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  1. #1
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    Default Best Florida Trail Book?

    - So I see two guides for the FT (kind of like Wingfoot vs. AT Companion, I guess). Any thoughts on which is the better/more comprehensive resource?
    Florida Trail Companion Guide For Long Distance Hikers or The Florida Trail: The Official Hiking Guide?
    - Are maps really necessary? I didn't carry them on the AT but from what I can see the FT may be confusing at times with the patchwork road walking. I'm hoping one of the guide books will be sufficient.
    - AT: Springer to Daleville (714.3 miles) in 2007
    - Bibbulmun Track: End-to-End (600 miles) in 2008

  2. #2
    Donating Member Cuffs's Avatar
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    Send a PM to HammockHanger. She's knows the ins and outs of that trail.
    ~If you cant do it with one bullet, dont do it at all.
    ~Well behaved women rarely make history.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuffs View Post
    Send a PM to HammockHanger. She's knows the ins and outs of that trail.
    She's already been very helpful and I may still do that -- but i wanted the see if we can get more info posted and build up this forum!
    - AT: Springer to Daleville (714.3 miles) in 2007
    - Bibbulmun Track: End-to-End (600 miles) in 2008

  4. #4
    Addicted Hiker and Donating Member Hammock Hanger's Avatar
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    u
    Quote Originally Posted by Snarf View Post
    She's already been very helpful and I may still do that -- but i wanted the see if we can get more info posted and build up this forum!
    I am a map peson and always carry maps... that's just me, many make it find with out. Both books are good, but the Guidebk for LD hikers is better. Not to mention there is one really hot chick on the cover, hehehe!!! However the data book is best!!
    Last edited by Hammock Hanger; 11-22-2007 at 18:16.
    Hammock Hanger -- Life is my journey and I'm surely not rushing to the "summit"...:D

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  5. #5

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    I have the CD maps, LD companion guide and data book. And I still have questions! CR 835 & Deer Fence Canal near L-3 Canal (north of Big Cypress, south of Lake Okeechobee.) How about parking here for a day shuttle? There’s plenty of room but the guys I saw fishing from the canal looked tuff enuff. Outsiders get the eyeball treatment. Any advice?

  6. #6
    aka Mokay
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shane! Come Back! View Post
    CR 835 & Deer Fence Canal near L-3 Canal (north of Big Cypress, south of Lake Okeechobee.) How about parking here for a day shuttle? There’s plenty of room but the guys I saw fishing from the canal looked tuff enuff. Outsiders get the eyeball treatment. Any advice?
    Parked a shuttle car there for 2 successive days this past January while day hiking. No problems at all with the vehicles. Also parked one unmolested at the next road South, where the trail comes out onto 835 off the L3. There is a driveway a couple hundred yards down and a sign there that says "no vehicles beyond this point" so we stopped before it. When we got to that road later in the day at least 2 cars passed us.
    HUGS - J

  7. #7
    aka Mokay
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snarf View Post
    - So I see two guides for the FT (kind of like Wingfoot vs. AT Companion, I guess). Any thoughts on which is the better/more comprehensive resource?
    Florida Trail Companion Guide For Long Distance Hikers or The Florida Trail: The Official Hiking Guide?
    - Are maps really necessary? I didn't carry them on the AT but from what I can see the FT may be confusing at times with the patchwork road walking. I'm hoping one of the guide books will be sufficient.
    I carry the data book and maps. I would carry the maps if you know how to use them. There are some roadwalk sections that don't have blazes.

    The two books are very different. The LD Hikers guide definitely gives the best sources for resupply, etc.. The Official hiking guide is more geared to those doing day/section hikes, but has a lot more info about the areas you pass through. We are sectionning so keep both in the car and try to read through each segment before we hike it. An example is our recent hike in Tosahatchee. We had not read the official guide section before we set out and were not expecting such a wet hike. After the fact we read it, and it was the only one of the three sources (including data book) that mentionned how wet it might be.
    HUGS - J

  8. #8
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    I was walking the Longleaf Pine section by Keystone Heights this past weekend and saw where Paul Geyer had signed in. A cupla miles south of there is a picnic table on Cablegate Road and a woman had pulled her wagon in and was cowboy camping behind it. She was snockered (It was 12 noon) and she had a hard time waking up and went right back to sleep so she couldn't hear me tell her that she was sleeping right where I saw the bigfoot tracks last July.

    HH, is that you on the cover? Are you wearing a little black dress?

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by jnetx View Post
    Parked a shuttle car there for 2 successive days this past January while day hiking. No problems at all with the vehicles. Also parked one unmolested at the next road South, where the trail comes out onto 835 off the L3.

    JnetX, your journal + photos originally inspired me to consider section hiking the FNST. And Lwop’s. I’m still undecided about doing it cuz o' the road walks. . .

    Speaking of road walks, I had to laugh when I saw freshly painted orange blazes on roadside utility poles north of the Seminole Reservation last month. Few passersby would get it, but it was a big reassurance to me. Good old trail maintainers at work

  10. #10
    aka Mokay
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shane! Come Back! View Post
    JnetX, your journal + photos originally inspired me to consider section hiking the FNST. And Lwop’s. I’m still undecided about doing it cuz o' the road walks. . .
    If I can do or say anything to convince you it's worth it, just let me know. It really is a very diverse trail. We saw a Bobcat today on one of the busiest roadwalk sections there is - SR60 from the Kissimmee River to Three Lakes. We have also seen more rattlesnakes on the roadwalks to date than on the non road sections (maybe they just hide better in the longer grass!!)

    The roadwalks are a pain, but if you have someone hiking with you thay are not too bad. Most are not on extremely busy roads, and when we get the opportunity we just walk side by side in the most level area of grass and talk away, it makes the time pass pretty quick. We also like to play the "1/2 mile away, 1 mile away game" where we guees how far it is to the next treeline, bridge, intersection, cell tower, etc. I'm getting pretty good at it!

    Quote Originally Posted by Shane! Come Back! View Post

    Speaking of road walks, I had to laugh when I saw freshly painted orange blazes on roadside utility poles north of the Seminole Reservation last month. Few passersby would get it, but it was a big reassurance to me. Good old trail maintainers at work
    I love it when I'm road walking and people stop to ask what we are doing. It's great if there is a bright blaze visible in both directions and you can say "you see that orange mark on that pole (point the way you have come)? If you follow those orange marks you'll walk all the way to the Everglades. And see that orange mark on that pole (turning around the other way to point)? If you follow those orange marks you will end up in Pensacola. And THAT'S what we're doing! Most don't believe you ti9ll you pull out the FL Trail map and show them though. It's nice to add a bit of awareness, even if it is along the roads.

    We just visited the FL Trail store last week to pick up a bunch of business cards and brochure maps to hand out to those curious folks we meet.
    HUGS - J

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by jnetx View Post
    ...We have also seen more rattlesnakes on the roadwalks to date than on the non road sections...

    ...The roadwalks are a pain, but if you have someone hiking with you thay are not too bad...
    My road block is road walks...as a section hiker, that is. Last week, I was in Apalachicola Natl Forest (Camel Lake area) which grabs me, but the Bristol road walk didn’t. So I had to ask myself, on my free weekends, if I’m willing to trade my weekend hidey holes in places like Torreya, Garden of Eden, Myakka, Ocala Forest, etc. for that. My answer is to hold off on the FT until I can do a thru hike. Meanwhile, I get to read your journal!

    This has been a prolific year for pygmy rattlers, there’s one hogging the trail almost every time I’m out. They’re small & hard to see. These little tough guys bit me twice , neither time dosing venom . The ranger at Torreya told me a kid got bitten by a copperhead Thanksgiving week on the Apalachicola bluff, apparently without provocation, but I’m guessing the kid stepped on it, since the ground was heavy with autumn leaves, making the snake hard to see. Ah, critterdom! Then there are the Orb Weaver spiders you have to minesweep if you're the first person on the trail in the morning....

  12. #12
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    Default orange blazes on roadside utility poles

    Originally Posted by Shane! Come Back!

    "Speaking of road walks, I had to laugh when I saw freshly painted orange blazes on roadside utility poles north of the Seminole Reservation last month. Few passersby would get it, but it was a big reassurance to me. Good old trail maintainers at work"

    It is nice to see the blaze when wandering down the road. Not so much that you're going to get lost but nice to feel someone (the good old trail maintainers) have/has done this walk before and is there with you.

  13. #13

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    I find this book helpful for planning. I won't carry it on the trail however. Too heavy.

    http://americanhiking.chattablogs.co...ng%20Guide.jpg
    'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~

  14. #14
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    Default Boook etc

    Quote Originally Posted by Snarf View Post
    - So I see two guides for the FT (kind of like Wingfoot vs. AT Companion, I guess). Any thoughts on which is the better/more comprehensive resource?
    Florida Trail Companion Guide For Long Distance Hikers or The Florida Trail: The Official Hiking Guide?
    - Are maps really necessary? I didn't carry them on the AT but from what I can see the FT may be confusing at times with the patchwork road walking. I'm hoping one of the guide books will be sufficient.
    Hello Snarf,
    I've been trying to figure out the same things and I think you or someone suggested trying to get a discussion going on the whole subject - resupply, route, drops ect.. I have the data book, the maps, just got the CG (companion guide) and have had the book - Ten Million Steps which covers the whole ECT. They each provide different and useful info. For example, map 40 shows a supply symbol in Lake Harbor while map 39 on the flip does not. Neither map shows a PO in Lake Harbor while the data book mentions the PO but you need the CG to find out the PO is only open M-F 8-11!!! And NN ( Nimblewill Nomad - Ten Million Steps) gives a feel for how long( and some of the problems he encountered) on his way to his first resupply in Clewiston.

    I have done a couple of section hikes to try out new gear and carried the maps for those sections I was on and pages from the data book. I did these hikes before I had the CG and was a little worried about about the map symbols showing supplies at the 88 store. (very limited) Since the CG has arrived and I've scanned it, I would say if you plan on any resupplies at stores you may want to get it( the CG). The CG does a good job of describing of what you can expect to find at stores. The only weak point I have found in any of the FT material is not making clear which camp sites are accessible by road. I think the AT makes a strong point of this and the same applies to the FT. The sites were a mess (Rainbow people ?) and one place I set up for the night a car came in after dark, ran over the posts defining the tent camping area and cruised around. (I moved over with the trailers).

    Still in all a great place to hike with a lot of varied terrain. Yes, there were some roads (no problems-people were friendly and the blazes brought a smile) and hunters (also no problems and friendly) but again well worth the walk.

    Hope this helps,
    ofthearth

  15. #15
    Yeti GAME 08 Team Deutschemark smaaax's Avatar
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    I have the official hiking guide, and it leaves much to be desired in my opinion. The author breaks the trail down into a bunch of sections, but doesn't show the sections on the map, and most of them are like "Goose Pasture road to Greenhouse road trailhead". This is almost completely useless, and it took me a long time to figure out what sections I was looking for. In case you are still wondering, I would not get this book.

    On another note, the author also complained in one spot about a "strenuous" climb up a pile of dirt with two switchbacks...

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