The Hiking Thread

[billy.pilgrim]

More noise from the closet.

Cumberland Island, GA - 9-10 mile walk through the estate, up the beach (swam), back on an inland scrub trail, surprisingly few people once a mile away from the ferry landings. Carried a tracker along with many others for a grad student working on day usage patterns. Told him we'd be an outlier when we turned it back in.

O'Leno S.P., FL - Way cool for a day hike, the Santa Fe river disappears!

10 mile Suwanee River canoe paddle from Anderson to Manatee Springs - Paddled right over a manatee (rare in late March) at Fanning Springs S.P. then hung out with it for a bit, couple of gators, bald eagle. Big, flat, developed river for my tastes, but a good first splash and the south side is mostly Andrews Wildlife Mgmt. Area - took a walk there after the paddle.

Cedar Key, FL - Meh, not so great, 3 short walks, nice-ish museum featuring John Muir.

Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge - Shell Mound Trail, Nature Drive, very cool River Trail.

Manatee Springs S.P., FL - North End Trail is nice.

Peacock Springs S.P., FL - Very nice short loop trail with fascinating trailside info. on cave divers. Maniacs!

Stephen C. Foster S.P., FL - Permanent crafts demos., weekend old tractor demo./fair. Good Upper Suwanee River hike. Odd place though - Big park, grandiose memorial, but Foster was only south of the Mason-Dixon line once in his life and that was a month long trip to New Orleans. All he did was write "Swanee River" and we were told it was originally about the Peedee River, anyhow.

Had a tire tread separate like a recap (but not blow :-0?> ), it trashed my fender, broken jack but did have a spare (not a donut), called for a roadside tire change and mickey mouse fix of the fender (all insured), lost less than 1 1/2 hours.

Okefenokee Swamp - Hundreds of gators and tons of cool birds, of course. The nights were cool-ish, I actually had to put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt, horrors!

I was offline, brother printed the overnight camping permits, screwed up by not entering 4 people rather than 1. Robotic FWS Ranger essentially said, "Tough shit, the computer is God, nothing can be fixed on a weekend." We played 'good brother/bad brother (me)' with her for awhile to no avail. I asked to speak with a supervisor - "Can't be done unless someone dies." I threatened to kill my brother and told her she is why people detest bureaucracies. Went to Okefenokee Adventures to get boats for, sadly, day trips only. Mentioned being screwed by a minor computer glitch to the owner, Joy - the platforms were still mine and mine only for 2 nights, but they would have ticketed the rest including my 13 year old nephew. She got on the phone with, of course, the "unreachable" FWS Ranger supervisor (on a fire in TN), left credit card number with her for the computer person to fix on Monday. Joy brought joy.

Day paddle (had always planned on it) to Cedar Hammock and Mizzell Prarie, sand hill cranes. Brother dropped his camera in the water, went swimming for it ("Don't tell the wife!"), found it but first found a nice, still working, heavy duty flashlight. Score. Haven't asked whether the camera survived yet.

8 mile paddle to Monkey Island, set up camp, another 1/2 mile to Buzzard Roost Lake. Had a wood stork hang out just feet from the boardwalk.
13 mile paddle to Canal Run, set up camp, another 5 1/2 miles exploring with empty boats, amazed at my nephew's stamina.
10 mile paddle out, drove home without breaking any more of my SUV.

Someday:
Traverse Okefenokee, NE to westside.

what a trip, glad you had fun.

Foster also pronounced Suwannee wrong

next time, try a little further west wakulla to Carrabelle - that whole big bend area is so different

[Vrede too]

And "purposely misspelled it as "Swanee" to fit the melody."

Considered Florida's Panhandle thanks to y'all, but most things were a 4 hour or more drive away from the east side of Okefenokee. Didn't want to lose a whole day traveling both ways. Manatee Springs, our furthest campsite, is only 2 hours away.

I don't mind being called gay a bit, but it hurts that y'all think my taste in men would be so poor.

Tasted one, you've tasted them all....

I defer to your superior experience.

[JTA]

More noise from the closet.

Cumberland Island, GA - 9-10 mile walk through the estate, up the beach (swam), back on an inland scrub trail, surprisingly few people once a mile away from the ferry landings. Carried a tracker along with many others for a grad student working on day usage patterns. Told him we'd be an outlier when we turned it back in.

O'Leno S.P., FL - Way cool for a day hike, the Santa Fe river disappears!

10 mile Suwanee River canoe paddle from Anderson to Manatee Springs - Paddled right over a manatee (rare in late March) at Fanning Springs S.P. then hung out with it for a bit, couple of gators, bald eagle. Big, flat, developed river for my tastes, but a good first splash and the south side is mostly Andrews Wildlife Mgmt. Area - took a walk there after the paddle.

Cedar Key, FL - Meh, not so great, 3 short walks, nice-ish museum featuring John Muir.

Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge - Shell Mound Trail, Nature Drive, very cool River Trail.

Manatee Springs S.P., FL - North End Trail is nice.

Peacock Springs S.P., FL - Very nice short loop trail with fascinating trailside info. on cave divers. Maniacs!

Stephen C. Foster S.P., FL - Permanent crafts demos., weekend old tractor demo./fair. Good Upper Suwanee River hike. Odd place though - Big park, grandiose memorial, but Foster was only south of the Mason-Dixon line once in his life and that was a month long trip to New Orleans. All he did was write "Swanee River" and we were told it was originally about the Peedee River, anyhow.

Had a tire tread separate like a recap (but not blow :-0?> ), it trashed my fender, broken jack but did have a spare (not a donut), called for a roadside tire change and mickey mouse fix of the fender (all insured), lost less than 1 1/2 hours.

Okefenokee Swamp - Hundreds of gators and tons of cool birds, of course. The nights were cool-ish, I actually had to put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt, horrors!

I was offline, brother printed the overnight camping permits, screwed up by not entering 4 people rather than 1. Robotic FWS Ranger essentially said, "Tough shit, the computer is God, nothing can be fixed on a weekend." We played 'good brother/bad brother (me)' with her for awhile to no avail. I asked to speak with a supervisor - "Can't be done unless someone dies." I threatened to kill my brother and told her she is why people detest bureaucracies. Went to Okefenokee Adventures to get boats for, sadly, day trips only. Mentioned being screwed by a minor computer glitch to the owner, Joy - the platforms were still mine and mine only for 2 nights, but they would have ticketed the rest including my 13 year old nephew. She got on the phone with, of course, the "unreachable" FWS Ranger supervisor (on a fire in TN), left credit card number with her for the computer person to fix on Monday. Joy brought joy.

Day paddle (had always planned on it) to Cedar Hammock and Mizzell Prarie, sand hill cranes. Brother dropped his camera in the water, went swimming for it ("Don't tell the wife!"), found it but first found a nice, still working, heavy duty flashlight. Score. Haven't asked whether the camera survived yet.

8 mile paddle to Monkey Island, set up camp, another 1/2 mile to Buzzard Roost Lake. Had a wood stork hang out just feet from the boardwalk.
13 mile paddle to Canal Run, set up camp, another 5 1/2 miles exploring with empty boats, amazed at my nephew's stamina.
10 mile paddle out, drove home without breaking any more of my SUV.

Someday:
Traverse Okefenokee, NE to westside.

Bad ass! Cool read and glad you had a blast my man!

[JTA]

I'm taking a road trip down to Key West and back up the gulf coast in about a month. Plan on doing some camping as well, or sleeping in my car. the game plan is to not stay in a hotel.

[billy.pilgrim]

I'm taking a road trip down to Key West and back up the gulf coast in about a month. Plan on doing some camping as well, or sleeping in my car. the game plan is to not stay in a hotel.

I took a long slow trip along entire Florida coast camping and imposing on a couple of friends - we had a blast


getting into any public camping park on the keys usually requires booking ahead. don't know if it still the case, but John Pennekamp Coral Reef park lets in a certain number, I think 10% of capacity, on a first come no reserve basis. we stayed about an hour away at the closest Everglade campground and went to Pennekamp at bout 5 a.m.

[O Really]

I'd definitely plan ahead for the Keys part of the trip, or you might be spending more time in the car than you expected. Anyway, don't miss stopping at Lorei Lei in Islamorada on the way up and/or down. As good if not better sunsets than Duval St. with better drinks.
http://loreleicabanabar.com/

[JTA]

I'm taking a road trip down to Key West and back up the gulf coast in about a month. Plan on doing some camping as well, or sleeping in my car. the game plan is to not stay in a hotel.

I took a long slow trip along entire Florida coast camping and imposing on a couple of friends - we had a blast


getting into any public camping park on the keys usually requires booking ahead. don't know if it still the case, but John Pennekamp Coral Reef park lets in a certain number, I think 10% of capacity, on a first come no reserve basis. we stayed about an hour away at the closest Everglade campground and went to Pennekamp at bout 5 a.m.

Nice got any suggestions? I'm driving down the Atlantic coast and coming up the gulf on the way home. I have an entire week to cruise around.

[Vrede too]

Rent a kayak (or a canoe if you have company) at Flamingo in the Everglades and paddle around for a half day or day. Kayaks are more fun to paddle except in tight channels, but your elevation is nearly twice as high in a canoe so you see lots more.

Also sweet in the Everglades:
Anhinga Trail, tons of wildlife.
Pa-hay-okee overlook: 20 foot high boardwalk with miles of views across the sawgrass Shark River Slough. Really cool.

Everglades Outpost Wildlife Refuge and Rescue, http://www.evergladesoutpost.org/

Kennedy Space Center, http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/

[O Really]

A week can go really fast. From Greenville-ish, you're probably 14 or so driving hours from Key West, and that's generally hauling ass when you can and not getting into much traffic out through the Keys. (which is like never this time of year). That's based on a makeable but hard-driving 4 hours from Jax to Miami, then two more to the upper keys, then two more out to Key West, plus at least a hard driving 5+ hours from G'ville to Jax.

Then coming back up the west coast, you're 4-5 hours from Miami to Tampa-ish, and that's if you take the interstate. Taking Tamiami and US41 N is several hours past forever. Once you get North of Tampa and you go on 19 or 98 or out in the wilds, you'll still have a relatively slow pace. And then from wherever you leave Florida (panhandle or Jax), you're close to 6 haul-ass hours from home. So you're going to use at least 3 or 4 days of your week just driving in order to make your planned route.

Not that it's my business, but if you asked, I'd suggest a more focused trip. Maybe drive hard to get to South Florida, then have several days to take in Keys, Everglades, etc., and then haul ass back home. Leave the west coast for another trip on it's own.

[JTA]

A week can go really fast. From Greenville-ish, you're probably 14 or so driving hours from Key West, and that's generally hauling ass when you can and not getting into much traffic out through the Keys. (which is like never this time of year). That's based on a makeable but hard-driving 4 hours from Jax to Miami, then two more to the upper keys, then two more out to Key West, plus at least a hard driving 5+ hours from G'ville to Jax.

Then coming back up the west coast, you're 4-5 hours from Miami to Tampa-ish, and that's if you take the interstate. Taking Tamiami and US41 N is several hours past forever. Once you get North of Tampa and you go on 19 or 98 or out in the wilds, you'll still have a relatively slow pace. And then from wherever you leave Florida (panhandle or Jax), you're close to 6 haul-ass hours from home. So you're going to use at least 3 or 4 days of your week just driving in order to make your planned route.

Not that it's my business, but if you asked, I'd suggest a more focused trip. Maybe drive hard to get to South Florida, then have several days to take in Keys, Everglades, etc., and then haul ass back home. Leave the west coast for another trip on it's own.

Yeah this is true. I guess you can get the whole gulf coast vibe in the keys with the pretty water and everything. Which is better the gulf or atlantic? I'm an outdoorsy kind of guy, don't care much for cities but I like to pop in some towns and hang out at local pubs for some company since I'm traveling alone.

[O Really]

The entire east coast of Florida is pretty much all developed. There are some oasis spots, but not many. Traffic is horrendous. But - a short distance inland from West Palm and you're in the middle of nowhere around Lake Okeechobee, bass fishing capitol of something. A bit west of Miami and you're in the Everglades. But you sound much more like a West Coast sort of person to me.

[JTA]

The entire east coast of Florida is pretty much all developed. There are some oasis spots, but not many. Traffic is horrendous. But - a short distance inland from West Palm and you're in the middle of nowhere around Lake Okeechobee, bass fishing capitol of something. A bit west of Miami and you're in the Everglades. But you sound much more like a West Coast sort of person to me.

Yeah maybe I'll do that instead. Thanks a lot, I don't know much about Florida other than the crazy antics of my favorite super hero and role model, Florida Man.

[O Really]

Unlike many super heros, "Florida man" does exist, and can be seen in his natural habitat most any day. Lots of crazy people live in that state, including pretty much the entire legislature.

Other than fishing and drinking beer (oh wait, I guess those are both the same) , what do you like to do outdoors?

[JTA]

Unlike many super heros, "Florida man" does exist, and can be seen in his natural habitat most any day. Lots of crazy people live in that state, including pretty much the entire legislature.

Other than fishing and drinking beer (oh wait, I guess those are both the same) , what do you like to do outdoors?

Light up a doob and watch the stars.

[billy.pilgrim]

Unlike many super heros, "Florida man" does exist, and can be seen in his natural habitat most any day. Lots of crazy people live in that state, including pretty much the entire legislature.

Other than fishing and drinking beer (oh wait, I guess those are both the same) , what do you like to do outdoors?

Light up a doob and watch the stars.

Everglades is away from artificial light, so depending on the clouds, it may be a big sky.

If are a reader
Any Carl Hiaasen book that has skink - the runaway governor in it

and everyone who goes to the Everglades should read River of Grass

written in the 30s, the science isn't always the best, but the history is worth the quick read

[O Really]

The entire east coast of Florida is pretty much all developed. There are some oasis spots, but not many. Traffic is horrendous. But - a short distance inland from West Palm and you're in the middle of nowhere around Lake Okeechobee, bass fishing capitol of something. A bit west of Miami and you're in the Everglades. But you sound much more like a West Coast sort of person to me.

Yeah maybe I'll do that instead. Thanks a lot, I don't know much about Florida other than the crazy antics of my favorite super hero and role model, Florida Man.

Sorry, Dude... Florida Man got killed. Of course, that's like saying "they killed Kenny."
http://myinforms.com/en-us/a/29903161-d ... y-tickets/

[O Really]

Unlike many super heros, "Florida man" does exist, and can be seen in his natural habitat most any day. Lots of crazy people live in that state, including pretty much the entire legislature.

Other than fishing and drinking beer (oh wait, I guess those are both the same) , what do you like to do outdoors?

Light up a doob and watch the stars.

Alrighty then.
Everglades it is.
On the Tamiami trail (US41) between Naples and Miami, there are 2-3 park campgrounds that for some reason aren't very filled even in the winter. No lights anywhere around. Plus, there are remote roads going out around the Big Cypress area. You can use Everglades City for a base. Not much of a "city" but they've got a small grocery, etc., plus a lot of fishing expeditions go out, both offshore and around the 10,000 Islands area. If you tire of nothingness, it's only about an hour each way to either Miami or Naples. Good biking, swamp hiking, paddling, and star watching with doobs.

[JTA]

Unlike many super heros, "Florida man" does exist, and can be seen in his natural habitat most any day. Lots of crazy people live in that state, including pretty much the entire legislature.

Other than fishing and drinking beer (oh wait, I guess those are both the same) , what do you like to do outdoors?

Light up a doob and watch the stars.

Alrighty then.
Everglades it is.
On the Tamiami trail (US41) between Naples and Miami, there are 2-3 park campgrounds that for some reason aren't very filled even in the winter. No lights anywhere around. Plus, there are remote roads going out around the Big Cypress area. You can use Everglades City for a base. Not much of a "city" but they've got a small grocery, etc., plus a lot of fishing expeditions go out, both offshore and around the 10,000 Islands area. If you tire of nothingness, it's only about an hour each way to either Miami or Naples. Good biking, swamp hiking, paddling, and star watching with doobs.

Yes!

Thank you guys for the good info. I think I'm going to come down the Gulf Coast rather than the Atlantic. Seems like there's more to do in line with what I wanna see. Also, I kind of want to check out Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park: https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/ ... ee-Prairie . May camp out there for a night. Def. gonna hit up the everglades too.

[JTA]

More noise from the closet.

Cumberland Island, GA - 9-10 mile walk through the estate, up the beach (swam), back on an inland scrub trail, surprisingly few people once a mile away from the ferry landings. Carried a tracker along with many others for a grad student working on day usage patterns. Told him we'd be an outlier when we turned it back in.

O'Leno S.P., FL - Way cool for a day hike, the Santa Fe river disappears!

10 mile Suwanee River canoe paddle from Anderson to Manatee Springs - Paddled right over a manatee (rare in late March) at Fanning Springs S.P. then hung out with it for a bit, couple of gators, bald eagle. Big, flat, developed river for my tastes, but a good first splash and the south side is mostly Andrews Wildlife Mgmt. Area - took a walk there after the paddle.

Cedar Key, FL - Meh, not so great, 3 short walks, nice-ish museum featuring John Muir.

Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge - Shell Mound Trail, Nature Drive, very cool River Trail.

Manatee Springs S.P., FL - North End Trail is nice.

Peacock Springs S.P., FL - Very nice short loop trail with fascinating trailside info. on cave divers. Maniacs!

Stephen C. Foster S.P., FL - Permanent crafts demos., weekend old tractor demo./fair. Good Upper Suwanee River hike. Odd place though - Big park, grandiose memorial, but Foster was only south of the Mason-Dixon line once in his life and that was a month long trip to New Orleans. All he did was write "Swanee River" and we were told it was originally about the Peedee River, anyhow.

Had a tire tread separate like a recap (but not blow :-0?> ), it trashed my fender, broken jack but did have a spare (not a donut), called for a roadside tire change and mickey mouse fix of the fender (all insured), lost less than 1 1/2 hours.

Okefenokee Swamp - Hundreds of gators and tons of cool birds, of course. The nights were cool-ish, I actually had to put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt, horrors!

I was offline, brother printed the overnight camping permits, screwed up by not entering 4 people rather than 1. Robotic FWS Ranger essentially said, "Tough shit, the computer is God, nothing can be fixed on a weekend." We played 'good brother/bad brother (me)' with her for awhile to no avail. I asked to speak with a supervisor - "Can't be done unless someone dies." I threatened to kill my brother and told her she is why people detest bureaucracies. Went to Okefenokee Adventures to get boats for, sadly, day trips only. Mentioned being screwed by a minor computer glitch to the owner, Joy - the platforms were still mine and mine only for 2 nights, but they would have ticketed the rest including my 13 year old nephew. She got on the phone with, of course, the "unreachable" FWS Ranger supervisor (on a fire in TN), left credit card number with her for the computer person to fix on Monday. Joy brought joy.

Day paddle (had always planned on it) to Cedar Hammock and Mizzell Prarie, sand hill cranes. Brother dropped his camera in the water, went swimming for it ("Don't tell the wife!"), found it but first found a nice, still working, heavy duty flashlight. Score. Haven't asked whether the camera survived yet.

8 mile paddle to Monkey Island, set up camp, another 1/2 mile to Buzzard Roost Lake. Had a wood stork hang out just feet from the boardwalk.
13 mile paddle to Canal Run, set up camp, another 5 1/2 miles exploring with empty boats, amazed at my nephew's stamina.
10 mile paddle out, drove home without breaking any more of my SUV.

Someday:
Traverse Okefenokee, NE to westside.

Pics or it didn't happen.

[O Really]

Yes!

Thank you guys for the good info. I think I'm going to come down the Gulf Coast rather than the Atlantic. Seems like there's more to do in line with what I wanna see. Also, I kind of want to check out Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park: https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/ ... ee-Prairie . May camp out there for a night. Def. gonna hit up the everglades too.

Going down the west side, north of Naples is Bird Rookery Swamp, with 12 miles of trail, walkable or bikeable. Immokolee Rd. off either I-75 or 41. Lots of gators, birds, turtles, other critters. Close by (5 or so miles) is the Audubon Corkscrew preserve, with 2.5 miles of boardwalk through an old-growth cypress swamp. Bird Rookery is free; Audubon has a fee, I think ten bucks.

Stop off at Tarpon Springs, north of Clearwater. Tourist-infested, but still a real Greek village there. Authentic Greek food, fishing boats, yada. From Tarpon Springs, the 35-mile Pinellas bike trail goes South to St. Pete. Best part of it is the upper part, from Tarpon down to Dunedin. If you want to take the time, it's a nice ride down from Clearwater Beach to St. Pete, but it's slow. From there, I'd really really recommend jumping over to I-75 on to Naples. Nothing much to see on 41 except traffic lights, tail lights, and crazy drivers.