Florida Hikes
Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides
For more than a year, each weeknight, I would join my friends Lew and Dale for a paddling trip when the weather permitted. We explored many places new to me, seeing manatees, dolphins and birds too numerous to count on every trip. Once, while paddling in …
When summer heat settles across Florida, the thing to do with an antique VW camper is to squirrel it away in hibernation in the garage until the weather cools down.
As most of you know, I met Sandy while preparing for an Appalachian Trail hike. Between our AT adventure and all the hiking for Florida Hikes, I never returned to what I was doing prior to all these miles on foot: I was spending once a week in my kayak, or …
Protecting 159 acres of lush forests along the confluence of Possum Creek and Hogtown Creek, Loblolly Woods Nature Park is a beauty spot in urban Gainesville.
After finishing a bike ride, I tried one of the Clif Bar new flavors: Sierra Trail Mix with peanuts/chocolate/raisins. They’d sent a box of bars for us to try out and share the results with you. It was really good! It tastes more like a home made …
A bike ride through the northern part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge from Titusville to the Haulover Canal and back.
I look out across the water watching the turtles, fish and birds. The tall pines and oak trees sway in the breezes. On the porch I hear the hollow sounds of the bamboo wind chimes and watch the prayer flags flap in the wind. All the while, I’m …
While biking the Flagler Trail from Geneva Wilderness to Snow Hill Road, John discovers a few useful lessons in being prepared for what can happen on a bike ride through the woods
A quarter mile immersion in coastal dune habitats offers a tropical canopy with shade adjoining beach access at Ocean Bay Beachside on South Hutchinson Island.
Sliding, backpacks on, down steep slopes covered with snow. Wading, waist-deep, through the icy waters of a mountain stream. Plunging into crystal clear lakes reflecting the beauty of the snow-capped Sierra. Relaxing in broad meadows beneath blue skies. …
A network of nature trails circles natural habitats along North Fork of the St. Lucie River, radiating from an environmental center with family appeal.
Last Monday, we decided to visit an area behind a familiar trailhead. Sandy had noticed the unlocked gate before, so we decided to check it out. The gate led us to a slightly worn path and then an old sugar sand road. Walking along I noticed small bear …
