Joe River chickee

The next morning the tidal current moved us along as we paddled down Joe River towards Whitewater Bay and Flamingo.  We made a lunch and toilet stop at the South Joe River chickee because along the mangrove shore there is nowhere to land the kayak.  The woody roots reach into the water, impossible to walk upon; solid earth is yards into the interior.  Chickees are meant for freestanding tents, we had tied ours to the upright posts. This was our longest day, 26 miles assisted by the tides.  We reached Flamingo’s ranger station by early afternoon and stopped to rework our itinerary.  Two years ago, on the ‘wrong’ island one night we were met by unfriendly gun-carrying rangers.  This trip, we met no one except a young Alaskan wrapped in a tarp waiting out a storm.  He’d been out a month, kayaking from Tampa in a 12 foot sit-on-top.  Days later a ranger asked if I’d seen him; they were worried about him.  We arrived in Flamingo early. In two days we’d be meet friends from home with a

Florida Bay

sumptuous motor home who would take Rick, me and the kayak back to Ft. Myers.  The Wilderness Waterway ends at the Flamingo ranger station with a small dam.  Workers at the small marina, anxious to free up space for their rental business helped us around the dam.  We headed west in Florida Bay.  For two more nights we camped on the beach.  Each afternoon the winds strengthened, making paddling harder.  There was only a narrow beach to camp upon; the mangroves die back leaving their roots and trunks and plenty of firewood.  Here the shallow water was an opaque pale gray.  The ranger called the beaches ‘marled’,  between high and low tides gray sucking mud, clay really, could get the better of one’s shoes.

On our last day we visited the ranger station in Flamingo.  There, hanging around the dock were two crocodiles (apparently the only place in America where alligators and crocodiles co-exist)  who, when the tap was turned on, swam up for the fresh water.  A ranger identified other beach life which had puzzled me.  Hard rubbery mucoid blobs (in the intertidal zone) were tunicates. Most were gray, some patterned like turtles.  We saw hundreds of vase sponges,  colonies of smaller organisms which grow together to filter feed.   The ranger agreed with me that Everglades National Park was underutilized.  What other National Park can one visit in January and sleep out outdoors comfortably?   The water temperature was 72 degrees.  It will be far colder in Maine in July.

Two years ago Rick and I found the site: http://www.evergladesdiary.com/index.html.  It gives an excellent overview and descriptions (with pictures) of all campsites.  Nautical charts are available at the park ranger stations.  The site includes GPS waypoints.  In preparation for our Maine Island Trail trip, Rick and I wanted to learn to use  GPS.  It was easy, although Rick’s 12 year old hand-held model does not allow for charts to be loaded.  Time to buy more gear.

Visitor Center crocodile
mangrove island in Florida Bay
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