Apalachicola F-Troop

From October 12th through the 17th, our crew was able to be a part of the Florida Trail Association's most important group, the volunteers. They call themselves F-Troop, and numerous people have been involved in building, maintaining and caring for trails around the state. Orange hardhats of the FTA met the yellow glow of our SCA crew and together the trail shone bright. The crew played the very important role of Project Support Coordinators. This meant all the food planning and preparation was done be SCA for each of the five days. Morning coffee, breakfast, lunch prep, a break in the afternoon and then starting dinner to feed the 15-20 mouths that would come off the trail ready to eat! We split the crew in half so three could go into the field and learn the F-Troop way of building an elevated boardwalk over a slough, and the other three would stay back and do project support work. It worked very well to have members get to see both sides of volunteer coordination. Each person played a vital role in making the project a success.

We were set up at Camel Lake Campground, a very beautiful and relaxing place to call home for a week. The weather was great and the lake provided a much needed and refreshing break from the mid-day sun.