By Fred Davis
From Spring 2009 Footprint 

This year’s annual Ocean to Lake Hike was outstanding in many ways, but none more so than the make-up of the participants. First, there was a near record number of 23 hikers who started the hike at Lake Okeechobee on Saturday, February 14. There were the old guard who had multiple OTL’s under their belts and a group of seasoned FTA hikers that were on their first OTL. The most interesting and exciting participants however were a group of young (under 30) newcomers. Several of these adventurers had little backpacking experience but plenty of grit. It was gratifying to see the experienced hikers take these novices under their wings to show them the ropes, including making adjustments to their brand-new packs. I hope we can convince them to become FTA members.

We had great support from our land management partners and other supporters. As with the Big O Hike last November, Bauer Construction Company, under contract to the Corps of Engineers to repair the Lake Okeechobee dike, granted us access to the lake through their construction compound. Stuart McGahee allowed us to hike across his property to avoid a dangerous Highway 441 road walk. B.J. Kattel, an FTA member and employee of the South Florida Water Management District, arranged for water drops for the first two nights. Frank Griffiths, Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resource Management, provided the boat ride across the C-18 Canal (NEXT YEAR THERE WILL BE A BRIDGE), and a water drop for the Loxahatchee Slough campsite. Scott Lynch also with Palm Beach County was very helpful, coordinating access to and use of the county’s property. Sources unknown, but we suspect Rob Rossmanith and/or the Friends of the Jonathan Dickinson State Park, provided a cooler of adult beverages at the Kitching Creek Campsite on the last night.

Due to the very dry conditions and more importantly to the dedication of Bea Rogers, Dean Drake, and “Tony” plus numerous other Loxahatchee Chapter trail maintenance volunteers, the trail was in excellent shape. A bunch of shiny new “OTL” signs provided by Palm Beach County have been installed by Bea and her crew at key trail intersections.

Paul Guyon, who has done every OTL hike, did another masterful job handling the hiker logistics, including shuttle arrangements. I’m proud to announce that my chili dinner at the mid-point in the Corbett Youth Camp raised $200 for the Florida Trail Association, thanks to the generosity of my fellow hikers.

Unfortunately, most of the 23 starters had to bail out on Monday night, so only 9 of us completed the full hike. Of those 9, six had completed all or part of the hike in previous years. Of special interest is Winford Bludworth (Rubadubdub) from Salt Lake City, Utah, who has 10,000 miles of long-trail hiking to his credit. However, the OTL is the only long trail he has hiked more than once.

There must be some magic and beauty in the OTL.  Paul and I have agreed to “do it again next year.”

The 2010 hike is scheduled for February 13-18.  Contact Fred Davis at Fdavis6539@msn.com.