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Untangling A Trail

Tribune photo by Julie Busch

Jennifer Robertson, left, and Megan Eno take the two-hour paddle up Juniper Creek canoe trail to base camp. Eno is a program planner for the scenic trail, also known as the Florida Trail. The Florida Trail Association, the group behind the effort, was founded in 1964 to promote and maintain hiking in the state.

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By JULIE BUSCH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2008

John Mennell finally found the serenity he was looking for, working on the Florida National Scenic Trail.

"Some people play golf; I like to work," he says.

Still recovering from knee replacement surgery he had had five months before, Mennell hobbled over felled trees as he merrily helped clear the trail. He spent years caught up in the "neurotic drive" of life, he says, working as a prosecutor, then a criminal defense lawyer. Not until the age of 71 did he find the peace he longed for in physical labor.

Mennell is a quiet man; his work clothes resemble those of a gold rush miner. He enjoys the isolated beauty of the forest and the straightforward, manual labor.

In November, Mennell and 12 strangers - including a rocket scientist, a chemist, an orchestra instructor and a hitchhiking traveler - descended upon Juniper Prairie Wilderness in the heart of the Ocala National Forest for a week to lend a hand cleaning up the trail, which was left mangled and tangled by various storms over the years.

An eight-mile stretch of the 1,400-mile trail runs through the wilderness, which makes up a large section of the forest.

The work is strenuous, the accommodations primitive. The bottom of a canoe serves as a kitchen counter. There is no electricity or running water, and the commode is a box with a cushiony toilet seat placed carefully over a hole.

But the draw to help a trail in need was overwhelming for these avid hikers. By day four, the camp was on a definite schedule - reminiscent of any family routine - for meals, cleaning, downtime spent together and work. The hikers called one another by name and spoke as friends, no longer as strangers. There was an air of feel-good energy, of accomplishment and camaraderie around the fire, and they laughed as each one told old stories to a new audience.

"We meet the most interesting people; anybody who chooses to do this kind of thing is sort of a character," says Becky Whitmore, 59, of Chilton, Wis.

Toiling on a Florida Trail Association volunteer trail crew, or F-Troop, is a great way to experience the isolation of what little is left of the Florida wilderness. The volunteers traveled more than two hours up Juniper Creek canoe trail, ducking downed trees and navigating switchbacks to reach base camp, each stroke of the paddle bringing them closer to the solitude of the trail. "We find it's a way to really get to know an area," Whitmore says.

After working on an unseasonably warm day, the cool of the creek called to most of the volunteers. Each had a different way of getting into the water. They dove, jumped or eased their way into the brisk water, splashing and hollering after a hard day's work together.

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