turk and chitwn's Everglades adventure

[ruckman101]

Looks like it was a fantastic trip, glad to hear sunburns were the worst of it.


neal

[turk]

Thanks. We learned a little about the area and I plan to return. Apparently there are way, way more keys that are better than where we camped and not federal lands; and one can camp out free for longer than the two nights Everglades Natl. Park limits per stay, per key. Anyway, I have more pics. We camped on an inland saltwater river one night and then paddled up through tidal bays inland, to another river back out to the Gulf , across a bay and that was it. I'll post them. Chitwn has better pics of that day. Lots of fish jumping, and birds. Lots of birds.

[BellePlaine]

Looks like a great time.

[turk]

It was brutal. But it was worth it. Next time will be easier, one hopes. This is the take-away lesson: the Everglades don't play. One has to take it quite serious. Of course I already knew that. Well, looking forward to another Gulf paddle in May. This time canals in Louisiana maybe.

[chitwnvw]

We awoke Friday at our campsite on the Lopez River.











The ground there contained as many oyster shells as it did dirt.






Even though the prior day had kicked our butts, we decided to take the long way out and do a little inland sight seeing.





The mangroves are thick and impenetrable.



Turk tried to make an ill fated landing, only to find himself sink into the mud up to his knee, he was lucky to get that foot out with his shoe still on.








Finally finding a place to stop and fix his rudder, stretch his legs. In a few hours this spot is likely to be well underwater...

Leaving the Turner River and entering back into the gulf...almost home. :<

[Hippie]

Short sleeves and wood smoke. I'd be jealous but our season is almost here!
(At least we're done with months that end in "ber" or "ary")

I'm excited about the prospect of your visit. Getting the outdoor heater ready for the cool nights. We have a Trader Joe's now, too. Weather looks good so far.

[turk]

Nice photo-essay T. That seems to be what the tidalbays back inland are about: mudflats and big changes in depth a few times during the course of 24 hours. I really liked those bays though and could have spent a lot more time tooling around there. The wildlife was abundant back in there. Looking at maps it looks like it's just surrounded on all sides by either forests or marshes. I say next time we do a few weeks and do a lot more inland and also find some non-federal keys. We could re-stock up after 1 week. Then go deep into the glades.

[turk]

The first night on Jewel Key. It's about 5 miles from the put-in on Chokoloskee Bay. We arrived by car after about 10 hours of travel from our house. It took maybe 2 hours to get there from Chokoloskee Bay. Tide was in and wind was at our back. After midnight tide was going out and I heard it coming really close to our camp. Waves were lapping about ten feet away. Heard fish jumping and other splashes I assume were raccoons. Next morning we launched here (tide has gone in again subsequently) and aimed for the most distant line of mangrove islet assuming that was where we could pick up the pass to navigate back inland to Lopez River. You can see the waves starting up in the distance. 15 minutes later whitecaps were hitting this beach. Tide was coming at us. Wind picked up too. It was against us. We bit the bullet and went in. That's coral on the shore.

We had to apply sprayskirts. Chitwn's boat got totally swamped by a wave as we tried to launch.



Inland:

[chitwnvw]

I'm itching to get back out...somewhere!