North Florida Regional Campout

October 24-26, 2008

Mark your calendars and set your PDAs and Blackberrys for the weekend of October 24-26, when the Apalachee Chapter will host the North Florida Regional Campout at the YMCA Camp Indian Springs in Wakulla County.

The event will kick off Friday night with a social get-together around a campfire, where you can compare tales with FTA members from other chapters in the region. On Saturday, there will be a day-hike along the scenic Sopchoppy River in the Apalachicola National Forest, along with other hiking and paddling opportunities. A barbecue dinner will be available Saturday night at the campground, followed by musical entertainment and possibly even a late-night movie (Creature From the Dark Lagoon?). Before packing up on Sunday, campers or day-trippers can take a paddle on the Wakulla River or hike into Shepard Springs.

There is a $10 fee per night for camping in your own tent or the camp’s bunkhouse. The barbecue dinner on Saturday night is $6. All other meals are on your own. Camp Indian Springs is located on Bloxham Cutoff (SR 267) in north Wakulla County.

If you need more information, contact Richard Graham soon at 850-878-3616 or r_graham@lycos.com. To make reservations, click on THIS LINK for the reservation form. Print it out, fill it out, mail it in. Plan for a weekend of outdoor fun and adventure with other FTA members and guests.

New ‘Page’ titled “Trip Reports” added to website.

May and June trip reports have been moved from the “Chapter News” category to the new “Trip Reports” Page.

ACTIVITY LEADERS: please email trip reports and hike photos to Linda Patton for posting on the website.

Multi-Chapter Gathering at Pine Log/Nokuse

May 16 – 18, 2008

Click here to see the flyer: pineloggathering-flyer041908.pdf

Our chapter has been invited, by our neighboring chapters (Choctawhatchee, Panhandle and Western Gate), to a weekend camping trip from mid-afternoon Fri. May 16th thru mid-afternoon Sun. May 18th at the Pine Log State Forest (PLSF) north of Panama City off S.R. 20, just east of Ebro. This is a social event, organized to give us the opportunity to meet each other and go hiking.

The gathering will begin at the Youth Camp in Pine Log about 3:00 PM, Friday. People can hike the Pine Log trails on Friday and Sunday, with the main hiking events at Nokuse on Saturday. The Friday and Saturday night meals will be prepared by the local chapters. Donations to cover these meals will be accepted! All other meals are on your own.

Pine Log State Forest has a beautiful camping area and a really nice covered pavilion. If you can’t join us to camp, but wish to hike Saturday, come to the Youth Camp by 7 am Saturday morning.

Please RSVP the following with your intentions for attending, and your plans for dinner, by 12 May:
Ed Williamson of Western Gate (edwill34@bellsouth.net),
Tom Daniel of Choctawhatchee (PerdidoTCD@aol.com), and
Linda Mooney, Panhandle (lamooney@aol.com).

CAMPING:

Car camping at Pine Log State Forest (PLSF) Youth Campground Friday and Saturday nights, May 16 and 17. Restrooms, showers, & sheltered picnic tables are available. $3 per person fee to cover facility costs. Please give this to organizers on arrival.

PAVILION INFORMATION:

Pavilion with grills and picnic tables have been reserved for May 16-18.
Available for all to use.
Easy walk distance from Youth Campground.
Fire pit for evening social - a campfire will be provided both nights.
Bring camp chairs.

MEALS:

May 16 evening – at the pavilion – all members - BBQ chicken meal provided.
May 17 breakfast – on your own.
May 17 lunch – pack your own lunch for on-the-trail.
May 17 evening – at the pavilion – all members - burgers and hot dogs meal provided.
May 18 breakfast – on your own.
May 18 lunch – pack your own lunch for on-the-trail.
A donation jar will be provided to cover cost of Fri/Sat evening meals

HIKES:

May 16 Fri. afternoon – PLSF Campground and Boardwalk Trail.
Includes about a 1/4-mile boardwalk over the beautiful Pond Cypress swamp. About 1 hour. No guide needed.

May 17 Sat. all day – Nokuse Section.
Day hike various sections of the newly developed FNST route. Exact segments to be determined.

May 18 Sun. morning / early afternoon - PLSF Dutch and Faye Trail.
Lovely walk through a longleaf pine forest on mostly level ground, well marked and maintained trail. About 5.5 miles, would require 3-4 hours depending on stops. No guide needed.

The City of Tallahassee TV station [WCOT Channel 13] has Tallahassee’s parks’ trails as the subject of their “On Location” program during the month of April (and possibly a couple of weeks into May).

During the first 9 minutes of the program, our Florida Trail System hiking trail at Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park is featured, with Linda Patton on camera.

The next 7 minutes shows the fitness trail at Lafayette Park, and the final 12 minutes are about the Cadillac bike trail within Lafayette Heritage Park.

There are 27 scheduled viewing times each week for the “On Location” program: 8:00-8:30 am (Sun-Sat); 11:00-11:30 am (Sun-Sat); 3:00-3:30 pm (Mon,Tue,Fri);8:00-8:30 pm (Sun-Tue,Fri,Sat); and 11:00-11:30pm (Sun-Tue,Fri,Sat).

WCOT’s complete schedule can be seen at http://www.talgov.com/communications/wcot.cfm

UPDATE — 3/25/08 08:16 am

We finished up with the sinks burn. There was no scorch on the
structures and from what I could tell the blazes looked OK, though I
haven’t been down the whole trail. There might be a few scorched blazes
but I don’t think it should hinder navigation.

Morgan Wilbur
Fisheries & Wildlife Biologist III
FFWCC
Aucilla WMA
ph: (850) 421-1883
cell: (850) 819-4518
morgan.wilbur@myfwc.com

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03/20/2008 04:14 pm

We still have a little burning left to do along the Aucilla Sinks that
we’re going to burn tomorrow (Fri.). We’ll be burning the section adjacent
to the County rock mine and adjacent to the sink holes along the western
extent of the trail before it turns south and then east back to Powell
Hammock Rd. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

Morgan Wilbur
Fisheries & Wildlife Biologist III
FFWCC
Aucilla WMA
ph: (850) 421-1883
cell: (850) 819-4518
morgan.wilbur@myfwc.com

Bruce Ritchie, outdoors journalist for the Tallahassee Democrat, has written an article about our speaker, Johnny Molloy. It appeared in the Sports section on Friday, March 7th. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear in the online Democrat.
A shorter article appeared in Bruce’s blog. That one can be found at http://tinyurl.com/2zlkwq and is reproduced here:

The Chinese philospher Lao-Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Johnny Molloy’s first step on his 1,100-mile trek on the Florida Trail was into a puddle of water. Not too many steps later the first snake he saw crossed his path.

Molloy will speak March 11 at the Apalachee Chapter meeting of the Florida Trail Association. It’s free and open to the public. He also wrote a book about his experience called “Hiking the Florida Trail,” published in January by University Press of Florida.

Beginning his trek in the winter of 2006, Molloy lost 15 pounds and used up two pairs of hiking shoes. While other trails, such as the Appalachian Trail, may have more challenging terrain, the Florida Trail can be harder on shoes because of the constant wet conditions, M. Timothy O’Keefe writes in the book’s forward.

Molloy is heavy on details, and I like his few passages of introspection and observations of some of the small towns and characters along the way. He recalls how trail maintenance volunteer Frank Orser in Lake Butler gives him the shirt off his back.

And I like how Molloy describes how most of us engage in a life of “voyeurism” rather than participating more fully.

“Backpacking simplifies your life and takes you back to taking care of the basics. It shows how few and simple our true needs are and how happy one can be simply by being dry and warm before a fire. Sharing a sense of accomplishment by walking 12 miles together with a friend or your family shows how simple happiness can be. It is the basic simplicity of backpacking that is its greatest offering in a world that we unnecessarily complicate.”

I understand the truth of those words. Yet I know that backpacking lengthy segments of the Florida Trail or the Appalachian Trail will remain just lofty goals until I get more gumption in life. Achieving those goals may only result from a dramatic, and perhaps unwelcome, life change.

But having those goals and challenges in life seem important for some reason, even if they are never obtained.

Bruce Ritchie 

UPDATE: February 8 — The FWC is planning to continue the burn on the Aucilla River Sinks area of the Florida Trail, on SATURDAY, 2/9/08. Trail closure notices will be posted.

(NOTE: Scroll down page for information on BRADWELL BAY BURN.)

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UPDATE: January 29 — The FWC has burned approximately 1/3 of the area, the west part of the unit, mostly north of the Trail. Depending on the weather they will attempt to burn the rest of the unit next week.
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will prescribe burn the Aucilla Sinks area, including the area through which the Florida Trail passes, as early as Friday, January 25. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, they will burn it sometime soon, likely before the end of February. The FWC will post signs at the trailheads.

We have shared with the FWC the geographic location of the existing bridges and boardwalks along this section of the trail, and have asked the FWC to take measures to protect these structures.

The FWC does not believe that the burn will interfere with the Aucilla Trail work day scheduled for Saturday, January 26, but there might be some residual smoke in the area.

If you have any specific questions about the burn, please contact Morgan Wilbur of the FFWCC at (850) 421-1883 or cell: (850) 819-4518 or at morgan.wilbur@myfwc.com.

Click here for 1-13-08 Tallahassee Democrat article (http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080113/NEWS01/801130331/1010 reformated) about Richard Graham’s 1-12-08 FNST hike in Apalachicola National Forest East.

UPDATE: March 24 — The Bradwell Bay prescribed burn has been completed and the Florida Trail through the Wilderness is open to hikers.

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UPDATE: January 29 — They are burning Bradwell Bay beginning today. The Florida Trail through the Wilderness is closed until further notice. See below for directions for THRUHIKERS.

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The US Forest Service is planning to burn Bradwell Bay in January (this month). As of today the start date of the burn has not been determined. The expected duration of the burn is 5 days from the start, but possibly longer. For information about whether the burn has started, contact Cathy Briggs of the Apalachicola NF at (850) 926-3561 extension 6509, or cbriggs@fs.fed.us

The Florida Trail through Bradwell Bay will be closed during the burn and will probably be DIFFICULT-to-IMPOSSIBLE to follow afterwards, until the blazes are repainted.

THRUHIKERS: detour around Bradwell Bay by following Forest Service roads around its perimeter. Click here http://tinyurl.com/2jk22m then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Click here for trailheads map and directions’ to see a map of the roads and trailheads mentioned in the following directions:

SOBO: At the Bradwell Bay West trailhead on the west side of Bradwell Bay, continue south on FR 314 instead of turning east into Bradwell Bay. Follow FR 314 just over 1 mile to FR 329 (the 1st intersection encountered), and turn left (east) on FR 329. Follow FR329 just under 10 miles (with lots of twists, and passing several trailheads on the left) to the Sopchoppy River bridge. The trail turns south along the Sopchoppy near the west end of the bridge. Turn right (south) and rejoin the trail at the blazes there. Possible camping off the access trails at “Bradwell Bay South” and “Monkey Creek” trailheads on FR 329.

NOBO: When the trail reaches FR 329 just west of the Sopchoppy River bridge, the trail turns left (west) along FR 329. Follow the blazes. When the trail turns north into Bradwell Bay at a small trailhead after a short distance, DO NOT follow the blazes, but continue west on FR 329 just under 10 miles (with lots of twists, and passing several trailheads), to its intersection with FR 314. Turn right (north) on FR 314 and follow it just over 1 mile until the trail comes out of Bradwell Bay on the right at a trailhead. Then continue to follow the blazes north and west. Possible camping off the access trails at “Monkey Creek” and “Bradwell Bay South” trailheads on FR 329.

The Fort Braden Hiking Trail meanders along three loops through the hills and bluffs of the Lake Talquin State Forest, providing a great outdoor experience only minutes from Tallahassee. On October 12th through 14th, the Ft. Braden F-Troop crews hauled in four tons of material and built 306 feet of puncheon-style boardwalk and bridges through wet seepage areas, over “rooty” areas and across creek drains on the east and west loops.

This was accomplished with an American Hiking Society grant, Florida Division of Forestry funding and the hard work of 25 FTA volunteers from all parts of Florida who traveled far and worked long hours. As Howard Pardue wrote in his report, “I remain in awe of the volunteers who made this dream come true. With this long awaited project, sensitive environmental areas are protected and young and old can hike more safely.”

The weather cooperated with lower temperatures and no rain, Caroline Pardue provided the crew with six delicious meals, Howard Pardue and Gus Johnson blessed us with some campfire music in the evening, and everyone received a nice F-Troop T-shirt.