Through Hiking the Florida Trail
by Donna "Mosey" Stowe and Lolly "Mountain Laurel" Tharpe
From November-December 2008 Footprint

Going back to October 2006, Donna received an email from Lolly in which she wrote that she was having two knee replacements the next day and would be ready for a “big one” in about a year. What optimism!  Donna jumped on this opportunity to say that she was interested in a partner to hike the Florida Trail. They had met on a Florida Trail Big “O” hike in November of 2003. Both women had hiked the Appalachian Trail - Lolly in 2000 and Donna in 2004. So this story starts fifteen months after Lolly’s knee replacements.

Donna Stowe, age 71 from Melbourne, Florida and a member of the Indian River Chapter and Lolly Tharpe, age 69 from Sebring, Florida and a member of the Heartland Chapter set out on the trail on December 31, 2007. Donna assumed that Lolly would have a snail pace like hers because of her knee replacements, but Lolly was faster. Her new knees never gave her a bit of trouble. Lolly is a part-time clown. One of her goals as she hiked was to pass out red clown noses and tell corny jokes to the wonderful folks they met on their journey. The idea came from her friend Keith “Toby” Stokes, founder of the Toby the Clown Foundation in Lake Placid, Florida. The object was to bring smiles, love and laughter to the recipients and also promote the foundation and the art of clowning. One of Lolly’s fondest memories is when they met up with two Boy Scout troops along the way and passed out red noses and told a corny joke. The scouts were great sports. Lolly also left red noses in a few mailboxes they passed by, hoping to bring a smile to someone’s face that day.

Swamp tromping and water wading were the “norm” in Big Cypress and The Everglades. Little did they know that more would appear again north of the Lake Butler area. Hiking along some of the flooded jeep roads, clear-cut logging areas, and the flooded Suwannee River was often times a challenge. During one of the several detours, the pair started collecting “found money” along the road. It helped pass the time and started a competition to see who could find the most. All totaled, they amassed a plastic sandwich bag FULL of coins and a one-dollar bill.

In Apalachicola NF, the hikers avoided the Bradwell Bay “swamp tromp” only to follow the trail into many more smaller Ti Ti swamps. Even though these swamp areas are dark, mucky, and sometimes buggy, they found beautiful wild flowers - especially the pitcher plant. They also encountered several water moccasins and experienced sights that no one else sees unless they physically hike them themselves.

The orange blazes seemed to disappear in the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge and they ended up camping in a peninsula in the middle of a swamp. All night Lolly could hear either alligators and/or bears sloshing around in the swamp grass. She was too afraid to get out of the tent to take a look.  Donna slept through it all - how fortunate.

The most interesting night on the trail happened on Eglin Air Force Base. The two had just settled into their tents when the “war games” started - at least that’s what they called them. It all began with helicopters going right over at tree line with no lights except small red ones in the back. Then the simulated bombs started going off along with what sounded like machine guns firing away. It all lasted an hour and then the forest became totally quiet again.

Both Donna and Lolly cannot say enough about the many “trail angels” they met along the entire Florida Trail. Some work for the Florida Trail Association and contribute to the maintenance and promotion of the trail. Some angels stopped along the road to give them cold water, snack food, and/or invite the hikers into their homes. Still others were family and friends. One trail angel who took them “under his wing” for several days was a gentleman whose life revolves around long-distance hikers. He lives in his van and travels among all eight of the National Scenic Trails looking for hikers to help. He slack-packed the pair of them, took them to town for pizza, and brought back food from town for their supper. He was a good and kind supporter of their trek. At the writing of this article, he was helping Nimblewill Nomad on the Pacific Crest Trail.

The trek ended at Fort Pickens on the Gulf Islands National Seashore amidst electrical storms. It was unfortunate because the hikers would like to have spent more time enjoying the beauty and learning more about the history of the fort.  However, they were grungy, tired, and soaked through from the rain, and still had to hike all the way back to Pensacola.  On the way back to Pensacola in the rain a trail angel ranger named Larry picked them up in his SUV and brought them safely back to where Lolly’s husband was waiting.

Along a few of the road walks, Donna and Lolly were warned about the dangers of two older women hiking alone on the isolated roads and forest trails. They heard stories of a serial killer in one of the towns they came near and the killer of a hiker on a trail in Florida. They were told a story about a mother bear and her cub that had killed a goat at a farm near the trail and was finally caught and released into Eglin Air Force Base wildlife preserve. As backpackers hiking a mapped out trail they simply continued on, but were alert. Never once did they fear for any danger from animals or humans.

Backpacking the Florida Trail was a “journey into the unknown” for Donna and Lolly. Every day was an adventure. All the people they met, the challenges and surprises they encountered and the fun they had laughing at themselves made the hike a truly wonderful experience and one that will be remembered fondly by both of them.