Jim Kern, Sr., founder of the Florida Trail, the
Florida Trail Association, the American Hiking Society, and Big City Mountaineers is also scheduled to talk about essential elements for founding a successful outdoor non-profit.
I was bound for the first campsite on the Bee Island Loop, a 12-mile segment of a 38-mile hiking trail created and maintained by the
Florida Trail Association. I didn't anticipate much of a trek, more what a 19th-century naturalist would, with some justification, have called a "saunter." Since I was unfamiliar with the area and was packing more than 60 pounds of camping and photo gear it had seemed wise to keep goals and expectations modest.