Hanging on the Wilderness Waterway

I just got back from a Florida trip where we kayaked 103 miles from Everglades City to Flamingo. We used chickees at Crooked Creek, Oyster Bay, and South Joe. We also used ground sites at Darwin's Place, Lostman's Five, Willy Willy, Broad River, and Graveyard Creek. I was able to find a spot to hang the hammock at all of the ground sites except Darwin's and Lostman's. The chickees are platforms with 4 x 4s supporting the roof, so I hung from them.

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9 days of paddling, 8 nights, and we had near mirror water the entire time except for crossing a few large bays. Even there, the water was not bad. I FBC'd my dinners and breakfasts, while eating bars, jerky, and nuts for lunches. Bugs were really bad at Broad River and Graveyard, but otherwise were tolerable.

We usually had such easy paddling that we were at the next campsite after about 4 hours of travel. We made most sites by about 1 PM, leaving the afternoon for short exploratory excursions.

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Contrary to those road crossing signs where you never see a deer or an elk, we saw alligators in Alligator Creek, a shark at Shark Point, and Oysters in Oyster Bay. However, the Swedish Bikini team did not show up at Broad River.

I saw many gators, some only 18 inches long, and others near 12 ft. Birds, and turtles too numerous to count, and the single 4 ft sand shark as it cruised alongside my 'yak. Luckily, I was standing onshore reaching into my 'yak when he cruised by. Sure did make the fish jumpy.

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BB in the background

I will say that this year, Jan was much better weather than what I had last March. Made for a much nicer trek.

http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/x...3/DSCN1947.jpg


Rest of the pics here:

http://s769.beta.photobucket.com/use...rglades%202013

Wow, nice report and AMAZING pics. I enjoy kayak camping - thanks for feeding my winter craving!

i always enjoy camping along the water. great pics. thanks for sharing!

So many go to the Everglades and never see it. You lived it!
Did you carry enough fresh water or use a desalinator?

We carried 8 gallons each, for the 9 days. Ended up only using 4 each. I edited the post to add the rest of the pics in the album linked at the end.

My favorite. Look closely in the shadows at the bottom, and you can see my reflection as I leaned out over the chickee to get the shot of my partner's bow.

http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/x...3/DSCN1964.jpg

That was an amazing trip
Thanks for sharing
Koh

Looks like a great time, thanks for sharing your trip

Nice trip report. Thank you for the link to more picts.
Now I want to get my Yak out.

Great report and you pictures are most excellent!

That looks awesome... Makes me want a yak... But I'm not sure there is a place big enough to store one except over the top of the tv or over the couch in the living room...

very cool!!!

Great trip. I really enjoyed the pictures. What was up with the tents on the deck?

Those platform decks are where we needed to sleep. All other surfaces were not suitable. I knew I might not be able to hang at every site, so I brought an old tent for just such an occasion. Like most other National Parks, Everglades restricts where you can camp. On our chosen route, I ended up sleeping in the tent only 2 nights.

Nice trip. I might get talked into paddling with gators yet... ;-)

Looks awfully pretty down there in the 'glades. Never managed to make it myself...maybe I need to invest in a kayak. For sure, this is the time of year to enjoy south Florida; any other time is just too durned hot.

more pictures added to the album, from my bud's camera.

http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/x...3/IMG_2111.jpg

http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/x...3/IMG_2118.jpg

Looks like a beautiful trip.... my wish list for places to see and all keeps on growing...

Good to have dreams left to dream....

Thanks for sharing...

Grtz Johan

Beautiful place. Thanks for sharing.