Jambalaya on the FL Trail

Planning food for a backpacking trip can be almost as fun as the trip itself for a wannabe foodie like me.  I challenge myself not to use premade meals, but rather prepare my own lightweight feast.  Using some cookbook recipes and creating a few of my own, not only saves money it also allows me to work around food sensitivities.

My upcoming trip is a four-day section hike on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. Using The Appalachian Trail Food Planner by Lou Adsmond, and Lipsmackin’ Backpackin’ by Tim & Christine Conners, I am prepping recipes such as Tree Frog Soup with Rattlesnake and Sunrise Spuds.   Before you freak out, the soup is a split pea base with spam – it just has a cool name!

My addition to the menu is a jambalaya with dehydrated sausage and pork sung.  I even carry a 1/8 oz bottle of Tabasco to kick it up a notch. I am also adding Korean instant coffee- complete with cream and sugar – to my pack.  It is less expensive than the name brands and tastes great.

To find ingredients for trail food, I haunt health food stores and Asian markets.  Both have great selections of unique dehydrated and lightweight foods.  Your local supermarket will also have fast prep dried foods you could use.  Beware of some name brands, which have an abundance of MSG.  Read labels of prepared foods if you are sensitive. This is why I look for alternatives in the health food stores.  Amazingly, the Asian markets offer many MSG free choices – just read the label.

I would love to hear what your favorite trailside meals are.  I still have a few days to add to my menu, so please post them in the Comments.  Happy trails!

Kayaking one of Florida's spring fed rivers.

Fall is knocking on our door at last. In Florida fall arrives later than for most of the country, but I think we appreciate it more. After a summer of hot humid days spent cooped up inside an air-conditioned house, the first cold front to arrive is a relief.

You see, we don’t do spring cleaning, we do fall cleaning. This is the first time in months we get to throw open the windows and air out the house, inspiring a major cleaning spree in my house. It’s also time to sweep the cobwebs from the soffits, clean off the patio and get ready to resume outdoor living.

This is when I start to plan family campouts and backpacking trips. By November the weather will be ideal for Florida adventures. The Florida Trail stretches for more than fifteen hundred miles passing through temperate and subtropical ecosystems. Florida also has a multitude of fresh water springs providing swimming, canoeing and kayaking opportunities. Campgrounds such as Juniper Springs also offer shady campsites and easy access to trails.

Of course I’ll miss the sleepy days of summer. The quiet waterways and beaches were a real pleasure. So were the summer deals many hotels and restaurants offered. But those days will be back, and for now it’s time to get outside and enjoy the first breaths of cool air in months.

For Central Florida residents the Seminole State Forest offers a variety of options for outdoor activities. Near the parking area visitors enjoy fishing in Bear Lake. From the same location, hikers may head down a section of the Florida Trail which passes through the Forest. There are also options for bicyclists and horseback riders.

On Saturday, April 4^th, we headed to the forest to do some hiking. The day was a perfect blend of cool temperatures and a pleasant breeze. As we approached the trail head we overheard a father at the self pay station explaining to his kids that he didn’t have the cash to pay for entry. Now he could have set a bad example and parked without paying, but he wouldn’t do it. I heard him reply to one of the kids “you can’t just forget to pay for a candy bar in a store, this is no different.” We were so touched by his honesty that my husband called him over and gave him the entry fee. This father’s honesty was more refreshing than the beautiful morning and helped restore our faith in society.

Back to the trail….

We headed a mile up the Florida Trail to the first camping shelter. The shelter is reminiscent of those found on the Appalachian Trail, with a roof and three sides. Nearby are a fire ring and a large open grassy area for tents or just hanging out. From here we branched of on the white blazed loop, hiking it halfway to the next shelter before cutting over to the yellow blazed horse trail. To this point the trail is graced with oak hammock and many birds. Some areas were open scrub. The horse trail is almost completely comprised of a sandy road bed so we returned to the orange blazed Florida Trail at the first opportunity. We remained on this for the remainder over the hike back toward the parking area. Along the way we noticed numerous animal tracks including turkey, some kind of cat and lots of raccoon. All together our loop was approximately 6 mi according to the map. My IPhone logged it at 7.2 mi Every Trail logged it as 4.6. Either way it was just over two hours of very pleasant hiking and we look forward to returning soon to hike one of the many other trails in the Seminole Forest. View a map and more pictures of this hike on EveryTrail.com.

Hiker's Hut in the Seminole Foreslt

Both Ron (my husband) and I love to hike. Our favorite destinations include Brevard, North Carolina and Estes Park Colorado. But these are destinations for when we go on vacation. Closer to home we have been making an effort to find the gems in our own backyard.

To begin we started with a favorite haunt of mine for the past decade, Wekiwa Springs State Park. Starting at the parking area near the springs you find the beginning of a 13 mile trail system that leads through forest, past a lake, through low pine scrub and along the river for while. From there it’s back into the scrum and pine. It is great place to hike or trail run. Hike as much or as little of the trail as you like and take a picnic to enjoy next to the lake.

Two weekends ago we poured through 50 Hikes in Central Florida, by Sandra Friend for a new destination. We headed to Eustis to hike in the Hidden Waters Preserve. This trail descends from the parking area into a huge 105 foot deep sink hole with a stream running through the bottom. It is a GREAT place to build endurance thanks to its inclines. If a workout is what you are after you may want to hike it twice using a different trail option the second time around. At only a mile, it left me wanting for more. I do plan to return and run this trail. It is so wide and clear its perfect!

The following day we headed to the Seminole Forest. We were pointed there by a park ranger who we met while checking out Rock Springs Run State Reserve. Parking is next to a large lake where we saw several people hanging poles hoping to catch some fish. I stayed away as I have learned that fish run from me! The trail system is extensive, spanning from the highway 46 entrance to Highway 44. The Florida Trail passes through the park. Along the trail there a couple of shelters built in the style of those you would find on the Appalachian Trail. Three sides and raised off of the ground. Nearby sits a fire ring. The whole setup has us planning a backpacking trip there in the near future. There are so many options I suspect we will be exploring this park for awhile.

So far, Ron and I are very pleased with the results of our quest. We will be busy exploring each of these areas whenever we have some spare time. To see some trip reports please visit my page on EveryTrail.com. This once again reinforces that Central Florida is a great place to live!