Here is the broad Google map of our trip. Click on maps to see details.
Day 1 - Everglades City to Turkey Key
We gathered at the Everglades City Ranger Station at 9 on Saturday to pull our permit. Two friends from the Buffalo River trip last April joined Everglades old-timer, Toby and me. Bill, again in his Sea Pearl, once again without a motor, met us just off the Ranger Station. A long talk with a backcountry ranger who is going to do the Everglades Challenge this March and waiting for our Tennessee friends to get their rental kayaks pushed back launch time until about 11, but we had wind and tide in our favor, at least for a few more hours.
The paddle out was slow. In spite of favorable wind and tides, the rental kayaks had adjustment problems with rudders and pedals, and one of our friends was having shoulder troubles. By the time we reached the open Gulf near Rabbit Key, the two Tennesseans had decided that out 15-16 miles a day was too ambitious and turned back. We were saddened, but it is always wise not to get in over your head in a wilderness.
Cormorants and White Pelicans on a bar near Duck Rock
We still had 8 more miles to go, so we paddled on to our campsite on Turkey Key. Toby and I got there first. We set up tents and Toby gathered driftwood for a fire. (A big advantage of beach campsites in the Everglades is that they are the only place fires are permitted.) With the wind dying and the sun setting, Bill ghosted in, using our fire as a beacon. The almost-new moon did not rise until after midnight, and the humidity was low, so the stars were spectacular in number and brilliance. We did have a few mosquitos at dusk, but the chilly evening drove them back in. After a mellow evening with friends around the fire, we turned in for the night.
Day 2 - Turkey Key to Highland Beach
Day 2 was a relatively short paddle to Highland Beach. With only about 12 miles to go, we had a leisurely trip down the coast to a favorite spot on the south end of Highland Beach near the mouths of the Rogers River and the Broad River. It was an easy trip with following winds for another day, and there was plenty of driftwood for our nightly fire. In the shallows off the beach, sharks and porpoises pursued the little fish, and a pair of mating Horseshoe Crabs came up to the beach.
Another advantage of the beach campsites is the sunsets, and this one did not disappoint. That was followed by another night of brilliant stars that are only possible away from civilization's lights. Mosquitos and sand fleas were missing except right at dusk, and we turned in happy campers. Bill sailed offshore in the evening to find a deeper anchorage after our experience two months earlier.
Toby paddle-sailing along Highland Beach
Sunset at Highland Beach
The beginning of Horshoe Crab mating season (a little early this year)
Bill's Sea Pearl at sunset on Highland Beach
Day 3 - Loop Up Rogers River and Back by Cutoff and Broad River
Day three was to be a layover and time to chow the friends the Nightmare. Since we had "been there and done that," Toby and I decided to explore the Rogers River. Bill was a little anxious about the predicted light winds and his chances of getting back home Thursday evening as he had promised his wife, so he headed up the Broad River.
The Rogers River was a pure delight. We had the tide with us and there were more birds and alligators than I had seen in the park for many years. Unlike the aptly-named Broad River, the Rogers winds back and forth, and the presence of so many wading birds indicated the presence of numerous ponds beyond the wall of mangrove.
Besides the many alligators swimming and sunning on the banks, we saw White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Belted Kingfishers, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Great Blue Herons (white and blue morphs), Green Herons, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Anhingas, and Cormorants.
Toby is an early riser. He was sitting and reading with breakfast in his lap by the time I got up each day.
One of many alligators on the Rogers River
A film of the birds on Rogers River
After we emerged from the Rogers River, we paddled over to the Rogers River Bay Chickee so that I could stretch my legs. The chickee was still under construction (how many years has it been?) and seems to be destined to be s single Chickee. The resident gator (one of the more aggressive campsite gators), Roger, was there as always.
After a bite to eat, we paddled around behind Cabbage Island and took the narrow cut-off to the Broad River, then paddled against the wind but with the tide back to Highland Beach and another perfect night.
Toby paddles out the entrance of the Broad River into the Gulf of Mexico. I love the scenes when you emerge from the shut-in interior streams into the small mangrove islands and the open Gulf!
Day 4 - Highland Beach to Willy Willy via Rogers River
We liked the Rogers River so much that we paddled up it again for our trip to Willy Willy. We again had wind and tide with us. As we emerged into Rogers River Bay, we went around the back (NW) side of the mangrove island where the chickee sits and into a broad bay with many mangrove island rookeries (park regulations and sparse signs warn you to stay well back). We then emerged onto the Wilderness Waterway for a short while, then up Rock Creek to Rock Creek Bay and the Willy Willy campsite. We got there by 1 - it almost seems unfair how easy it was for us to cover distance on this trip.
Toby discusses the meaning of life with a group of "old men" (Wood Storks) along the Wilderness Waterway
When we got to Willy Willy, we found a plastic grocery bag with a note, four beers, two oranges, and a lime. It appears that Bill had rowed his Sea Pearl all the way into this remote campsite to leave us this prize. It was like the last will of some lost soul. We drank his beer and laughed.
Bill's note
Toby and I toasting our lost buddy with his beer
Day 5 - Willy Willy to Darwins' Place
Day 5 was an easy paddle/sail across the clear water of the backcountry bays with a nice following wind pushing along our Pacific Action Sails. At times we topped 4 mph. We arrived at Darwin's Place on Opossum Key (one of the last inhabited spots in the backcountry) by 1 PM. We found the site already inhabited by the tents and equipment of some fishermen with a powerboat. They were set up neatly in half of the site which can hold two groups. We set up tents and were settled into our camp chairs when the fishermen returned. It turned out that one of them was one of Toby's distant cousins (aren't all Southerners cousins?). After some talk, they grabbed a bite and went out to fish again. We abandoned plans to explore and vegetated as we watched crows and turkey vultures hanging out across the channel. Mosquitos convinced us to go to bed early.
Day 6 - Darwin's Place to Everglades City
The last day, both of us got up before dark. With some nudging from the mosquitos, we cooked, ate, and shoved off pretty fast. There were fewer bugs over open water and we were rewarded by another excellent dawn. We made good time paddling across the remaining back bays as the day fishermen roared into the park. Arriving at the top of the Lopez River before 9, we decided to take the back cutoff to the Turner River to see another new spot and to avoid the incoming tide on the Lopez and the building wind over Chokoloskee Bay.
When we hit the Turner, our good luck ran out. Somehow, we had wind and tide in our favor for five days, but the gods wanted to remind us that it takes some gumption to paddle in the Everglades. After a slog along the causeway and across the open bay back to Everglades City, we got off the water right after noon. We packed up, had our meal at the Depot (all you can eat shrimp and salad bar), and got out of town - the town was hosting an expected 15,000 extra folks for a seafood festival, and that's too much shock after six wonderful days and 109 miles in the 'Glades.
I was paddling on Tims Ford this afternoon in a light rain with mist on the lake. It made me think of Mimi and Dick Farina's Celebrations for a Grey Day.
Dick was one of the most accomplished Appalachian dulcimer players of all times. I saw him play with Joan Collins in a little club in Boston in 1965. He died in a motorcycle accident the next spring.
Each year, it seems, I go to Florida in November or early December to paddle and explore. There are fewer bugs and tourists and the temperatures are pleasant this time of year. This time I had planned to paddle and sail a circular route from Flamingo around Florida Bay, but Bill warned that predicted high winds would cloud the Bay's clear waters and drive away the birds (and maybe the water). So we planned a trip to the backcountry in the north of the Park so that he and Gary could explore the possibilities of doing the Wilderness Waterway in a Sea Pearl without a motor.
The Wekiva
Michael was having wrist problems, so we planned on a one-day paddle on the Wekiva River with Marty on our way down. We put in on the St. Johns and paddled upstream a couple of miles to the Wekiva. After a bit on the Wekiva, we branched off on Blackwater Creek, a large wetland wilderness area. Marty said that, outside of the Everglades, this is one of the few places in Florida where the Ivory Billed Woodpecker might still exist.
I think the sign fell in. The water wasn't that high.
A small (18") alligator.
A small part of a large flock of ibises.
Michael (in a Kruger Sea Wind) and Marty (in an Epic 18) on the Wekiva
Michael
Marty
Skinny little Blackwater Creek
. . . on to the Everglades
My first Everglades trip was 41 years ago next month with the Sewanee Explorer Post. . .
The next day I left Ocoee early to catch up with Bill and Gary. They were planning to be at Park Headquarters in Everglades City at 10 and depart at 11. I would have to catch up at night - they called to tell me that I was included in the backcountry permit and that the first campsite was Darwin's Place on the Wilderness Waterway. I knew I would be paddling/sailing into the night, but the moon was full.
After a stop for groceries, I drove to Chokoloskee to save about 4 miles and launched just before 3. It was a quick sail across the bay, then an upwind slog against the tidal current on the Lopez River. Freed from the tide at Sunday Bay, I was able to power sail (paddle and sail) across Sunday Bay and Oyster Bay before sunset.
Sunset over Oyster Bay
Moonrise over Huston Bay
My GPS track for Day 1
I continued to paddle sail across the Houston Bays and Chevelier Bay, arriving at Darwin's Place at about 7. Bill, Gary and I sat there by the shore for another hour or so, enjoying the warm moonlight and having a beer with the mosquitoes surprisingly light, even for this time of year. Gary and I set up tents and Bill slept on board his Sea Pearl, Moonshadow.
The next day had the unknown challenges for the Sea Pearl. Alligator Creek and Plate Creek are narrow, meandering passages. Power skiffs (of the day fishermen) and a canoe have to pass carefully to get past one another, and the canopy can close overhead, making masts a real liability. Though they got through the wider Alligator Creek by rowing and furling their sails, skinnier Plate Creek required that the masts be taken down. Even in my Kruger, I dropped sails and had to watch both inflatable amass and the mast at the same time.
In Plate Creek, Bill and Gary encountered an Anhinga warped in fishing line and impaled with a fish hook. They managed to unhook and untangle the bird. Toby, who joined us later, suggested that they had deprived an alligator of a meal.
Sea Pearl Moonshadow sailing
Moonshadow on Alligator Creek
After Plate Creek, the passages opened up and we were able to sail more. Arriving at second Bay of Lostman's River, we turned downwind and sailed WSW toward the mouth.
Sailing on Onion Key Bay
Sailing on Onion Key Bay
We had a faster and faster run down Lostman's River as the fetch made the waves larger and larger, surfing us along. We stopped at the entrance at the site of the former ranger station, campground and radio tower. When I first came to the Everglades in the early 70s, the tower was a navigational landmark on the coast. Now we have GPS.
We then sailed down Highland Beach in building winds, protected from the fetch by the shore. We found our campsite beneath some cabbage palms early. After setting up tents, we all got on the Sea Pearl and sailed down to the Broad River entrance to show Gary (this was his first Everglades trip.). Beer and Jarlsberg cheese and crackers made this a sunset cruise to match any commercial ones.
As night came, the bugs drove us into our tents and Bill to his boat. After being rocked about by the minimal surf, Bill rowed farther out to get a better night's sleep.
Highland Beach, we knew, was subject to mud flats when the tides go out, but we hadn't quite comprehended the distance that a new moon low tide would bring.
Bill wades in from his grounded boat on Highland Beach
Just as much ground offshore of the Sea Pearl as there is between it and the shore!
We were in no hurry, since the next campsite was only 15 miles away and the winds were favorable. Finally freed from the low tide, we launched around 10:30. High winds encouraged us to stay as close to the shore as the charted shallows would allow. We did, however, have to cross the wide-open mouth of Lostman's River with nothing to block the wind from way back into the mangroves.
Gary's video of me sailing across the mouth of Lostman's
My video of Bill and Gary in the Sea Pearl at about the same time
Once past Lostman's, the seas were smoother, though the wind built a little. I kept the main sheet in my hand the whole time so that I could spill the wind when a gust threatened to tip me over. By 1:30 we were at New Turkey Key, our destination for the day. Toby, who had been following our SPOT track on his waterproofed iPad, was waiting there for us.
New Turkey Key is actually three keys (at high tide) that are getting cut into pieces and diminished by the wind and waves of the Gulf. Man is not interfering much here, so new land is being built somewhere else. Sand and shell islands are ephemeral things - change is the norm in Nature. We waded to another part to explore, and Gary found a live conch. Toby told us how it conch drill holes in clams to eat the organisms inside (I had always wondered where those holes came from.).
As we prepared supper, a big trawler pleasure boat pulled up and anchored just offshore. Anchoring within sight of a designated campsite is against park regulations. They went inside to watch TV as we sat on the beach, watching the day end and the night begin. Different strokes for different folks. At least they weren't running a generator.
The GPS track for Days 2 and 3
The next day we started early to take advantage of the lighter winds since we would have a lot more open water today. Toby and I went inside through the shallows, while Moonshadow went on the deeper outside route. By the time our courses converged in the channel behind Pavilion Key, they were well ahead of us.
Toby sailing near Rabbit Key
Toby sailing reefed early on
Sailing unreefed later in the day
The wind eased a bit, and we shook out our reefs around the remains of Little Pavilion Key. By late morning, we had reached our destination at the new Jewell Key campsite.
As we nibbled on lunch, Bill and Gary began to calculate the variables for the trip in to Everglades City the next day. They would be faced with another New Moon low tide and the current and wind would be against them. They decided to see how far they could get today, planning to meet us for the shrimp and salad bar at the old train depot in Everglades City the next day. Toby and I felt that it would be an easy paddle in in our Krugers, so we stayed, not wanting to end this stay in Paradise.
Flocks of white pelicans (they're mostly black from underneath!)
Shorebirds nestled down at sunset
The Jewell Key campsite
We explored the little island, set up our tents, put away our sail rigs, and sat in the shade to read and nibble. We watched large groups of white pelicans (what is the collective noun?) move about as the rising tide captured their sandbar gathering places. After dark, with moonrise still a couple of hours off, we used an app on Toby's iPad to explore the stars in the heavens and the map app to figure out which towns made the glowing areas on the horizon. Then, as we did every night, we crawled into bed well before 8.
Dawn the final morning
Toby and I rose at dawn, folded our tents, and paddled into the tide and wind to explore Sandfly Pass. The elements kept us below 3 mph most of the time, but in two hours we were at the Ranger station at Everglades City. A note on Toby's truck told us that Bill and Gary had left the evening before, but we would wait around for the shrimp and salad bar to open. We were the first customers when it opened at 10:30!
The GPS track for days 4 and 5the grey
(The red line is an Everglades Challenge track. The grey line is this track.)
It was a relatively easy trip - 67 miles in almost five days. Great friends, cool weather, favorable winds, few bugs, and the extravagantly abundant life of the Everglades! I'll be back next year.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
