Episode 003: A Day in Bradwell Bay (11:31)
Walk with me on a squishy, splashy day hike on the Florida Trail through a dense hardwood swamp in the Bradwell Bay Wilderness Area, south of Tallahassee.
This particular hiking experience has special meaning for me, since it launched my outdoor writing career in Florida and my series of Florida hiking books. After writing up the trip report and posting it to an online hiking group I belong to, the AT-L, I was contacted by editor Karen Berger to provide a version for GORP.com. That interaction led to my contract for the 50 Hikes series in Florida, and to articles for Backpacker and Florida Hiker magazines. I wrote this the evening of the hike, sitting in the living room of my friend Linda “Earthworm” Patton’s house (she of BooksforHikers.com fame), and posted it to the group from my laptop. The rest, they say, is history … and I was fortunate to have such a great group and excellent leader for this hike!
The original article: A Day at Bradwell Bay
Music included in this podcast:
“The River Bank” by Shaun Harris, RoyaltyFreeMusic.com
“Expeditionary” and “AngloZulu” by Kevin McCloud, Incompetech.com
Get details about and directions for the hike at http://www.floridahikes.com/panhandle/bradwell.html
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Do you think a healthy chocolate lab could make this hike?
Thanks
I wouldn’t suggest it. The trail is virtually always under water. And as I learned some years ago, under that water are alligators. I got a call from a TV station that wanted to film someone hiking in Bradwell Bay. I couldn’t be there for their schedule so someone else did it. Turns out that while they were asking the gal to move around and pose for this shot and that, she stirred up a gator from the bottom and that freaked everyone out, especially her!
Sounds like a definite “no” for the lab, then. thanks! Would you recommend any part of the Florida trail for a hiker w/ dog?
Most certainly! The Ocala National Forest is quite dog-friendly. I’d generally suggest looking for high, dry ground. The loop at the Citrus Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest is a good spot (43 miles), as is Osceola National Forest. Blackwater River State Forest is nice too. Dogs are only prohibited from Eglin, but I do suggest common sense in keeping your dog away from areas with standing water, and the Apalachicola National Forest and Big Cypress are the longest stretches of the FT with that issue.
Thanks … and keeping a lab away from standing water is quite a trick!
Now that i think about it, it doesn’t have to be on the FT at all. I’m looking for 4 back country Florida nights with 1, possibly 2 dogs. What comes to mind?
Two loops that can give you that experience are the Citrus Tract at Withlacoochee State Forest (high and dry) and the loop at Myakka River State Park (which does involve some marshes, depending on how much rain there’s been lately). Otherwise, I’d take the dogs to the Ocala National Forest on the FT, you’ll have plenty of fun there.