Bart Smith and Sandra Friend
Nearly seven years ago, I met Seattle photographer Bart Smith at an FTA Annual Conference, where he’d come looking for me. He wanted to collaborate on a coffee table book about the Florida Trail, and I was all for it. The result of our partnership was Along the Florida Trail. Bart thru-hiked, keeping me posted on what he was seeing along the way, and I went out and did section hikes with friends. We met up in a few places, like the Big O Hike, to hike together.
I found out this spring from Bart’s wife, Bridgie, that Bart had almost met his goal of hiking ALL of the National Scenic Trails. What a feat! Today Bart met his goal: all trails complete! He wrapped up his hike of the CDT in Yellowstone. Here’s the story.
His website’s gorgeous, with slide shows from every National Scenic Trail. I contributed the written content about the trails. Bart’s website: Walking Down A Dream.
I spent Thanksgiving week on a journey back to my past, walking in step with friends along the Florida Trail around Lake Okeechobee. It was an opportunity to unplug, with no computer tether for ten days, no cell phone til afternoons, and awakening before dawn every morning to enjoy the zen of walking.
For several years, I’ve been plodding along with a novel set on the south shore of this enormous lake, and immersing myself in the setting was the best inspiration of all. I gained insights into my characters that will reshape the direction of the story, I savored time in places they would visit, and I found new and intriguing details to add to the story, places only noted at a slow, mindful pace, such as the island of royal palms, above, illuminated by sunrise. It was a journey worth making, and brought me back out of the whirling madness of my everyday life to a calm place where I will try to stay.
To read my journal entries made during this fruitful week, see my Florida Hikes! website
I enjoyed a great whirlwind tour of Chattahoochee’s botanical wonders on Sunday thanks to Leigh Brooks, who worked for The Nature Conservancy for many years and is extremely knowledgable about the unique botany along the Apalachicola River. The first thing she did was took me to see Angus Gholson, the man who has spent a lifetime learning and sharing all there is to know about the region’s flora. After a visit to his herbarium and a chance to admire the Ashe magnolia blooms, we headed down to the nature park named in his honor and poked around for rare wildflowers in bloom, and we were not disappointed. In one tract near the park, Leigh introduced me to croomia, a plant I’d learned about but never had seen before.
A driving loop down along the Apalachicola River and past the dam yielded more showy botanical treasures, including oakleaf hydrangea in bloom. We finished up with a visit to a natural area hidden behind the state prison, where the trail has been let go but the shores of Cypress Cove are as pretty as can be. I’ve had the chance to write these places up for the new book, which is now consuming all of my “spare” time. Thanks, Leigh, for treating me to a side of Chattahoochee I didn’t know was there!
It took some long hours the past couple of weeks, but I’ve moved Florida Hikes! into a content management system that I can work with. The old one had serious troubles when it came time to upgrade. Take a look at the redesigned site and let me know what you think!
Just stumbled across this on the University Press of Florida website. It comes out in June. I was doing some of the hikes last spring with Rob and we enjoyed the getaways up to the Panhandle during pitcher plant blooming season. Johnny’s excited that we’re in the final proof stage. I can’t wait to see the final book!
I took three of the cover photos. Top left is Wright Lake Trail in Apalachicola National Forest, excellent pitcher plant area; top right is a shot from the top of the midden at Mosquito Lagoon in Canaveral National Seashore; and bottom right is my hiking buddy ShortCut on the West Lake boardwalk in Everglades National Park.
I’m guessing the bottom left is along Hopkins Prairie in the Ocala National Forest along the Florida Trail, and one of Johnny’s buddies as a model.
