Thru-Hiker Spotlight Claire "Model" Jarvis by Jane Pollack, Communications and Outreach Manager
Claire resting on a huge Eastern Redcedar tree along the Florida Trail appreciate every tiny shift in landscape detail in such a delightful way. Moving northward, I smiled at many floral “firsts'' that I noticed along the trail: first live oak (mile 22), longleaf pine (mile 260), eastern redcedar (mile 331), beech (mile 615), and countless other plant friends. And, though hundreds of miles of road walking might not have been the most idyllic experience, it did poignantly illuminate the contrast between what these lands have been like for millennia (pristine and teeming with beautiful and diverse life forms) and the drastic impact human development has had on them in the last few hundred years. Thru-hiking it all bestowed on me an intimate appreciation for so many delicate minutiae of these spaces, as well as a newfound wonder (and mild horror) at what our species has done to Florida’s ecosystems - intentionally or not.
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HOW WAS THE HIKING EXPERIENCE TRANSFORMATIVE FOR YOU?
laire “Model” Jarvis grew up in Lakeland, Florida but spent their childhood blind to most of Florida’s beauty. They studied music in Chicago, dropped out, and eventually moved to Athens, Georgia where they developed a deep fascination and love for botany and ecology. Claire is currently “recreationally homeless” while focusing on hiking and exploring the woods, trying to learn all the plants, bugs, and birds. They enjoy digital illustration and cartooning; Claire created the artwork on this issue’s cover, inspired by their Florida Trail thru-hike in 2022.
that disaster, I have slowly become less bad at packing and planning by making some 1-3 night solo trips around the eastern seaboard over the years. The Florida Trail was my first attempt at anything beyond that length.
WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH HIKING BEFORE YOUR FT THRU-HIKE?
Walking from Big Cypress to Pensacola Beach brought me through dozens and dozens of floral/faunal community types: limestone glades, cypress swamps, hyper-industrialized and polluted farm and ranch land, weedy roadsides, densely vegetated hammocks, pine savannas, scrub, estuarine marshes, suburban sprawl... Experiencing the transitions between these spaces step by step over the course of 1,108 miles allowed me to process and
As a young kid, I went on short summertime backpacking trips with my dad and big sisters in the southern Appalachians, then picked it back up on my own at age 20 with a catastrophically poorly planned excursion in the Scottish highlands. Since recovering from 6
Florida Trail Association
YOUR WRITING ABOUT FLORIDA NATURE IS CAPTIVATING. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON HOW THRUHIKING THE TRAIL HELPED YOU FEEL MORE CONNECTED TO THOSE ECOSYSTEMS?
FloridaTrail.org
As someone prone to anxiety, hiking helped me build confidence in my ability to operate under shifting circumstances (weather, closures, resupply and lodging options, etc.) and to trust my own judgment when things are difficult, or smelly, or painful, or boring. It also set a new baseline for comfort and misery, and imbued a new joy in sweet, simple things: running water, internet connection, hot food, time with loved ones, the kindness of strangers.
I THINK 2022 WAS THE BIGGEST GROUP OF THRUHIKERS WE’VE EVER SEEN. CAN YOU SPEAK ABOUT THE TRAIL COMMUNITY? What a fantastic group of hooligans! Generally, it seemed like most people I met had at least a couple thousand miles’ experience before they began the Florida Trail. The FT is definitely a niche and somewhat unconventional hike, so most people I met had a refreshing approach to hiking that wasn’t necessarily all about “bagging peaks” and
