pshaw_raven | Entries tagged with hiking

We finally have some good news coming out of this state. A bill was signed that designates something like 250 million for the Shared Use Non-Motorized Trail Network, aka SUN Trails. We were just poking through the bill this morning and looking at the maps posted on FDOT and FDEP. A major reason for our interest is a proposed trail that will pass almost by our house, connecting the Keystone-Gold Head Branch trail with Cecil Field in Jacksonville, and providing people with a paved, protected biking, running, walking, hiking etc trail. I specify "protected" because it's in the bill that these trails be physically separated from vehicle traffic - hallelujah!

Anyway, if you're hiking the Florida Trail, you'll pass within five miles of my house. (Hi!) The proposed trail would pass even closer, connecting us to Middleburg with a path I could, in theory, use to do things like take an electric cargo bike to do my weekly grocery shopping. Or just go for daily runs without contemplating my mortality every time one of those massive pickups goes speeding by. (Why are the front ends of these things so damn high? How can anyone driving them see the road?)

The curious thing to me is how this all passed the House and Senate unanimously. I mean, who's going to vote against something that applies to every district equally, and could bring in construction jobs, more tourism dollars, and an improved quality of life for residents? They've also supported the creation of wildlife conservation corridors, and other environmental projects that I typically expect to be far more contentious.

For real though, why are the noses of trucks getting so high? I'm above average height for an American woman, and if I stand next to one of these things, you can barely see my shoulders. You definitely couldn't see a short person or a child. And putting aside that aspect, that probably gives your truck the aerodynamics of a brick. I mean, I drive a large pickup, but mine's a 2003 model that has the sloping nose and allows me to see stuff that's in front of me. I wouldn't want to drive a truck that has the front end of a cement mixer just to go pick up ... what exactly? Because the beds in trucks are getting so small as to be useless. WHY. I've always liked trucks because they're USEFUL. I don't know man, I just live here. *sighs*

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Chris Isaak - American Boy

Fox and I don't usually do a whole lot for the holidays. This year we'd already visited with his parents closer to Christmas, so we didn't even go to Orlando, but given how badly we've both been bitten by the hiking bug, we decided to go for a short hike on Sunday. I was surprised that Gold Head was even open, but it was, and it was somewhat busy!

The Florida Trail runs through Gold Head, then crosses SR21 and heads onto Camp Blanding, when the military base is open. Otherwise you can detour to Keystone. We decided to just hike around in the park, and since this is one of the better-maintained stretches, it wasn't a demoralizing slog through swampy water full of snakes and bugs. Which is what the first 15 or so miles of the trail are down at the southern terminus. There's a spot called Thank God Island, and there's a very good reason for the name.

We even met a thru-hiker while we were out and chatted with him a while. He seemed to be going ultralight and was stealth camping most places. We figured he likely had a map or something, but warned him about Blanding, since getting caught stealth camping on the base might not go really well for him. But it's a big place, and they're not running maneuvers right now, so he was probably fine. I brought a small snack that I ate just after the halfway point, but Fox had nothing and started bonking in the last mile or so, which is an important lesson about fueling these hikes. We've also started making lists of potential backpacking items, with their estimated weights from manufacturer's descriptions to figure out what we're taking. Since we're old farts/grey muzzles we have a keen interest in sleeping comfortably and eating. So we'll be taking a heftier stove and cooking setup than some people prefer, as well as cushy sleeping bags and pads. I will likely not be carrying as much tech, probably just a charger and battery bank for my phone and Garmin, maybe a Kindle for reading, definitely a Rite In The Rain journal or even just a regular notebook stashed in a dry bag.

Anyway, the cold is finally letting up here. After several nights in the 20s, we may be able to unwrap the fruit trees today and stop the faucet drips. Tonight should "only" be 44 or so. I like the cold, but sometimes it's hard for me to function. I turn into a cat and just hang out by the fire all day.I really need to work on my ability to tolerate discomfort.

( Speaking of discomfort, I'm going to talk about my family. )

I also now have copies of Horizon Zero Dawn and Dead Cells, both of which I started and really enjoy so far. HZD is apparently a pretty long one. I have a bunch of stuff still in my backlog, too, LOL. Having "too many games" is not exactly the worst problem.

I need to head out when it's a little warmer and run some strides, then get my training log for 2023 ready to go.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: The Infamous Stringdusters - Gravity

We're heading over to REI today.

Several weeks ago, we started talking about one of my bucket list runs, a cross-Florida trek. These come in basically two flavors - 116 miles and 200 miles. Fox has been pondering how best to support me as I try this, and by that I mean practical support, not emotional support. So "here's some hot coffee and dry socks" as well as "you can do it." Anyway, somehow in all this we started talking about hiking, which I've always liked doing.

I grew up around the Smokies and for a while I live in Kentucky, on the Cumberland Plateau. I was surrounded by places to hike and explore, and I did. So when Fox suggested we start doing some local hiking, I was in. Then he threw out a crazy idea, which is we thru-hike the Florida Trail.

I wasn't sure how to express the fact that I'd wanted to do this ever since I found out it was a thing. I think I'd stopped at an information kiosk in Jennings State Forest and found a brochure about the Florida Trail, and it had the different sections, maps, and the website. I just didn't mention it at the time because neither of us had started running or doing much then, and it was one of those ideas that make me say to myself, "That's stupid, Bird, don't tell anyone about this. You're stupid for even thinking about it."

So we're gonna thru-hike the Florida Trail. But first we gotta buy some stuff.

I thought our local REI was up near Jacksonville Airport, conveniently located in Georgia, but there's one in Towne Center now. (Near Bento Cafe!) Fox has actually had experience camping, which I never did. We went hiking and stuff when I was growing up, but I was never allowed to camp. Like, not even a tent in the backyard kind of thing. But I've always wanted to at least try it. The general idea today is to go put our grubby paws on some backpacks, hammocks, and tents. Maybe talk to some people there. Maybe buy some gear, maybe put it off until January. But it will help the planning stages that we're in right now.

The first thing will probably be a test-run for me literally camping in the yard. I might set up camp here one night, then break it down, load up, and hike over to one of the primitive campgrounds in Belmore, a whole four or five miles. This is the same Belmore I go on trail runs in, LOL. But I should find out pretty quickly if I enjoy it, or if camping is the dumbest thing ever. From there, we will likely do another, longer test hike down in Ocala National Forest for a week.

This weekend, it's about to get damn cold, just in time for the Christmas weekend. Santa is going to bring us a massive mosquito die-off, if we're lucky. With temps in the lower 20s, it also means I'll need to protect my citrus trees. The lemon and calamondin are old enough to withstand it, but the Key Lime and new yuzu trees need to be covered, and the yuzu is still just a sapling, so it will get a small heater, as well. I already picked the calamondins, and now have a couple of huge baskets of them, one of which I plan to ~~pawn off on~~ give to my neighbors. Then I'll be making some orange-glazed white chocolate scones.

We might even drive over on Saturday or Sunday and pick up a section of the Florida Trail that runs near us, in Gold Head. It crosses the highway and goes onto Camp Blanding - I run past the trail markers all the time on my long runs. That will be a shorter day-hike but it'll be fun to get out and do something active.

Current Music: The Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man

With the passing of Disney races, as I said Fox and I are looking at doing other things like trail runs, ultras, and going hiking and camping. I always liked hiking when I could do it, though I have never been camping. I guess the closest thing to camping I've done is just existing in that time period between a hurricane passing through and when they turn the power back on.

Anyway, since day hikes are something we're actively looking at doing, I started thinking about a hiking stick again. See, I've got a stick I've long wanted to turn into a walking/hiking stick and just never did much with it. It's even got a cool backstory.

The stick is a branch from some bald cypress from Louisiana. When I worked at the housing development, I was on the phone one afternoon with one of the residents as a storm was brewing, and while we were talking there was a loud POP on the line, and an even louder BOOM that rattled the windows. The guy I was talking to said something garbled, and I grabbed a maintenance man and headed over to that unit, assuming it had been hit by lightning. Actually, a big cypress tree growing near it had taken the hit and was on fire. We got that taken care of eventually, and the guys cleared the dead tree out, dumping the logs and stuff where the parish could come pick it up. One afternoon I spotted a branch about as tall as me, so I stowed it in my car and took it home. I brought it with me when I moved here.

I already know I need to carve the end down if I want a metal ferule with a spike on it - and I do want that. I still need to smooth it and cut off the smaller broken branches, and probably make a wrapped grip though I haven't decided between paracord (useful) or leather (easy on the hands).

I'm also curious about hiking medallion "etiquette." I've done some trails already - when I lived in Tennessee and then Kentucky, I hiked Cades Cove, Daniel Boone, Cumberland Falls, and a few others. I thought it might be cool to acquire some medallions and put them on my stick, since my Raven Brain likes shiny stuff and I have every intention of collecting more of these things. I mean, I think I can add ones for the trails I have done, even though it wasn't with this particular stick. I don't think there's any sort of clear rule about it, and I assume that as long as I actually did the hike I am allowed to show off the bling.

I'm not planning a lot of decorating or anything now, as I want it to develop "organically" with stuff I find on my future hikes. Gator tooth from a gift shop near the 'Glades? String it onto the stick with some rainbow beads. :) I get the feeling that things are going to get very aggressively RAINBOW.

I also don't have much skill at woodcarving, but I'm decent at pyrography. I made a friend a set of runes out of some red bay laurel sticks and she really liked them. We have several of these laurels around the property and a few actually look like they don't have bark beetles. Most of the wood here is pine, and pretty resinous pine, too, which is why fires in the area make me have Big Damn Anxiety.

Any of you wonderful folks go hiking? I'm thinking if we start doing short road trips or something we might try to get a couple of other states in - though Florida has a lot of trails.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: The Goo Goo Dolls - Black Balloon