I can’t believe that my last post was September of last year. I guess I got so caught up in trail maintenance and the holidays that I really let things slip. I wish I could say I’ve been out on the trail for recreational purposes but those moments seem few and far between.

I did take the opportunity last weekend to finally renew my USFS chainsaw certification. Since we rarely (if ever) have the need to fell a tree the current certification only covers bucking and limbing. Rather than taking the course in Osceola Natl Forest again I headed south to Ocala. We had some great instructors and a great group of students. I’ll post separately on that.

Something I’ve been thinking of for a while which was further solidified during the chainsaw course was the desire to obtain a quality axe. Today my first hand-forged axe arrived in the mail. I actually have another arriving Tues. I tried to cancel that one because it hadn’t shipped yet but then it shipped before they cancelled it. Oh well. If I don’t like it I’ll stick to the plan of returning it.

On Feb 22 our FTA chapter will be hosting its annual IDIDAHIKE. If you’re in the North Florida area we’ll be hiking a 9-mile section covering both Camp Blanding and Gold Head Branch State Park. There is some really nice scenery in this area so I encourage you to join us. The cost is a $20 donation plus the $5 park entrance fee.

This weekend we’ll be out doing our final maintenance of the trail in preparation. I’ll have the DR mower loaded up tomorrow and I’ve already checked out the chainsaw and sharpened the chain. I’m looking forward to finding some trees down that I can buck off the trail. 🙂

Well that’s a quick catch-up. Time to get back into gear on reviews etc. Happy hiking!