Hitting the Trail: Updating "Hiking Virginia"

When we’re not paddling this fall, we’ll be hitting the trail, quite literally, to update our first book, Hiking Virginia. It’s been 10 years since we did the initial research, so we are going to re-hike many of them, add new chapters (like James River State Park, which wasn’t even open back then!), and add GPS coordinates and color photos to every chapter. 

We’re excited to make this book we love even better: a National Outdoor Book Award Honorable Mention, it has sold more than 20,000 copies. 

We’ll be posting trail reports here weekly, from easy walks near cities, like Newport News Park, to the lung-busting 100-plus-mile Pine Mountain Trail that follows the high ridge between Virginia and Kentucky.  The first post will be up soon!

Florida Keys Kayaking Trips in 2011

We're now taking reservations for our 2011 Florida Keys paddling trips for mid-January through March!

Customized itineraries range from one-day paddles to Key West, Seven Mile Bridge overnights, 3-days in the backcountry to the full 100-mile 10-day adventure from Key Largo to Key West.

Join us, outdoor writers and kayak guides Bill and Mary Burnham, for multi-day kayak camping trips in the Florida Keys this winter. You'll find yourself literally paddling from the pages of the our award-winning Florida Keys Paddling Atlas.

Trips include all camping and kayaking gear, meals cooked for you, and instruction. Each couple or family will take home a signed copy of our Atlas, winner of a National Outdoor Book Award. 

We've just uploaded Customer Reviews from last year's trips.Visit BurnhamGuides.com to start paddling in paradise!  Call 305-240-3298 or e-mail with your dates.

Book-Signing/Kayak Shop Opening April 9

We've chosen Onancock's Second Friday art stroll (April 9, 5-8 pm) to open SouthEast Expedition's newest kayak shop on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and debut our two new outdoor books, hot off the press!

After 3 years leading kayak trips in the Onancock area for Dave Burden's SouthEast Expeditions, we are excited to now have an on-water location for tours, rentals and paddling gear. Headquartered at Sunset Beach near Cape Charles on the southern tip of the Eastern Shore of VA, SouthEast has been the premiere kayak outfitter on the shore for the last decade.

The historic Steamboat Ticket Office is an ideal spot for the northern shore Onancock-area tours. It sits right next to the historic Hopkins Bros Store housing Mallards at the Wharf offering indoor and outdoor dining and entertainment by chef Johnny Mo. We've arranged with Mallards to offer delicious box lunches to our kayakers!

You can see the little ticket office behind Bill in the photo above, to the left of Mallards' red roof. Both buildings are owned by the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society and figure prominently in Onancock's nautical history and our historic kayak tours!

The first art stroll of the year is perfect timing with the release of our two new books this month: "Knack Kayaking for Everyone" and "Best Hikes Near Washington DC." We're also fresh from paddling the 100-mile length of the Florida Keys, so we tell you all about it and will also have copies of our "Florida Keys Paddling Atlas."

Come see the shop, meet other paddlers, and learn about paddling destinations up and down the Shore.

If you can't make it this weekend, consider planning a visit to our wonderful harborfront town of Onancock with B&Bs, dining and galleries.

The shop's regular hours will be Thurs-Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, but we'll arrange a tour or rental other days by appointment: 757-787-2933

Day 9 Key Largo to Key West finale

Our last day paddling from Key Largo to Key West dawned clear and beautiful as we departed from Geiger Key Marina & Campground. As we passed Boca Chica Beach, we were treated to an airshow by NAS Key West. Here’s a video of an F-18 practice landing right over Bill’s kayak!

From there, much of this side of the islands are undeveoped and you can see lots of birds and sealife. My kayak passed right over a 4-foot loggerhead sea turtle sitting on the bottom!

We took out at Lazy Dog Adventures, where Sue is kind enough to let us haul out our boats. Our good friend Christine met us with the van and helped us load up, then we all sat down with a cold pitcher of Key West Sunset Ale from Hurricane Joe’s.

We’re thinking this route would make a great day trip for next season’s trips, starting with breakfast at Geiger Key Smokehouse and ending with the sunset celebration at Mallory Square. If you’re interested, email us!

Day 8 Key Largo to Key West

This was a day of extremes, starting with a cold rainy paddle and ending with a toasty St. Patrick’s Day at the Geiger Key Smokehouse Grill (and campground, great place!).

From Sugarloaf KOA, we paddled through beautiful Sammy’s Creek, and popped out on the oceanside to sunny skies and clear, glassy waters. It was one of those days where you couldn’t tell where the sea ended and the sky began. Simply surreal. We live for days like this (well, the afternoon portion, anyway!). Here's a comorant drying out his wings:

Even in Florida, especially this winter, you have to be prepared for cold, wet weather and watch for signs of hypothermia. We geared up pretty well with a synthetic base layer and rain gear. For lunch Bill pulled out the camp stove to heat up hot cocoa and tea to warm us from within! What a guy!

The sun was shining when we pulled up to Geiger Key after our 11-mile paddle with plenty of time to set up camp and dry out our wet gear in the sun. That evening was St. Patrick’s Day, so we celebrated at the Smokehouse Grill tiki bar. We were joined by our friend Cameron from Big Pine Key, and met some folks from the Eastern Shore of Virginia, namely the golf pro at Bay Creek! What a small world!

Kayak Fishing in the Florida Keys

Here's a link to a blog post by the Pork Belly All Stars, a group of fishermen Bill took out into the Lower Keys backcountry in early March. Great guys. Hope to see you again!

Day 7 Key Largo to Key West

Today we paddled 13 miles from Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge to Sugarloaf KOA along the oceanside of the Florida Keys.

Here are two videos of Jill doing the "wrap rap." (We do tend to do a lot of wrap sandwiches for lunch since they don't squoosh like regular bread!) and a silent video of ibis feeding in the flats at low tide. Kind of a "CBS Sunday Morning" feel to it.