Everglades National Park: Backcountry Canoeing

Let me start with this: I am experienced in the backcountry, but in backpacking. I am experienced in canoeing, but on rivers. I am NOT experienced in backcountry canoeing on the ocean! I was a little terrified for this trip, as no matter how much reading and research I tried to do, I just couldn't quite wrap my head around what this trip would be like. Well, we survived! In fact, it turned out to be pretty amazing, and I would definitely do it again!

Some of the basics of preparation:

• You cannot reserve sites in advance like you can at some other parks. You reserve your site when you get there, no more than 24 hours in advance. This drove me crazy as a planner, but turned out to be a blessing, as we really ended up changing our plans.
• You can pack much heavier in a canoe than you can in a backpack! In fact, we couldn't find the right fuel for our little backpacking stove because people use larger camping stoves! So if you're heading to the Everglades, do some detailed research on where to buy your fuel outside the park.
• You can buy nautical charts at the park, but if you know what area you are going to be in, just get it in advance. One less thing to do, and they were almost out of the chart we needed (we bought the display copy)!
• Always talk to the park rangers about your trip and anything you need to know (you will be making your reservations with them anyway). For a beach site, we needed a hard-sided container for food. Since we didn't have anything, they were able to provide us with a bucket and lid to borrow for free! Nice people, those rangers!
• While we didn't NEED to do any complex navigation for our route, we did some figuring a couple of times, and it really came in handy. Know how to use a map and compass before you head out into open water. Just do.
• A canoe ended up being the best option for us, as they have more space for gear. If you rent from a retailer outside the park, you might be able to find a kayak with dry hatch storage, but the ones you can rent in the park don't have much storage space.
• You have to carry all of your water with you in the Everglades. A gallon per person, per day! So plan ahead for that! We bought "floppy" water jugs, but the soft sides can be an issue if you're beach camping.

So we got our boat, packed up our drybags, and headed out into open water! Talk about feeling small!

On day 1, we paddled from the Flamingo Marina to Johnson Key Chickee, a total of just under 10 miles. The views were gorgeous, and we didn't see a single other paddler. Other than the occasional motor boat, you felt completely alone. The sun was shining all day, and our paddling time flew by! Navigation was easy with all of the keys around, but we did hit bottom for awhile when we were just starting. Our entire Everglades trip was sans-watches, but we're estimating we got to the chickee by mid-afternoon. We saw a sting-ray and lots of large snails (the kind that live is sea shells).

Now, what is a chickee, you ask? It's a platform built up out of the water. It isn't attached to any land, so you are camping in the middle of the ocean! There is a roof over the parts for camping, a lower area for unloading your boat, and even a porta-potty. Here's our 360 degree tour of our chickee:

There was another group on the other side of the chickee from us. This opened my eyes to a huge difference between boating backcountry and hiking backcountry: we worked hard to get to our chickee! The guys camping on the other side were on a fishing trip with motor boats. In a backcountry site in other parks, everyone is in the same "boat"(ha!). We all hiked to get there. While not unpleasant, it was a very different experience to stay backcountry with someone who essentially drove there. Here are some more pictures from our day/evening on the chickee:

Day 2 backcountry was SUPPOSED to be from Johnson Key Chickee to East Clubhouse Beach. However, we got to the "site" very early, and there wasn't a site. There is no sign, and the beach didn't look real great for camping, so after paddling up and down the shore a bit, we just decided to paddle back to Flamingo and not stay the second night. We ended up paddling about 16 miles. The ocean was so calm when we started paddling that it was like glass. We saw dolphins AND manatees on this day and even got back to Flamingo in time to enjoy dinner near the visitor's center. Note: While I enjoyed not having a watch, it was hard! We totally thought it was 5 or 6 by the time we got back. It was 3:30. Ha!

It's hard to beat a morning like this! If you ever head to the Everglades, it is totally worth the work to experience this feeling being in a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean. It was a backcountry experience unlike any other!

Adventures in the Everglades

Well, we have officially checked National Park #6 off our list with our visit to Everglades National Park!

It was a great time of year for a trip to warm-weather Florida, and we enjoyed every bit of it! The start of March is the end of the dry season in the Everglades. The weather was perfect, and the bugs were minimal. Here is an overview of what we did at the park. Check out my other post for our experiences back country.

Shark Valley

Put this area on your must-do list for when you go to the Everglades! Shark Valley is a 15-mile loop of paved road that you can experience in two different ways: a guided tram tour, or by bike. Rentals are available at the visitor's center at Shark Valley. We were planning to take the tram tour, but the next available tram wasn't for a few hours, so we decided to go ahead and bike. Despite the strong wind that seemed to move us backward the first half of the loop, I'm very glad we biked. I was able to stop and take pictures as I wanted, and we could set our own pace. We saw dozens of alligators along the trail (there is literally one every 20-30 feet as you start), as well as lots of unique birds. I kept saying that everyone can be a wildlife photographer in the Everglades, and my photos are proof!

Anhinga Trail

This trail is short, and not far from the main visitor's center. In fact, this trail and the Ernest Coe Visitor's Center should be the first two things you do when you get to the park! It's a great introduction to the Everglades, and a great place to see alligators, as well as some crazy birds like Anhingas and Cormorants. Plan to spend an hour or so on this trail despite its short length - there is a lot to see, and you'll want to enjoy it! The Gumbo Limbo trail nearby was a much faster walk, but we had fun looking for lizards! We also came back to the Anhinga trail at night! There is a specific ranger-guided tour at night, or just walk it on your own! Watch for gator eyes, which reflect like a cat's.

 How man gators will you see? Here's just a sampling!

Mahogany Hammock and Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook

Both of these short trails are between the visitor center area and the Flamingo area, and both are worth a look, though they won't take you much time.

Off-Trail Exploring

At the Everglades, you can hike just about anywhere, as long as you're willing to get a little wet! Hiking off-trail is allowed everywhere except areas protected for nesting, etc. We explored off-trail in two ways. First, we explored a Cypress Dome on our own. This was an area recommended in one of our books about the Everglades, and we really enjoyed it. It was muddy and messy, but we had so much fun finding our way across the soft ground without sinking in, and discovering the alligator hole in the middle of the dome! The Cypress Dome we explored was 1 mile past the Pa-Hay-Okee sign. We just parked on the side of the road and walked on in. It was amazing how far you feel from the world despite being so close to the road.

In the middle of the cypress dome is a gator hole. It's different to find alligators off trail than in the main areas - a little scary! But this was such an amazing experience as we just walked silently through the trees finding all sorts of things.

The other way we experienced off-trail hiking was on a ranger-guided hike that is either called:
       1) a slog slough
       2) a wet walk
       3) an adventure walk
       4) gator feeding
This was awesome, and is highly recommended! Depending on the conditions, etc, the rangers basically just choose the best place they can think of to take you! Our walk was truly an adventure, as our ranger, Kirk, was trying out a new area he had never explored. It was fun to meet other adventure-y folks, and to learn about the park from Kirk. Partway through our walk, we found an alligator foot, followed by a few other bones, and then the rest of him! Only .2% of people who visit the park take this guided off-trail hike. Choose to be one of them!

Long Pine Key Campground

We spent all of our front-country camping time in Long Pine Key campground. We really enjoyed this area, close to the main entrance. There is a whole network of nature trails near the campground, and an amphitheater with ranger programs on M, W, and F evenings. There are no showers at this campground, but the bathrooms are nice and the campsites are great! There are more trees and less bugs at Long Pine Key. Flamingo is a nice campground as well, and we went there to take showers once, but it is very open.

We loved our trip to the Everglades - Definitely a great winter trip! Watch for another post coming soon about our backcountry canoeing experience!