Alex Outdoors

I was first introduced to Alafia River State Park in December of 2016, during my first (and to-date my only)  Ragnar Relay  experience. Just one short month after this awesome team event I returned to Alafia for a trail 10k because I had loved the park’s trails that much. Naturally, I would jump at the chance to get back on these trails, even though this time instead of running I would hike the course (and still walk away with a medal :)) Best of all? Approximately 60 runners ahead of me, clearing spider webs off the trails. This was also the first opportunity to try my brand new  Dirty Girl Gaiters , and let me tell you – they’re worth their weight in gold. I did not know I would love them that much, but after years of collecting sand and rocks in my shoes this is a whole new experience. Alafia River State Park is also a great and popular place for mountain bikers and they were out in full force. Luckily we had the trails to ourselves thanks to our sanctioned ra...

I almost ended up on a solo hike and I was kinda ready for one – but looking back I’m very happy that Rachael showed up…….. I’m often spooked by wildlife and I simply can't stand the amount of spiderwebs I encounter on the trails lately. On the trails they’re most often perfectly camouflaged and you do not realize they’re there until you’re in them, face first. A web-collision on the trail is much easier to handle if you have a hiking buddy because she/he can look you over and make sure you don’t end up with a hitchhiker on your body….. This weekend’s hike took place on Loop A on the Citrus Tract in the Withlacoochee State Forest. After signing the trail log we started at the Holder Mine campground on our 8.5 mile excursion. And so off we went onto loop A, the shortest loop of the four that make up the state’s longest backpacking loop trail in a single contiguous forest. I went ahead of Rachael, armed with a long skinny branch to defend against the hard to s...

Today I made 11 new friends, hiked farther than ever before, tackled new obstacles, and learned a TON. These fine people are part of the Suncoast chapter of the Florida Trail Association. I had been searching for local hiking groups and found them on Meetup. And what great people they are! They made us (2) newbies feel welcome and showered us with a wealth of information, most of which I don’t even remember (all the more reason to join them for the next group hike.) And although I had hiked (and run) at Croom before, this particular loop combo was new to me: We started right before 9 a.m. from Tucker Hill, turning from Loop B onto the B/C connector, counter clockwise. We stopped a few times to refresh with water and snacks, but also took a proper half hour break for lunch about 6.5 miles into our 10 mile trek: Color blazes have been painted onto the trees (blue indicated the connector trails), indicating that you’re indeed still on the trail…. ...