Hike Bike Paddle Camp Florida with authors Sandra Friend and John Keatley as your guides

Crossing Big Cypress

February 4, 2019    Sandra Friend

It’s Florida’s roughest, wettest, weirdest backpacking trip, best tackled with friends. Along this 30 mile stretch of the Florida Trail in the heart of Big Cypress National Preserve, immersing in the swamp is the point of the hike. Sandra tackled it as the final stretch of her multi-year 1,110-mile section hike of the Florida Trail, end-to-end.

Crossing the Big Cypress

January 9, 2013    John Keatley

On Friday, our group of Florida Trail hikers left our group camp at Trail Lakes Campground and, with Chuck Norris and Tigger providing transportation, headed to the Florida Trail at Oasis Visitor Center in Big Cypress National Preserve. We were there for the FNST Southern terminus monument dedication. Lots of folks from the Loxahatchee Chapter …

Florida Trail Southern Terminus marker installed

December 13, 2013    Sandra Friend

Since its debut on a hand cart this January during the thru-hiker season kickoff at Oasis Visitor Center, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the permanent placement of the Florida Trail Southern Terminus marker in Big Cypress National Preserve. The marker was put in place yesterday, December 12. Said Bob DeGross, Chief of Interpretation and Public Affairs …

Hiking with two new friends

January 25, 2013    John Keatley

JK discovers that the weird rash on his legs since hiking south of Lake Okeechobee isn’t poison ivy at all, but something much more rare and creepy, a parasitic invasion.

In the Dark

January 11, 2013    John Keatley

After our wonderful reception at the I-75 rest area, several hikers decided to backtrack a bit and camp.  I decided to push on and try for a few more miles.  I was rested and filled with good food. It wasn’t long after I made it through the north I-75 gate to Nobles Road that the …

Kicking off Hiker Season with Primrose

January 29, 2014    John Keatley

On January 5th, we loaded up Primrose and headed south, traveling parallel to the Florida Trail for much of the trip, starting out at Christmas. Driving south of Tosahatchee, we continued through the Deseret Ranch where we spotted our first two Florida Trail thru-hikers walking up the highway. Although they are not keeping online journals, …

New Florida National Scenic Trail terminus dedicated

January 4, 2013    Sandra Friend

This morning marked the first time that Florida Trail thru-hikers could get their picture taken in front of a terminus marker as found, say, on Springer Mountain in Georgia or Mt. Kathadin in Maine. Although the monument isn’t in place yet – the chunk of limestone hadn’t arrived – here’s a look at the marker …

Summer in Big Cypress

July 13, 2011    Sandra Friend

Vibrant, green, and blooming – there’s no better time to visit Big Cypress National Preserve than in the summer months, when the gentle flow of collected raindrops across the landscape nourishes the sawgrass prairies and cypress strands