ocala national forest

I've been prepping all week for the big shindig in Umatilla this weekend: Florida's Hiking Festival, the Florida Trail Annual Conference. It'll be a doozy! Lots to see and do, including taking a hike with a bear expert to look for bear sign in the Ocala National Forest, and watching the debut of a project I've worked on for the past year, a half-hour documentary entitled "The Florida Trail," which should appear on a television near you later this year. I'm signing books at noon on Saturday, too. If you're up for hanging out with more than 400 other Florida hikers, check out the program and schedule on the Florida Trail website. And en route there or back, take a hike on one of my favorite nature trails: the Timucuan Trail at Alexander Springs.