Soirée salutations, hikers!

I eased through the gates of Gold Head Branch State Park accompanied by Tom Griggs, who, back when the solar system first was formed, once took a date here.  Well, it wasn’t that long ago but GHBSP is one of the state’s oldest parks.  It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression as one of FDR’s New Deal projects. 

My first contact at the park was Ranger Renee Rau, yet another of the truly amazing people who see to the beauty and health of our state park system.  Statuesque and bright, Renee makes me want to be a Park Ranger, too.  In fact, she has that effect on a lot of people.  Tina and Carmen know what I’m talking about, don’t you?  Are you still hitting those push-ups and sit-ups, Carmen?  You can do it!

On that topic, might I opine for a moment?

Hikers, I have had the pleasure of meeting many of the rangers, specialists, technicians and managers that make our visits to the state park system a pleasurable –and educational – experience. They are “Highly motivated and truly dedicated” as we used to say on the Isle of Parris.  I have come to believe that these people are the best of the best that our state government has to offer its citizens, and I am very thankful for them.

And by the way, hikers, they ain’t exactly getting rich at it. They’re in the park profession for one reason; because they love the lands we have so wisely left in their charge.  They do it because they have a passion for the natural and cultural history of our state.  Man, what a great bunch they are.  I just love ‘em.

Do me a favor, won’t you?  The next time you visit one of our state parks, stop in and thank the folks who keep “The Real Florida” real.  You’ll meet some damn fine people when you do.

My stay at Gold Head Branch was loaded with highlights.  It began with a weekend visit by my Venture Crew, Crew 610 of St. Stephan Catholic Church in Valrico, Florida.  We try to camp one weekend every month, a tough task since I’ve been on this odyssey across Florida.

I miss my crew, a killer group of Scuba Divers, rock climbers, shooters and adventurers between the ages of 14 and 21.  Erin, Brian, Casey, Andrew, Alice, Chris, Andew II and Anthony, you guys ROCK.  And so does last but by no means least, my amazing Co-Advisor, Nancy Cline. 

Speaking of Nancy, permit me share something with ya’ll about her, there, hikers.  Nancy works about a bazillion hours a week as the Director of Marketing for Get Motivated Seminars, a Tampa-based company that stages motivational business seminars from coast to coast.  More times than I can count or even know of, Nancy drives straight from work to be there to open the doors on time for crew meetings (8pm – 9pm every Tuesday).  Like many Scout leaders, she does so happily and untiringly.  They don’t make them any better than Nancy Cline.  Thank you, there, Nancy. 

We all saddled up and hiked the park together.  Alice, our newest member, filtered water for the first time (brings a hiker’s tear to your eye, doesn’t it?).  Together we found and followed the orange blazes that carried us to the indescribably scenic Ridge Trail and deep into the ravine from which the crystalline flow of Gold Head Branch seeps through waist-high ferns growing beneath a double canopy of every tree you can name in 15 minutes time. 

In another sense, this visit was a bitter sweet one.  It was Anthony’s last trip with us. Anthony is Nancy’s eldest.  She and her husband Scott know a thing or two about how to raise sons. 

As I write this, Anthony is on his way to serve his country as an Airman in the United States Air Force.  I have had the privilege to know this young man as he grew from a gangly teenager to a strapping Eagle Scout and athlete and every minute has been a blast. The Air Force is one better today.

We had party for him there, in the beautiful primitive campsite of Gold Head Branch.  We had cake, we sat around a roaring fire and, just for a brief minute in the fire light, Anthony was a boy again. 

It is said that time waits on no man. Well hikers, let me tell you something.  Time has even less patience with the youngest of them.  I know that’s good, but I’ll never get used to it.

Another top shelf highlight of my Gold Head Branch stay was a great party that was put together by Clay County tourism diva Eve Symanski, the Gainesville staff of the Florida Trail Association and the staff of Gold Head Branch State Park. 

They streamed in, each bearing food.  We actually had to put two picnic tables end-to-end to contain it all. We grilled out, relaxed around a roaring fire (made even more enjoyable by a cool night) and enjoyed each others company under a sky of flawless celestial diamonds.  Eve is a bundle of energy and Clay County’s most energetic advocate.  Nice as she can be, too. 

I met one of the volunteers who make the trail through Camp[ Blanding and the park the great hike that it is.  You understand why the trail is so perfectly maintained when you meet Janie Hamilton.  If you want to know what she looks like, look in the dictionary under “irrepressible.” If her picture isn’t in there, call Webster’s, because it should be.

And why we’re on the the topic of the people who make this trail what it is… allow me to present some of the FTA staff guests who were in attendance that night.

Judy Trotta, a calming and soulful woman who knows where everything is, regardless of what you’re looking for.  She’s an organizer, a planner and, like her comrades, is possessed of a deep and abiding love for the Florida Trail. Instantly likeable, truly remarkable and Mediterranean beautiful..that’s Judy Trotta.

There’s Deb Blick, a smokey, sturdy blonde, who, I suspect, ( and she neither confirmed or denied this) has worked for several national intelligence agencies. Deb has walked, mapped and measured every last inch of this trail.  Those trail maps we FTA hikers use with such great confidence are Deb’s work, and they are superb.  Lets just hope that CIA, NSA, NRO, DIA doesn’t call her back in or we’re sunk.  Of course, we might be sunk if they don’t….

And then there’s hiker, author, world traveler Sandy Friend.  Sandy is a writer’s writer and serves as the FTA’s Communications Director.  She can hike, shoot and write like nobody’s business and is the author over a dozen books about Florida and how best to experience it.  Sandy is incredibly generous with her talent, her time and her knowledge and she has been a great mentor and example of excellence to me.  I like the hell out of her. A cool girl, Sandy.

Yup, that evening at Gold Head was one unforgettable night spent in the company of fine, fine folks.

And that, my friends, is what life on this amazing trail across Florida is all about.

Missin’ yall Cheers! From the Florida Trail.  Mike