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Tagged With: wildlife

Florida Trail (Extended): Days 15-20

It’s been almost a full month since I started hiking northbound from Key West, and I have started to become desensitized by the climate and terrain of Southern Florida in the dry season. Walking with wet feet, being chewed up by mosquitoes, having sunburn on sunburn, rationing my food for long stretches of strenuous and hard to navigate swamp walking, and staying vigilantly aware of my surroundings for the presence of alligators, snakes, wild hogs, and rapidly changing weather; all part of the day to day life of a Florida thru-hiker. Even though I have come to tolerate and even welcome these everyday challenges, I find that the difficulties of inconsistent and variable hiking conditions lead to some of the greatest problems on the Florida Trail.… Read more

Categories: Florida National Scenic Trail, Florida Trail 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Florida Trail (Extended): Day 1

On an old closed road, thin but dense borders of twisted and tangled Mangrove roots keep the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico from splashing over onto the road’s surface. As I lie there on top of my sleeping bag, sweating from the heat and humidity, I let out an exalted sigh. Only 2 days ago, I stood for 4 hours in 30 degree sleety weather trying (and failing) to hitchhike from Maryland to Key West- but now that I am here, only a stone’s throw from the beach, I feel extremely relieved and content. Just as I drift off, I feel the first light drops of rain hit my bare face.… Read more

Categories: Florida Overseas Heritage Trail, Florida Trail 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Sittin’ On Top of the World

“Wherever we go in the mountains, or indeed in any of God’s wild fields, we find more than we seek”

-John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra (1911)

John Muir, the prominent author/naturalist/preservationist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is arguably the most influential character in American natural history since Lewis and Clark. The time he spent wandering among the high peaks and lush valleys of the Sierra-Nevada mountain range, captured in his journals and correspondence with friends and family, has made a lasting impact on America’s moral compass. While the inspiration for his wilderness excursions could be linked to the concept of “manifest destiny”, which was so prevalent in the US around the time of his birth, his perception of what the west had to offer and his insatiable desire to preserve and protect those sacred lands could not have been more revolutionary- especially when considering the common American’s feelings about nature at the time.… Read more

Categories: Pacific Crest Trail | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Call Me Coaster

Upon arriving at “Hiker Heaven“, I was greeted by one of many dutiful volunteers with the oh-so-fitting phrase, “Welcome to paradise”. At mile 454.5 in Agua Dulce, California, a family named the Saufleys coordinates a sort of oasis for PCT hikers, where anything and everything a hiker could need is provided to them without any expectation of reimbursement. There is a laundry station with fresh towels and loaner clothes to be worn while one’s filthy hiking clothes are being washed; a garage converted into a make-shift post office and information center; an entire back-building with full kitchen and bathroom, piano and guitars, couches and TV, Wifi, sewing machine, bookshelves full of adventure literature and guidebooks, and 2 bedrooms; 8-person tents in the yard with cots and hammocks for lounging and sleeping whenever under the shade of a few sizeable pines- you name it, they’ve got it covered.… Read more

Categories: Pacific Crest Trail | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments