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 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.
This year we returned to the northern part of the park. The original plan had been a “grand tour” loop with two beach sites and two chickees. However, the forecast was calling for high winds on the last two days where we would be exposed out on the Gulf of Mexico. On the drive down I called and amended our permit to camp at Lopez River on the last night. [Photo Gallery]
Day 1 (Rabbit Key)
We left a day after the new moon (the beginning of the lunar Year of the Rabbit) so the tide was especially low. We had to motor through the mud with our legs to get out to where there was enough water to float. We would later have to fight an incoming tide going through Sandfly Pass.
Sandfly Island & Pass
We did a bit of walking around the old homestead and saw what was left of the old cistern and artesian well. Also saw our first dolphin fishing along the shore there.
Carl At The Well
Soon afterward my drive failed (while fighting the current of course!). Specifically one of the “flippers” delaminated and pulled away from the steel rod that supports it. Thus started a series of field repairs (outlined below) as we continued to limp along out to Rabbit Key.
Rabbit Key at Sunset
The best campsites have moved around over the years as hurricanes have remodeled the island. Our usual site in front of the sand spit (left point above) was taken so we explored a site further down near the high tide line. The only problem was the central tree was broken and stunted so we were hanging pretty low with ground cloths under our butts. The breeze blew all night so there were no bugs.
Rabbit Key Campsite (click to enlarge)
The next day when the tide was out we took a walk around our little isle. Because of the recent new moon the Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus) were about.
Ring of Horseshoe Crab Shells
One Tough Mangrove!
Field Repairs
I used duct tape for my first attempt to repair my drive. This lasted about an hour. The adhesive would not stand up to submersion in salt water. Next I tried a mummy wrap with paracord. This worked better, but the bottom knot kept falling off. On the second day I cut out strips of plastic water bottle and attached these with rope using scaffold knots. [Click for Example] This did the trick and I was able to complete the trip — peddling all the way!
Selected Video Clips
Day 2 (Crooked Creek Chickee)
We waited for the tide to turn and start rising before we left Rabbit Key. This lead to an easy passage through Rabbit Key Pass and up the Lopez River to Crooked Creek Chickee. We had a nice swim, started cooking dinner, and hung our hammocks before the wind died and it got buggy.
Crooked Creek Chickee
Day 3 (Sweetwater Chickee)
The next day was mostly spent crossing four large bays. We had a bit of a cross/tailwind but no real problems. When we got to the chickee however we had a bit of unwelcome attention from an eight foot alligator that was acting like it expected to be fed. Normally gators will be curious but generally do not hang around and get progressively closer!
Sweetwater Chickee with Gator
The evening was nice with a bit of breeze and only a few bugs. We had a comfortable night except for the heavy breathing! I woke upseveral times in the night and could hear wet, sonorous breathing a few feet away from the chickee. It was not a dolphin. Every ten minutes or so there would be 2-3 breaths in exactly the same place! I thought “Gee, is that gator stalking us?!” I looked several times with a flashlight and never saw a thing. If a gator was there on the surface I should have seen its eyes reflecting orange. Very strange! In the morning the breathing was occuring and the mystery was solved. A small manatee had come to sleep next to us overnight! Very cool!!
Well-Pitched Hammocks
Sweetwater Chickee
Day 4 (Lopez River)
Apparently the Park Service has a new rule that you can’t stay on the same chickee twice in one trip, so we camped at the Lopez River ground site on our last night. I had stopped there for lunch before but never stayed overnight. There was a party already on the primary site, so we took the secondary next to the large ruin of the cistern. Both sites have nice deep shell mound approaches, and we sat down by the water while we ate our dinner and finished our box of wine. There was a breeze and it was about ten degrees cooler so bugs were few.
Lopez River Campsite Shell Mound Landing
The site itself is small and set within mangroves, with a compacted mud surface and a picnic table. The hammocks were perfect in this setting!
Hanging in the Mangrove
Day 5 (Return to Civilization)
We got up before dawn the next day to beat the incoming tide. We circled around Chokoloskee Island rather than take the narrow canal behind the causeway. As predicted the wind rose and was probably every bit of 12-15 mph with gusts. We were glad not to be out on the Gulf!
Chokoloskee Island
Even after all these years this was the first time I’d gone this way, giving us a chance to see the Smallwood Store from the water. This is where, in 1910 the alleged murderer Edgar J. Watson (see “The Watson Place” campsite within the Park) met his end at the hands of a local posse who had gathered to arrest him. The excellent historical novel “Killing Mister Watson” is based on these events.
Smallwood Store
We peddled across the lagoon and back to the ranger station without difficulty. And thus ended an eventful but enjoyable trip!
![Okefenokee Route Map 2024 [source:fws.gov]](http://richard.rathe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/okefenokee-2024-1.jpg)
