Re: [ft-l] Dan Smith

Hellow, everyone -- 

Just wanted to go on record as agreeing wholeheartedly with Bluetrail on this 
business of reconsidering position of the trail in areas where it is waste 
deep in water while much of central Florida remains on fire hazard warning.

As a relative newbie to any significant hiking on the FL Trail, I have been 
disappointed twice now to discover that what I thought would be pleasant day 
hikes (trying to see just how far I can comfortably go with a 5-day-loaded 
pack on nt back) turned out to be wades through water and knee-deep mud, 
and/or swims. 

Do I understand that if I am caught in the rain during a "real" hike I will 
just have to endure the swims? Of course I do. And I understand that much of 
Florida is under sea level, but, for instance, my trek to the 520-area a 
while back had me convinced the trail must have been laid out by people who 
could walk on water. I never even got out of my truck -- just came back to 
Daytona, where I can always do a Volkssport walk and get at least 6 miles in.

Okay, to some extent, I'm a wimp on the trail. I haven't even begun to see 
all of it, and the amount I've actually hiked is still in the low 
double-digits. But I want to hike it ALL, and it seems to me that we have 
quite enough natural hazards in Florida to suggest that it would be a good, 
solid safety-related decision to reconsider sections which are sooooo wet!

Just a thought from an old, slow....

Tortoise
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