Three Sisters at Niagara Falls

Dug this photo out of my scanned image archives and couldn’t help but smile.  Here’s my sister Susan (with the hood on) and Sally (with the hood off) on the Cave of the Winds tour at Niagara Falls, a memory from road-tripping across Ontario with them in the early 90s.

On that journey, we discovered the Three Sisters Islands on the American side of the falls.  Exploration ensued, as it would for the rest of our immersion into the outdoors of Ontario, all the way north to the Bruce Peninsula, with stops to hike the Elora Gorge and along the Mad River Gorge in Collingwood on what turned out to be a national holiday for hiking. Everywhere we turned, fall color painted the Niagara Escarpment as we followed it from the Niagara River to Lake Huron.  It was the first I’d heard or learned of the Bruce Trail, a long distance trail I long to do someday.

Three Sisters is a book, a memoir, I’ve had in my heart for more than a decade, since we lost our dear sister Sue to cancer.  I’m finally ready to write it now.

Helping Floridians get active, author Sandra Friend launches new hike planning website

An enthusiastic and comprehensive look at hiking trails throughout the Sunshine State, Florida Hikes! offers its visitors more than 1,200 pages of content to guide them to a breath of fresh air in the great outdoors.

“Six years ago, I started sharing my knowledge of Florida’s outdoors online,” said Friend, “creating a blog that documented places I was hiking for guidebook research. Since then, finding, exploring, and sharing new hiking trails has become an integral part of my life.”

Friend launched the new FloridaHikes.com on November 30. Visual and map-based navigation make it easy to find trails that fit your personal interest. Extensive details – including step-by-step narratives, special instructions for hikers, maps, and mileage charts – are a key part of the website.

“The Florida Hikes website keeps getting better and better!,” said Kevin Mims, VISIT FLORIDA Outdoors & Nature Insider. “You won’t find a more comprehensive place for Florida hiking information, and I love how easy it is to find trails of every type.”

Visitors to the website can subscribe to the Hike-A-Week, a weekly column providing a detailed hike writeup via email, and the Florida Hikes eNews, a Friday recap of content additions to the site and trail-related events around Florida.

“I want to give everyone in Florida the tools to live a healthier life by just stepping outdoors and taking a hike,” said Friend. “Especially in our current economy, hiking is the least expensive way to bond with your family, clear your head, and keep yourself heart-healthy.”

The award-winning author of 25 books – including ten books on hiking in Florida, with another one on the way from Menasha Ridge Press – Friend is the chair of the Society of American Travel Writers Freelance Council, a member of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association, and sits on the Board of Directors of Friends of Florida State Parks. She lives in Sanford.

For more information, visit www.floridahikes.com

Hiking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Dec 30

As part of the 28th Annual New Year’s Eve Campout at Doe Lake, Ocala National Forest – an annual event for Florida Trail members, hosted by Lou and Rachael Augspurg of the Central Florida Chapter- I’ll be sharing my travels on foot through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Areas I’ll show and talk about with you during the evening program include:

• Isle Royale National Park, one of America’s least-visited national parks due to its remoteness but a mecca for backpacking;
• Grand Island National Recreation Area, an island offshore from Munising with excellent backpacking to secluded beaches and beauty spots;
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where I’ve been taking on the “Pictured Rocks Challenge” of completing all 65+ miles of hiking in this national park over several visits north; and,
• Mackinac Island State Park, the “other side of Mackinac Island.” The fudgies never get here, so it’s a day hiker’s delight, with 80% of this famed island covered in deep dark North woods and hiking trails.

Hope you can join us! The event is only open to Florida Trail Association members and their guests. To become a member of FTA, please visit their website.

Learn more – directions, logistics, and schedule – about the 28th Annual New Years Eve Campout on Meetup

Florida Scrub-Jay Festival, Feb 4, 2012

Curious where to hike to see Florida scrub-jays?  Join me on February 4, 2012 for the 3rd annual Florida Scrub-Jay Festival at Oscar Scherer State Park in Venice.

It’s a full day of outdoor fun and workshops for folks who love to immerse in Florida’s good nature. I’ll be providing a presentation on Best Hikes for Florida Scrub-Jay during the event, which features biologists, naturalists, and birding enthusiasts eager to learn and share more about Florida’s most colorful endemic species.

Learn more about the Florida Scrub-Jay Festival, held by Friends of Oscar Scherer State Park.