Like so many other thru-hikers, Bill took on a trail name. These names are easier to remember than your given name. Bill chose FireBall for two reasons. First because he is known for lots of energy. Secondly, because he likes to eat FireBall candy while he is hiking. It helps keep his mouth from feeling so dry after a day of huffing and puffing along the trail.
FireBall is a hiking fool!
After 33 years of service, Bill Luttge retired from the University of Florida College of Medicine as a Professor Emeritus. The day after his escape from work in February of 2004 he started hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Georgia, finishing in Maine in late September. During this adventure, he took on the trail name, FireBall, and became a hiking fool.
In 2005, FireBall completed about 2/3 of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), stopping when his wife, Hot Chocolate became ill. In 2006 he hiked the Tuscarora Trail (TT) through Pennsylvania and Virginia in steaming hot August. In 2007 he started the PCT all over again at the Mexican border, but this time around he made it all the way to Canada by mid-September. In 2008, he was joined by his wife on a thru-hike of the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) along the north shore of Lake Superior. In 2009, Hot Chocolate joined FireBall again on section hikes of the Ozark Highlands Trail (OHT) in Arkansas and the Long Trail (LT) in Vermont. In December of 2009 and continuing into 2010,
In 2010 FireBall hiked the southern half of the Florida Trail (FT) and then left to go west to complete about 1/3 of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) before being forced to stop due to an ankle injury.
This year, FireBall started the Florida Trail where he left off last year -- at the flooding Suwannee River. What a difference a year makes! With record drought, his hike along the Suwannee River revealed steep banks and exposed Cypress Tree roots. These drought conditions and high temperatures in the upper 90s and even over 100, made this hike the most challenging FireBall has ever faced.
Despite these conditions, he completed the FT at the Alabama border on June 12. Once finished we planned to continue towards the northwest where FireBall would begin his CDT hike at the Canadian border, north of Glacier National Park to start his south bound journey with a goal of reaching Mexico just after Halloween.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature once again has spoken. FireBall is now in a wait and see mode back at his home in Florida. At mid-June the class of 2011 CDT thru-hiker hopefuls were still waiting to start, due to record snow fall levels at 200-400% above normal. Some scraped their whole hike plans for this year. We'll see where the rest of the summer takes us.
