Southern Hiker.com

I have recently been added to the Florida State Parks March Photo Contest for a Beach Photo I took a while back at Bahia Honda State Park.

The photo is found here. If you like it, vote for me. It is called “Water.”

Florida State Parks Contest

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On Day 3 of our road trip we finally ran into some real cowboy and bandit history, and lots of it, in the town of St. Joseph, Missouri. For those who don’t know, St. Joseph was the starting place of the Pony Express, the site of Jesse James’ death, and the home of the famous Patee House.

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Homosassa, Florida

This morning I had one of the most amazing nature experiences of my life. I was kissed, cuddled, and connected to a wild manatee, named Goofy by the locals. These manatees have made their winter home in the warm spring waters of Homosassa, Florida. Most of them love to just lay on the bottom, but a few seem to be just as curious about humans as we are about them.

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On this Valentine’s Day, I wanted to write an article discussing the enjoyment and benefits I get from hiking with my wife, and that others can get when sharing the outdoors with their significant others.

This summer the Ms. and I did a good bit of camping together on a couple of road trips and several weekend outings in the mountains. One of the things I started thinking about is the pleasures I get camping with my wife. While I do enjoy going camping with the guys on occasion, camping with one’s spouse seems to bring certain unique benefits that one doesn’t get from camping with your pals. As such, I thought I would make a list of some of these unique benefits, and see what you guys thought might be some benefits I missed.

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As most of you are probably aware by now, six months ago 3 hikers, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, were arrested while hiking in Northern Iraq for allegedly crossing over the Iranian border. Iran has continued to hold these 3 hikers in prison, and refuses to release them or adhere to any international standards for treatment or criminal charges.

Regardless of your beliefs in whether or not these hikers had any business hiking in this region, we as Americans should support our fellow Americans and encourage our elected leaders to get involved in this situation to help.

Hiking is a freedom we should be able to enjoy without fear of detainment. I can’t imagine hiking in Texas, and being detained for accidentally crossing over the Mexican border, or hiking up North and being accused of spying on Canada. Iran is a paranoid country with tyrannical leadership. At worst these hikers should have received nothing more than a slap on the wrist, but Iran has instead made them part of a political statement, rather than act humanely.

News from recent Belgian tourists released from Iran indicate that these hikers are not only being held in prison, but are being held in deplorable conditions, and are likely being kept in solitary confinement for the duration of their detainment. These actions are in violation of numerous international laws regarding the treatment of “criminals.”

I encourage all of you to write your elected officials today, and ask for their invovlement. We need to try to get our fellow American hikers released and back to their families as soon as possible.

Until then, we should be praying for them and their families, and hoping that Iran will demonstrate some compassion for innocent human life, despite their deranged political agenda.