Now here’s an idea … a multi-use path paralleling the Tamiami Trail from Naples to Miami. Seem incredible? Not to a new coalition calling themselves the River of Grass Greenway, advocating for the construction of such a path, presumably as part of the overall plan to raise the Tamiami Trail up and create an ecopassage much like the one along US 441 over Paynes Prairie, where water and creatures can pass freely beneath the highway. Granted, it would not be a very shady 90 miles or so, but would certainly open up Big Cypress National Preserve to more non-motorized public use, since campgrounds are already in place along the route. And what better way to see this splendid habitat than at human-powered speeds? Check out their website to find out more.
Santa was good to me this year and brought an Olympus digital recorder that plugs right into the USB port of my computer, an excellent replacement for my long-dead trusty Olympus that kept me company on the trails for the first seven hiking books.
Stir that up with a need to learn about podcasting for my job, and I did a little mixing of old and new to create my first podcast: Lyonia Preserve. It’s a little rough, since I had to make do with a really basic microphone at my computer for part of it, and hey, it is my first shot at this genre. You can subscribe to the feed or listen to it here:
More to follow, eventually … meanwhile, gotta figure out what’s gotten into the new recorder, since it worked for 24 hours and then went kaput!
Years ago, I did an overnighter on Springer Mountain and looked out over the monument that marks the start of the Appalachian Trail, spending the night not far from the shelter in my then brand-new Nomad tent. It was an experience not forgotten, and I plan to return to finish the AT in Georgia. And now, there’s an excellent online resource for planning that hike, thanks to an old friend, trail name “Pittsburgh,” who’s been on the AT-L mailing list for more than a decade. He’s run a measuring wheel down the trail and created a detailed mileage chart with info on water sources, privies, and types of camping available, plus plenty of asides with general info. Check out the Appalachian Trail Mileage Chart in Georgia, and bravo, Pittsburgh!
Earlier this year, when I was learning the ins and outs of my new content management system, I purchased an add-on product called IJoomla Magazine, figuring that eventually I’d figure it out. It’s a content aggregator, which enables me to take content I’ve already created and put it together on a single page in a way that makes sense: say, the best beach hikes for summertime, or all of the hikes in the Ocala National Forest. The best part? It looks good, too! I launched it this evening with my first edition: Trek Ten Trails! Check it out and let me know what you think.
This summer’s hiatus paid off with a new look and new complexity for the main Florida Hikes! website … hikes now have embedded Google maps, which you can print as you print off the hike information, and I’m learning how to embed my GPS tracks into the maps so they’re available too. The new website is more flexible, so I can post news snippets and articles as well as hikes, and I’ve added a much more robust forum for you to chat about Florida hiking.
Alas, because of the problems I had with forum spammers this summer, you must register to use the forum. However …. if you register, and send me a little detail about yourself (link to your own website, info about your hiking interests, etc), I will bump up your registration status to that of “author” so you, too, can submit your own pieces of content for the website: hikes, trip reports, articles, photos, whatever you like! You’ll see the option on the user menu after signing in. Hope you enjoy this new and improved version of Florida Hikes!
