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I drove to the Everglades from Maryland. It is an 18 hour drive. I had one stop over in Rockledge, Fla for an evening and arrived at the Visitors Center at 9 AM on Friday January 18. The drive was uneventful. It was a real good wind down time for me. I love to drive and it was very relaxing, with no phone calls, no pages, no questions, and nothing to fix.
Sign at Gumbo-Limbo Trail. By Jerry Robey January 18, 2002 - Friday
I called Bob. He stayed at the Glades the night before as he was in the area the day before and decided to go ahead and stay there. He said he'd be right out to meet up with me. The camp site where he stayed was only about 6 miles into the Park. After an hour or so and no Bob, I was wondering. My phone finally rang and it was Bob. "There is going to be a slight delay", he said. "I locked my keys in my car." It really wasn't funny, but given the circumstances, it was. I drove back to the campsite and met Bob. We had never met, only talked on line via E-mail and Instant Messaging. Now I gotta say, Bob is cool and collected. I'd have been all upset because of the keys being locked in. Bob just sauntered up and said AAA was on it's way. We sat down and chatted about this and that until AAA showed up. Then we drove out and met Frank. We showed up at 12 noon as planned. Frank was quite surprised that we arrived exactly at noon!! 12 noon - It's about 36 miles to Flamingo Camping from the Main Visitor Center. At Bobs suggestion, we stopped by the Royal Palm Visitor Center on the way in. What a spectacular place! We saw every kind of bird possible. There were Alligators, birds, turtles, fish, and plant life that can only be seen in the Everglades. We spent several hours just walking around the Trail. This was called the Anhinga Trail. Everything in it's natural habitat.
We then drove back to Flamingo and stopped by the Flamingo Visitor Center and picked up the back country pass for our hike the next day. Bob had already scouted it out and knew that it was somewhat muddy and had some bugs. The ranger was very helpful in giving us all the info needed. Next we proceeded to the Flamingo Camping. Again the ranger that helped us with the site was very helpful, not too mention very pretty! We picked out a site and set up and the evening passed quite uneventful. We chatted and and had hot toddy's. As if we needed something hot! We chose our site because of the shade. It was about 82 degrees when we showed up. Felt more like 92. It was about now that we checked out the bathroom facilities and found out that the showers were cold water only! Well, that shouldn't be too bad since it was so warm and the water temps certainly couldn't be as cold as in Maryland. I called home that evening and found out that it was going to snow in Md. on Saturday. At dusk, the bugs started. That's not to say we didn't get a few bites before that. Dusk must be dinner time for the mosquitoes. But they weren't that bad. January 19, 2002 - Saturday What the Heck was that!!!!??? It must have been about 5:30AM and somebody's car alarm went off. If that wasn't bad enough, they got up and turned it off, finally, and then sat around and laughed about it and talked about it for about a half hour. That's the trouble with staying in a camp site with many other people. But it was Saturday and everyone started to get up shortly after that, as we did. We got up and had breakfast and coffee. We let stuff dry out for a while before we hit trail. The trail was the Coastal Prairie Trail and it was about 7 and a half miles long. It terminated at Clubhouse Beach where we planned to stay for the night, then hike back on Sunday. We started the hike about 8:45AM. We all wore long sleeve shirts and dowsed ourselves with Deep Woods OFF for the bugs. It was very warm but the long sleeve shirts were a must. Bob set a great pace and were off. The trail was in the woods some of the time and in clearings others. In the woods, it was shady and that was welcome. However, that is when the bugs were at the worst. So when we got to a clearing, the break from the bugs was most welcome. But then the sun was hot. The trial was muddy. The trail is sometimes underwater at spots. Thanks to Bob for planning the hike at the proper time and doing a good recon 3 weeks prior. The bugs were much worse on his recon hike.
I had to take a short break just a short way from Clubhouse Beach. My Quaker Oats wore off. Frank and Bob were kind enough to stop and take a short break with me. Little did I know we were so close. We made very good time. The last stretch into the beach was very muddy. Bob said that this area is sometimes underwater. 2 and a half hours hiking time, we were at the beach. Not bad for 7 and a half miles. If you are ever in this area, always take bug spray. Bugs love it! It makes them bigger and stronger! The beach was great. Very isolated. We were the only 3 there. The beach is more mud then sand. There were Mangrove trees that provided much needed shade. The Florida Bay is the body of water that lies on this end of Florida. Bob provided us with a geography lesson of the area. He is very knowledgeable and his info was invaluable. Made us appreciate the hike even more. This area is totally unchanged by man. It is exactly as it was 100 years ago or even 200 years ago.. Two day hikers stopped by. That was all the people we saw. They had spotted an alligator at one of the little creeks on the hike in and warned us to watch for it on the way out. Shells of all kinds peppered the beach. All sizes and shapes. Some are actually illegal to take. Beautiful landscape. We laid out our sleeping bag pads and took in the sun. I took in a little too much, and paid for it when I got home.. Never, ever get a sunburn in the winter. Doubly dry skin! The wind was blowing quite nicely which kept the bugs away all day. Frank took a hike down the beach and I took advantage of the shade of the Mangrove trees as did Bob.
Osprey. By Jerry Robey The tide was out when we arrived and shortly after, the tide started coming in. We considered going for a swim, but decided against it. We didn't want to be salt covered for 2 days. The water was plenty warm for swimming which kind of surprised me. We watched the Ospreys do their fishing and the other birds flying about. Fisherman and boaters and canoeists went by. Not too many days go by where one can say we did nothing but relax and watch nature. That is what the day consisted of. A very relaxing day. The sun started to set and we sat and watched it in it's entirety. Very pretty. (I'll enclose pictures here). Dusk came on and the breeze stopped and the bugs started. We started a fire and kept the bugs at a minimum. Very quiet evening and pleasant.
Sunset over the Mangrove Trees at Clubhouse Beach. By Jerry Robey January 20, 2002 - Sunday We awoke at Sunrise. Again a very damp morning. We took our time with breakfast and coffee and drying up our tents. The tide was out. We packed up and hit the trail. The alligator that was spotted the day before was no where in sight. That's a good thing. Our only contact with wildlife was the bugs and turtle on the trail. A 2 and a half hour hike back. It was kind of surprising to me that a 7 mile hike on flat land could have been as strenuous as it was. Not hill climbing tough, but tough in it's own right. We arrived back at Flamingo and quenched our thirst then got a campsite again at Flamingo. The campsite was somewhat quieter as most of the weekend campers were packing up to go home. We had a pleasant site. Got a cold shower and decided to hike another Trail. We chose the Christian Point Trail. About a 2 mile trail through some woods and open areas. The bugs were really bad in the woods. We reached the end and stopped and admired the view and hiked back. A trip to the Flamingo Visitor Center and the Marina was made. We took in some sights of alligators and the Supply store. A much needed trip to resupply a few things such as barley pops and snacks. That evening, Frank and Bob went to a Ranger talk on the Lesser Known predators of the Everglades. I sat at the campsite and relaxed. There are bobcats and panthers in the Everglades, but we saw none of them. There are only about 16 Panthers left in the park. Very endangered. I hope they make a good comeback. The raccoons are a real nuisance in the park. I had a run in with one about 11:30PM. Nothing bad. It attempted to get into my pack. There was nothing in it, but it wouldn't leave it alone. I guess it smelled food. I finally got up and put the pack in my truck. Other than that a very quiet night. January 21, 2002 - Monday A good night sleep. Frank got up and suggested that him and I would move to Long Pine Keys Campground that day. Bob was going to leave today. We were visited by some Turkey Buzzards that were just waiting for us to leave so they could scrounge around for food. They are BIG birds. They also put on a show for us. One of them stood on top of a picnic table and spread it's wings and just stood there to dry out itself out. It was as if it was posing for the camera so I got a few shots of it. We looked at the maps and decided to hike the Long Pine Key Trail before Bob left. Worked out well. Bob parked his car at the end of the trail and Frank and I went in and got a campsite. That's when we found out there were no showers at this campground. Yuk!
Turkey Buzzard. By Jerry Robey The trail was very pleasant. About 8 miles long. Tall Pine trees and some open areas. We saw several day hikers like us and we had a very pleasant hike. We chatted and hiked and had a very good last day with Bob. Bob departed and there was good part of the day left. Frank and I went to Royal Palms Visitor Center. There was a trail there that we hadn't noticed the first time we were there. It was the Gumbo-Limbo Trail. What a neat trail this was. Not a very long trail but it was marked with informative signs that told of the Everglades and the trees that were there. The Gumbo-Limbo is a tree and I am very fascinated with it. It looks like stone. It has a red blush to it and the bark is almost non-existent. We saw strangler figs, which we had seen on the hikes, but didn't know what they were. Beautiful Royal Palms and lush thick ferns and plants. I think this trail gave me the best impression on of the Everglades. We then went out to the Anhinga Trail and watched all the birds and wildlife again. It was evening and every kind of bird and fish imaginable was out feeding. We saw Anhingas, Alligators, Vultures, woodstorks and Egrets. We spent a lot of time wandering and watching.
Cormorant. By Jerry Robey Back at the campsite, just before sunset, Frank took a shower. He sat on the ground under a 5 gallon water bag sitting on the picnic table. I wonder why several older ladies decided to take a walk right past our campsite. They wanted to see this good looking man taking a shower! He had on swimming trunks much to their disappointment. Another quiet evening. We sat around the campfire and told stories and relaxed. January 29, 2002 - Tuesday Frank and I packed up our tents as best we could. It didn't rain, but this was the wettest morning yet. We had already decided to get a hotel room that night. I wanted a room since I was leaving Wed morning and wanted a good hot shower before hitting the road. We packed up and drove out to Homestead and got real lucky. We both got a room for $29.95. Frank for 2 days, me for 1. The people at Homestead Inn were more than helpful. Even though we got there at 9:30AM, they were willing to get the rooms cleaned in an hour so we could get in. But we told them that we were going to drive to Everglades City and be back about 5PM. Frank drove and we headed up to Everglades City and scouted around. It is more of a vaction/living area and not many trails. We did find one at one of the Visitors Center along the way. We watched a very good film on the Everglades. There were Indian Reservations along the way that had grass thatch roof. Very Scenic along the Tamiami Trail and the canal that runs along it. Lots of huge birds. We got back to the Hotel Room and hit the pool for a bit. Frank longer than me. The water was cold and Frank was more durable than I was. The evening was uneventful except for a short trip to the grocery store to stock up on water for my trip home. January 23, 2002 - Wednesday I left at 8:30AM and drove home. A very pleasant trip. The trip was different in that we didn't test our endurance on the trails, but there was scenery that would never be seen anywhere else. The drive down for me was in itself part of the trip. I was away from all business and I used it to wind down from the everyday pace. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone that likes the outdoors and watch wildlife. I'd rate this a 10!!!
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