2013 brought average, if not pleasant, conditions for hikers along the entire length of the Florida Trail. It was the year to see the youngest hikers complete the trail – Cody and Zach Umbarger, who completed section hiking the trail with their father Mike – as well as the first year for the Southern Terminus marker to be debuted, albeit on a hand cart. The Southern Terminus was officially shifted to Oasis Visitor Center from Loop Road at the Florida Trail Kickoff in January.
Hikers completing the Florida Trail in 2013
Marilyn “Ameoba” Beckley, Syracuse NY
Jim “Rambler” Eagleton, Ambler PA
Yvonne “Princess Doah” Entingh, Bellbrook OH
Charles Chandler, Boynton Beach FL
Melton “Grits” Cockrell, Quitman GA
Jimmie “Catman” Hoffman, Concord NC
David Divelbliss, Ocala FL
Richard “Five-gallon” Efert,New York NY
Deanna Filkins, Ft. Lauderdale FL
Emily “Sissy” Labit, Tampa FL
Joey “MorninJoe” McMahon III, Harpers Ferry WV
John “Johnny Thunder” Palmasano, South Korea
Kerry “Scribbles” Smithwick, Saluda NC
Mark “Stumpknocker” Suiters, Spring Hill FL
Lynn Thompson, Boynton Beach FL
Mike Thompson, Boynton Beach FL
Mike Umbarger, Orlando FL
Cody “Bear” Umbarger, Orlando FL
Zach Umbarger, Orlando FL
George “Billy Goat” Woodard Jr., New York
Mike Umbarger has published a book about his adventure with his teenage sons, The Florida Trail: End to End, which is available on Amazon.com.
After returning from the Appalachian Trail in the summer of 2012, Sandra Friend and John Keatley set to work doing field research for The Florida Trail Guide, the first new guidebook to the Florida Trail since Sandra’s work for FTA on the the limited edition “Florida Trail Companion Guide for Long Distance Hikers” released in 2007. The first edition of The Florida Trail Guide would be released in October 2013, spurring an increasing number of hikers to hit the trail the next year.
Links that lead to Amazon.com provide a minor source of income for the Florida Trail Hikers Alliance in the form of commissions on your purchases.