[at-l] Winter Hike in Central Florida

[Bluetrail@xxxxxxx (Bluetrail@xxxxxxx)]

It certainly is wi
nter down here!  The swamp maple and sweetgum leaves that turned red, gold =
and maroon in December are all falling.  There was a thick frost yesterday =
morning (about 34 degrees at my house).  In fact, it has been a blessedly c=
ool winter thus far, much better than last year's endless days near 80.

If your trails are iced up, think of coming down.  Days in the mid 60's, ni=
ghts in the low 40's or upper 30's.  Primo hiking weather.  Better check wi=
th the FTA headquarters first though, El Nino is working hard at filling up=
 the acquifer again--which means stretches of the FT and lots of local loop=
 trails are ankle to knee deep in water.  The first year Nimblewill Nomad d=
id the ECT was an El Nino year; we were going to make up tee shirts that sa=
id, "I swam the Florida Trail."

The 70 FT miles through the Ocala NF should be pretty dry, as most of it is=
 higher ground.

I'm going to try three backpacking days along the Suwannee over the MLK wee=
kend.

Joan
bluetrail@aol.com