Berger, Seidler Productions, shooting the kickoff. FTA and the USDA Forest Service are working with them to produce a half-hour documentary about the trail; I’m coordinating the effort.
Today, my buddies walked into Clewiston with just two more days to go to complete the trek. Way to go, guys!
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November 13th, 2006 Sandra Friend
Just back from a little expedition to the Panhandle. More on that later. Meanwhile, it’s beautiful out. Go take a hike!
PANHANDLE: Mounds Pool Interpretive Trail
CENTRAL: Hog Island Nature Trail
SOUTH: Oak Hammock Park
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November 9th, 2006 Sandra Friend
Another Florida Trail Association F-Troop volunteer trail crew project kicks off tomorrow, and this one’s a doozy - installing the longest free spanning bridge ever built on the Florida Trail, an 80-foot span across Monkey Creek, the outflow to Bradwell Bay in the Apalachicola National Forest, north of Sopchoppy. Volunteers are welcome! Rigging training is provided Saturday and Sunday before the bridge building begins in earnest on Monday (and goes on through Nov 19) but you can always jump in on a non-technical task. I hope to drop in Sunday morning to see what they’re up to. More details >>>
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November 3rd, 2006 Sandra Friend
As promised (albeit months later), I am re-implementing the Florida Hikes website in a content management system. Once I’ve migrated the old blog posts and pages over here, I’ll start generating new content and open up a forum for discussions about Florida hiking. Watch this space!
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