Sunday Jan, 18
I drove
straight into the everglades, on the way in a guy was pulled over with his
hazards on. There is no cell reception so I pulled over and gave him a jump.
His alternator was bad so It wasn’t going well, not to mention his car was also
overheating. I told him I would follow him back to the ranger station to use
the phone. He made it about half way back before his car over heated again. I
jumped him but he decided to just let it sit for an hour before driving. It was
a young couple and the girlfriend had the look that this was not the first
time. I was still really early for the guided tour so I did a little fishing
while I waited, nothing. The tour was lead by a ranger and there were 5 canoes
and another kayak. It seemed like 2 of the canoe groups have never seen water
before and were horrible. But we finally got moving. The ranger took us through
the mangrove tunnels and explained a lot of what was going on ecologically. It
was a good ride but I could tell the ranger was new to this area, not the most
helpful on some points. At the end of the tour there is a pond where a
crocodile usually hangs out. This time he was completely out of the water
sitting on the bank. When the tour was over I asked if there was a hike I could
do before the packer game. He looked at my car and said “you were serious, you
really do have a snowboard.” Then he sent me on Rowdy Bend Trail. He told me it
was a 2.6 mile hike. It was actual 2.6 mile to a connecting trail that ended at
the gulf .6 miles away. So it turned out to be a 6.4 mile hike, with the worst
mosquitoes I have ever experienced. Some cool vegetation grew here in the
wooded areas, but it was hard to enjoy as I was under constant assault. When I
made it back to the safety of my vehicle I drove to Florida City to watch the
game. So many individual things could have gone our way at the end of that
game, it was sad to watch. But, as people keep saying, at least we are not the
bears.
Monday Jan, 19
I’m not
sure how it happened but I slept 13 hours. Then I drove back to flamingo and
finally found where they have been hiding the showers! It was a cold shower but
it was much needed. I spent some time kayaking around Florida Bay, but open
water kayaking really isn’t my thing. I also tried fishing, see that fish were
jumping all around me. I even saw a shark make a kill. But right on par I got
nothing. I wanted to talk to the ranger about a longer kayaking trip but I
ended up talking to the same ranger as the day before. He really didn’t know
anything about the area. I made some food and spent the rest of the day light kayaking
through an area called Hell’s Bay. This was really cool, all mangrove tunnels.
From there I went back into Florida City and made some plans for the following
day.
Tuesday Jan, 20
Tuesday
morning I drove over to the ocean side of Florida and went to Biscayne National
Park. But the main attraction to this park is 9 miles off the coast. It
protects the keys further north then key Largo. If I looked into it more I
might have made a trip out there but I was not ready for all that. So I paddled
along the coast line over to a dam. A bunch of manatees would gather right up against
the dam. I also saw old man kayak fishing and talked to him for awhile. He was
catching a bunch of needle fish. Then I paddles around a few islands nearby.
The whole area is really shallow, only about 8 feet deep between the shore and
the keys. From here I drove over to Sanibel Island. This place is known as one
of the best places in the world to find sea shells. I arrived just in time to
see a great sun set over the gulf.
Wednesday Jan, 21
I slept
behind a grocery store and apparently that was not ok with the cops who woke me
up at 4 am. But they were cool and told me where I could go. I planned of being
up at sun rise so I only slept a little while longer and headed to the beach. I
walked around and found some good stuff. Then I thought I would have better
luck snorkeling, but the visibility was crap. And all the shell still in the
ocean had crabs taking up residents. From here I headed down to Everglade City
for some info, I planned a smaller trip around the 10,000 islands area, but I
also wanted to get information about the Big Cypress Swamp. This place sounded
really cool! I looked into going to the oldest part of the swamp but that was a
full day of hiking. So some more kayaking it was. I went up and down Turner River
for a ways. There were alligators just about everywhere you would look. I saw 3
small ones sort of in the same space. Then in the bushes I saw a monster! I’m
guessing it was the mom and she looked about 10-11 feet long. I paddled closer
and eventually, like most females I spooked her. But they don’t run away, they
run for cover. Which is the heavily weeded spot of the river my boat was
currently occupying. She came charging in the water and was only a few feet
away from me but in a second she was gone and the water was creepy still. I
slowly paddled away. Further down the river it turns into a super tightly
packed mangrove tunnels. It’s really cool when the grove is completely
surrounding you. The sun was starting to go do so I headed back to Everglade City
hopping to find a shower, no luck.
Thursday Jan, 22
I drove
right over to start my hike. The trailhead is also at another visitor center. I
stopped in to see what the trail conditions were like. I ended up talking to a
ranger who did the trail a week ago. He did the whole trail, 8 miles in 8
hours. I looked at him sideways and he went on. The whole trail is super sticky
mud, that’s why it took him so long. And he was right, for the first ½ mile.
The water levels must have risen just a bit, now the rest of the trail was 6-18
inches of water. The first section of the trail is some good size trees, and
then it cuts off to very small trees. Each part is clearly defined; everything
is separated by the logging that went on. All of this was cool to see and
already an interesting hike. But getting to the old growth forest is like
opening the door to Jurassic park. Huge trees, huge ferns, huge vines. The land
was never bulldozed also, so you get some small pockets of raised up land
surrounded by water. The ferns grew as tall as me in some places. The trees
have these very skinny vines hanging down further then you could follow them
back up, as thin as a spaghetti noodle. Growing in all the water was what
looked like the plants every kid would put in their fish tank. Longer stalk
with lots of small vivid green spade shaped leaves all around. For as hard as
it was getting to this place, it was extremely worth it! Walking through water
feels like sand bags are tied to your feet. And I was already feelin the pain. I
hiked back and had to wash my socks and shoes in the bathroom sink, with lots
of weird looks. I planned on doing some kayaking through the 10,000 islands
area, but this hike took awhile. So I drove back down to Florida city and found
a hot tub to soak in. I also used the bathroom to shave and all that, when the
security guard walked in. he gave me a look, took a leak, and then asked “do
you have a room here?” all I could say was “ya, I don’t want to get my bathroom
dirty.” His answer was “I hearrrrd that!!” he chuckled and walked out.
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