It's Like the A.T.

The Palm Beach (FL) Post has a piece in its 14 June 2007 Sports Section titled "An aquatic Appalachian Trail" that is about the not-yet-completed Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail.

"Organizers are comparing the trail to the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trail. About 450 people spend five to six months to complete a "thru-hike" on the AT annually. More hikers complete sections of the AT as time allows and, over time, complete the entire trail.

"As on the AT, paddlers will likely complete segments of Florida's trail, although some will surely try to paddle the state's coastline in one very long trip — about three to four months as a continuous journey. As in long-distance hiking, paddlers are likely to meet new people, see places they never knew existed and learn more about the coastal environment.

"'Everything you're looking for in an AT hike, you're going to find here, to some extent,' Alderson said. 'There's something about a very long trip that really gets your head straight.'"

But are there primitive shelters a day's paddle apart all along the coast?