November 26th, 2007 Sandra Friend
There’s nothing quite so refreshing as unplugging for more than a week … until you return to 500+ emails to deal with. I’ve been enjoying the cool breezes and sweeping views of the Big O Hike this past Thanksgiving week, and although I didn’t walk every step around Lake Okeechobee, I took prime advantage of hiking at dawn to capture some awesome sights (which I still need to catalog).
I thought about blogging from the trail, but I truly wanted to be computer-free. So as I have the time, I’ll assemble a little walking tour of the entire Florida Trail around Lake Okeechobee, leaning on my daily journal and photos, and post it on the main site. Meanwhile, congrats to all who finished, including Cliff Moody, who set the bar at age 90 as the oldest hiker ever to walk around the lake!
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November 11th, 2007 Sandra Friend
A serendipitous turn down a back road in search of a historic boathouse (in Wilbur-by-the-Sea, a Florida town that no doubt, you’ve never heard of) led us to a very new set of trails on a recently completed land acquisition linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Halifax River: Ponce Preserve. Since we showed up AFTER climbing the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse (whew!) and walked the trails with only a timepiece and pacing to give us an idea of pace, we estimate about 2 miles on the 40 acre tract, many of the trails looking brand-new. On the dune side, we followed the outer loop over steep dunes covered in coastal scrub, passing a massive midden known as the Green Mound.
On the marsh side, the boardwalk appeared to be a good half-mile long (one way), zigzagging through salt marsh and mangrove stands out to the edge of the Halifax River, a perfect place to watch herons wing in at sunset. All in all, an unexpected find just a few minutes south of Daytona Beach: cross the Dunlawton Bridge at Port Orange, drive south on A1A to Wilbur-by-the-Sea, turn right at the brown Boathouse sign, and left at the boathouse itself onto Peninsula Drive to continue another few minutes south to the park, which has a parking area and restroom on the left. Once I verify the lengths and loops, I’ll add this to the main website.
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November 9th, 2007 Sandra Friend
I had the pleasure of joining the remaining four hikers on the Over 80 Cross Florida - ages 80 to 90 - for the final yards of their walk to Withlacoochee Bay, capping off their coast to coast hike. The Ocala Star-Banner brought a video crew, so take a look at the finish. More info, including additional video clips and my photos, is posted on the Florida Trail website.
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November 3rd, 2007 Sandra Friend
Rob and I met up with the “Over 80 Across Florida” hiker this morning at the Marshall Swamp Trailhead on the Cross Florida Greenway. Two of the hikers have dropped out due to health issues, but the other four - Charlie Monson, Clifton Moody, Al Kisarewich, and leader Kenneth Smith - are going strong and having the time of their lives being local celebs. They’ve appeared on the front page of the Ocala Star Banner several times already and Ken is carrying a videocam to hand off video to the Star Banner for their website. Here are the news stories posted there thus far:
Oct 26 - Oct 30 - Nov 1 - Nov 1
And here’s the crew at the Marshall Swamp Trailhead. From left: Charlie, Cliff, Ken, and Al.
What a great morning for a hike, with temperatures in the high 40s! They’re on track to reach the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday. Check the newspaper stories for anecdotes from the trail.
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