After doing the Green Trail to Bluff Lake and Round Top three years ago—this year we set out to retrace My First Trip in 2004 on the Red Trail and cut back via Floyds Island. My old friend Peter from Minnesota and youngest brother Bruce from Wisconsin joined me. [Gallery]
Okefenokee Route Map 2024 [source:fws.gov]
Paddling Video with Music
Day 1 – Maul Hammock (12 Miles)
We parked at the Suwannee Canal Entrance and got shuttled up to Kingfisher Landing. Since there were three of us I used my Inflatable Kayak for the first time on an overnight trip.
Starting Out at Kingfisher Landing
We got started in the late AM knowing there would be weather blowing in by nightfall. It rained lightly in the afternoon and then poured for about an hour. We got to the Maul Hammock Chickee an hour before dark.
Packed Canoe on the Red Trail
It became very windy but fortunately most of the rain was over. We had a raucous night with the rainflies flapping in the gusts over 25mph! Amazingly, nothing broke and nothing blew away that we couldn’t retrieve!
Morning After a Windy Night
Day 2 – Big Water (~10 Miles)
Red Route Sign
The second day was much easier—shorter by about two miles and paddling with the current. (This is the actual start of the Suwannee River that flows to the Gulf of Mexico.) The trail narrows as it crosses one or more “sills” that divide up the wetlands.
Cypress Swamp Trail Pano
We made it to the Big Water Chickee without much difficulty and had a leisurely dinner of beans, rice, and beer!
Big Water Chickee
Beer with Dinner!
It was a cold night (38°) but much less windy.
Day 3 – Floyds Island (~9 Miles)
The next day was new territory for all of us. Just below Big Water we passed through an area that burned in the early 2000s—acres and acres of standing dead cypress trees. While this was sad to see, the swamp does go through periodic droughts and fire is a part of the ecology. [Fire Map]
Burned Area
Golden Club – Orontium aquaticum
We turned onto the Green Trail and paddled against a slight current up a narrow (but very pleasant) trail through the cypress. This ended at an embankment and higher ground covered with large pines, oaks, and magnolia trees.
Campsite and Cabin
The campsite sits in front of a three-room cabin built about a hundred years ago. It is flanked by two huge oak trees, one of which is encroaching on the porch. There are several moldering documents on the wall (one of which is reproduced here). There is also a fascinating registry book dating back to 2021 completely filled with stories, poems, and drawings.
Our last day began with portaging boats and equipment to the opposite side of the island (0.2 mile). (There is a convenient cart at the site to assist with this!)
Pulling the Portage Cart
Eastern Portage Put-In
I’ll mention that we saw numerous Pitcher Plants on this trip, most of which were dried and left over from last season.
Hooded Pitcher Plants
This was a long day but worth it given the time we had. We pulled into the take-out about an hour after dark. The Suwannee Canal facility is setup for after hours arrivals with an on-demand street light over the boat ramp and an automatic gate to let us out.
This year we planned an aggressive trip—going down the Gulf Coast to access the narrow Wood River and then loop back through the various inland bays. Yet again we were thwarted by adverse winds… [More Photos…]
Route Map 2024
Day 1 (Rabbit Key)
We set out from Everglades City on a rising tide. There was a small craft warning that day with wind gusts to 25 knots. It was a mostly offshore so the waves were a modest one foot. Once out in the Gulf, we hopped from small island to small island. We had no problem making it to Rabbit Key.
The best campsite is now on the north end just above the large sand spit. [The passage between Rabbit and Lumber Keys appeared to be gone BTW.] When we got there the tide was going out, so after unloading our boats we went for a walk around the island (always a fun thing to do!). The only unexpected change was a thick mat of red seaweed (or algae?) on the side facing the Gulf.
Red Seaweed or Algae
Horseshoe Crab and Snail Egg Case
Our tent this year was new and came with thin wire stakes. I bought some large, flat sand/snow stakes and they worked exceedingly well. The only issue is they required a mallet or rock to drive them into the compacted shell debris under the sand.
Rabbit Key Campsite
Day 2 (Lopez River)
The next morning started calm, with the tide went out. This gave us plenty of time to get up, walk around, have breakfast, and get things packed. As the tide rose the wind came back with a vengeance (it was predicted to decrease each day?). We checked our radio and the forecast had changed to increased winds for the next two days. We were going to be more and more exposed on the coast so we decided to divert inland (just like last year.).
Sunrise on Rabbit Key
We headed back to Rabbit Key Pass to get into the Lopez River. We must have been taking lots of waves from behind because my boat began to fill up with water. At first I thought this must be a leak below the waterline, but it turned out to be the waves over the stern (a relief actually). Only baseline leakage for the rest of the trip. No big deal!
Near Chokoloskee I had cell service so I called to amend our permit. It was very odd. The person I talked to could tell me the Lopez River Campsite was open, but could not actually change the permit. I think this is a real problem with the conversion to recreation.gov, there is no flexibility or local control anymore. [They also no longer handle “walk-up permits” at the Visitor Center.] This is NOT an improvement IMO!
Bugs at Lopez River Campsite
The campsite was indeed unoccupied, but out of the wind, so it was buggy. We got my boat out of the water to check for leaks (there were none). We had an early dinner and went to bed at dusk.
Day 3 (Darwin’s Place)
The next day was basically a long crawl across several large bays against the wind (and sometimes the tide!). Other than a few fishing boats ducking behind islands, we did not see anyone else. Our target was the ground site at Darwin’s Place, thinking it would be unoccupied. So we were surprised to meet a husband and wife from Tennessee who had come that day from Sweetwater in a canoe!
They were very nice and had no problem with our unexpected arrival. Fewer bugs because there was a breeze into the evening. We were pretty much exhausted so it was a quick dinner and into the tent. We both slept very well!
Leaving Darwin’s Place
Days 4 & 5 (Willy Willy)
At this point it was a bit too far to Camp Lonesome (to get back on our original itinerary) so we decided to go directly to Willy Willy, stay two days, explore, and see what that area had to offer.
On the way we had to traverse two long creeks. As we were about to enter Alligator Creek, two dolphins came out and made big wakes right under my kayak. Along Plate Creek we encountered a medium-sized hawk with nearly all black plumage. I later keyed this out as a Zone-Tailed Hawk, which is normally found in the Southwest!
Zone-Tailed Hawk Along Plate Creek
The wind was still there, but a bit less. The high overcast abated and the sun came out. Midday we rafted together and ate lunch on the float. (Up until this point we were just chugging along eating energy food all day.) I should mention how well avocados work as trail food!
Our Floating Lunch
Mmmm… Avocado Sandwiches
Willy Willy was not what we expected: reasonably open, enough breeze to keep the bugs off, perfectly clear (and fresh) water! As we were unloading a 6-8 foot gator approached and then submerged just below the dock. It was like watching him in an aquarium exhibit! I thought it could be a problem but he got bored when we didn’t engage, backed off, and we didn’t see him again after a few hours.
Willy Willy Campsite
Willy Willy Dinner
We had a beautiful counter-sunset and it was the full moon.
Willy Willy Sunset
Day 6 (Plate Creek Chickee)
By the third day were finally back on our permit and headed north. The wind had diminished but not changed direction so for the first and only time we got to sail most of the day!
Our One Day of Sailing
We got to the Plate Creek Chickee easily and early. The light breeze continued so there were no bugs. There were two gators cruising around but neither approached us in an aggressive manner.
Just at sunset we started to see small flocks of Roseate Spoonbills all headed in the same direction to rooker-up for the night. Then they just kept on coming!! In one formation we counted thirty five. We estimate we saw about eighty of these rare birds before darkness fell.
Flocks of Roseate Spoonbills
The tent (without fly) fit the chickee well. (My old tent was more hexagonal, so effectively occupied more floor space.) The breeze fell just at dusk and the bugs moved in so we were more than ready to get inside and close the doors! We woke to a thick fog in the morning.
Foggy Morning on Plate Creek Chickee
Day 7 (Lopez River)
Again we listened to the marine forecast on our radio. A cold front was coming and sometime that day the wind would shift from SE to NW and might be a steady 25 knots! We decided to make haste through as many large bays as we could before the change and camp at either Crooked Creek or Lopez River.
Lopez River Campsite
This was a good decision. After a very long, but not unpleasant day we pulled into the Lopez River Campsite (for the second time) just at dusk. We made camp and had a deluxe dinner of Pad Thai and Mango Sticky Rice. No bugs this time and much cooler. We slept well.
Trail’s End
The next day there was indeed a 20 knot plus wind from the NW. We elected to take the Chokoloskee Canal to avoid wind on the bayside, and had some problems with mud at low tide. It was a good thing we’d gotten so far the day before! We were out by 2pm and met two large groups of high school students about to go out on their first canoe trips…
Our trip this year was challenging and highlights the capabilities of peddle kayaks. We logged three 18+ mile days AGAINST 10-20 knot winds without too much trouble. There is no question in my mind that we’re seeing the results of Climate Change with ever increasing energy in the atmosphere. Future trips will have to take this into consideration.
Epilogue
Desert Solitaire Book
I had the good fortune to pick up this paperback copy of “Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey for reading material on the trip. It is an excellent book both for both the stories and the perspective on our National Park System (of which the Everglades is a part). With all the tent time I read most of it by the end of the trip.
Here is my “unpacking the box” review of the 2023 Tungsten Four Person Tent from Marmot.
Overall the materials and workmanship appear to be excellent.
Tent Bag Label
Basics
This is a classic “dome tent” with a rectangular floor and several features of note…
Lightweight aluminum poles define the four corners and are connected by a hinge at the peak. The segment nearest the ground is “pre-bent” to keep the sidewalls near vertical. Two end sections are blue to help guide setup.
Tent Pole Hinge
You can erect the basic structure with only the “footprint” (aka custom ground cloth). This is nice and not possible with many tents. It creates a stable clean surface to unfold the tent itself. It does not seem possible to put up the fly without the tent (if it’s raining or as a sun shelter).
Tent Poles and Footprint
The tent walls clip onto the frame easily, followed by the cross-poles. These pull out the door panels yielding near vertical sidewalls. I really like this design. Many similar tents have a single cross-pole, with less door clearance and stability.
Basic Setup w/o Fly
At this point you have a reasonably strong free-standing tent that you can move around as needed. Note that no stakes were needed up to this point (on a non-windy day).
Interior and Doors
The large doors are identical. There are four traditional small gear pockets near the corners and two “headlamp defuser” pockets in the ceiling. There are also four attachment points around the peak so a gear loft would be possible (but not included).
Fly Setup
The fly is a standard “staked-out vestibule” design. It takes four stakes (or rocks, tree roots, etc.) to fully shape the fly. Again note that the fly door is wide and crosses the midline. This would not be the case with a single cross-pole. There are two small pop-out vents in the fly, one next to each door. It remains to be seen if these are adequate when the doors are completely closed. It is not obvious if the doors can be rigged partially open.
Vent in Fly
This slightly distorted panorama should give you an idea of the interior size. When car or beach camping I bring lightweight cots as show here. For two people, each with their own door, this tent is palatial! It would be confortable for three, but very cramped for four adults.
Tent Interior with Cot
Specifics
I discovered three things that were not obvious and not documented as far as I can tell.
First, if you look at the panorama above, notice the left sidewall is higher than the right. It is unclear to me why this is so?
Next, there is a second set of four grommets under the fly that should be positioned over the ends of the cross-poles (gold webbing in photo). These are very hard to find unless you know where to look!
Grommets Under Fly
The third is to engage the large black clips over both poles where they cross. This doesn’t affect the fly, but gives the entire tent structure more stability.
Large Clips over Both Poles
Oddments
With respect to ventilation and water intrusion, the non-door sides of the fly have small tabs for staking out. This is a very common design feature that is often ignored in the field.
Fly Side Pull-Out
My approach over the years is to tie short loops of bungee cord to these tabs. This makes it easier to stake out the sides and keep them taut. Water is forced away from the floor/sidewall and ventilation is greatly improved!
Fly Side Staked-Out
Here is the tent fully deployed with four stakes on the ends and two on the sides. With the addition of the side stakes this becomes a very stable structure and is likely to perform well under windy conditions.
Fully Staked-Out – Note Vent Left of Door
The hardware that comes with the tent is minimal: eight stakes, four 6ft lengths of cord, and an emergency pole repair sleeve. Many online commentators have pointed out that there are not enough stakes to fully secure the tent (no stakes for the pole tie-outs and sides). This is less critical than it seems. First it is rarely necessary to stake down every possible point. Second, it is often necessary to augment the generic stakes with sand-screws or other specialized substitutes (like tying to a rock or tree root).
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