Florida's Hiking Festival: the FTA Annual Conference

It's a beautiful time of year for hiking, and I've been busy - managed to visit 7 trails this weekend while attending a couple of special events in North Florida. I'll post details soon. But in the meantime, I wanted to remind you of Florida's biggest annual gathering of hikers, coming up on March 16-18 in Umatilla: The Florida Trail Annual Conference.

Why go? You'll meet hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of hikers from around the state and have a chance to chat about gear and trails. There are more than 20 seminars and workshops led by pros, ranging from Nature Photography and Beginning Birding to Tracking the Florida Black Bear and Plein Air Painting, as well as Family Adventures for the kids. If you own a tourism-related business, the workshop on the "Sustainable Green Dollar" may be of special interest to you. And lots of us will be clamoring to go out on the guided hikes and paddling trips.

If you register in the next 48 hours, the cost per person is only $15 for the weekend, with children under 12 free. Meals (catered BBQ and breakfast from local restaurants) cost $35 for the package deal but must be reserved by March 1, or you can bring your own to camp. Tent camping costs $2 per person per night, or $20 for a bed in a bunkhouse. Sound like your kind of weekend? C'mon down and join us, I'd love to meet you there. I'll be signing my hiking books around noon on Saturday. For online registration or to download the registration form, visit the FTA website. You can still register up until the date of the conference, but there's a discount if you do it now.