It took 2 1/2 days to drive Jeffs truck, loaded up with canoes and gear, down to Everglades City near Naples where we rented a cottage at Ivey House Hotel. The Hotel was also the home of North American Canoe Tours with whom we arranged for Jeffs truck to be shuttled down to Flamingo while we were busy enjoying ourselves paddling. The outfitter also rents everything from sea kayaks and canoes to 5 gallon water jugs and coolers. We, however, had brought all our gear from home including most of our food which we packed in 5 gallon pickle buckets from Jeff and Mikes restaurants. The buckets have waterproof lids so they are perfect for canoeing. We spent the afternoon at a Super Walmart stocking up on fresh food.
The following morning we were at the ranger station at 8am getting our camping permits which can only be obtained 24 hrs ahead. we had planned to start from Turner River, a more interesting and longer route than the usual starting point at the ranger station. They told us the river was closed due to "an aggressive wildlife situation"!!!! The rest of the day was spent checking and re-checking gear and relaxing after the long drive.
DAY 1..... The "wildlife situation" had resolved itself (!) but the national park was now re-paving the boat ramp at Turner river so it was still closed. So we now had a relaxing morning and a late start......
Big breakfast, pay bills, get subs for lunch, fill 4 x 5 gallon jugs with water, ice down coolers, empty cottage, drive down to Chokoloskee boat ramp and unload gear. This was actually our first attempt at packing and the pickle buckets worked great. The canoes were ready to go and weighed a ton. After our lunch we shoved off and were away! We wanted to avoid sandbars in the shallows as it was low tide so we stuck to the main channel and made our way towards the Lopez River. The river narrows down and finally splits. At this junction was our first camp, Crooked Creek chickee, a wooden platform in the river. We arrived in plenty of time, unpacked and had coffee. The advantage of canoes over kayaks is the amount of gear you can carry. Our canoes are rated at 1400lbs, so plenty of room for folding chairs, coffee press, larger tents and lots of fresh food. Our first dinner...Thai yellow curry with chicken and corn......mmmmm....delicious! It cooled down a lot and it was bug free so we decided to sleep al fresco.....Glad to be finally on our way after a summer of planning.
- loading up
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- My view for the next 9 days
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- Chef Jeff at work
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- Ready for bed !!!
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DAY 2....After a hearty breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese bagels, we re-packed easily and continued our journey. During the day we crossed 5 big bays (lakes) linked together by creeks. Being midweek and imbetween Thanksgiving and Christmas there were no other tourists around and we saw no one all day. It was an uneventful paddle and we arrived at Darwins Place campsite in time for lunch. We had gone 11.5 miles. After setting up camp Jeff, Brian and I explored Gopher Key Creek, a 3 mile round trip. The campsite was a "ground" site but the bugs weren't bad and the "thermacell" bug repellant device worked great at keeping them away.
- crossing bays
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DAY 3.....Today was one of our longer days so after being awoken by dolphins swimming passed we had a quick oatmeal breakfast and set off. After crossing one more small bay we entered the mile and a half long Alligator Creek. True to its name we saw our first of many alligators on the trip. Some were lying on the banks of the mangroves and some ominously
slid in as we approached. We crossed three more bays before taking a break at the Lostmans Five campsite. Up until then we had been following the marked "Wilderness Waterway", the only route other than taking the "outside" ocean route. From our break we left that route and took a more direct route towards our campsite. there aren't many places to stop and get out so we had lunch in ankle deep water by some mangroves, keeping an eye out for alligators.
The wind picked up in the afternoon and we were heading directly into it. The last few miles were hard work but we finally found the creek that led to our campsite for the night, Willy Willy. We had gone 16.3 miles. For dinner we had a beef stew that I had cooked at home and frozen.
- UNLOADED
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- LOADED
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- Mike and Jeff making lunch
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- gators
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- Roseate Spoonbill
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- Brian enjoying canoeing !!
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DAY 4....Today was a short day so we had a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and sausages. We chose a route away from the big open bays and followed small creeks that skirted the bays. We saw plenty of alligators and other wildlife along the way. By mid morning the wind had really picked up and when we finally left the creeks and came out into Broad River Bay it was really blowing. We turned east and headed directly into the wind, for the next 3 miles it was really tough going. We slogged on and after a total of 9.7 miles made it to our camp, Camp Lonesome, for lunch. The site is so named as it is one of the more remote sites in the park. I had some Google earth printouts and we had planned to use these to spend the afternoon exploring the creeks that lead directly to Canepatch campsite, but the wind was so strong none of us felt like going. We filled our empty gatorade gallon jugs and water jugs with the brackish/semi fresh water so that we could use that to cook and wash with to save using our precious drinking water. The culinary highlight was apple crisp for dessert!!
- Gear ready to load
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- pancake breakfast
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- Willy Willy Campsite
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- Jeff photosynthesizing
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DAY 5....We had two choices of routes today, the pencil thin line of the Wood River or the wide open superhighway of the Broad River. Of course we accepted the challenge (foolishly) and opted for the adventure of the Wood River. The river started of as a small creek then opened up a little for a mile and a bit then closed down tight....really tight. Branches blocked our way, stumps stuck up out of the "river" and there was a lot of tricky 90 degree turns to manoeuvre round the obstacles. The low branch bench press became the new canoe steering stroke. Of course disturbing the foliage also disturbed the bugs which came out in full force. The river was like a dark, green tunnel that smelt of stagnant rotting vegetation. The 100% deet was only effective for 20 mins or so before the bugs were at it again. The Wood River was definitely where mosquitoes come for training!! At one point my face felt like a relief map of the Himalayas. There was no way to tell how far we had gone other than the GPS. Progress was slow and I gave up looking at the GPS. Finally we prevailed and the river opened up and we were out, all of us covered in bites on bites. The last mile, the banks were lined with alligators. We had covered 9.7 miles and it had taken over 4 hours. At our campsite, Broad River, we unloaded quickly as we were hungry and ready for lunch. Mike, who was at the end of the unloading train, had just dumped his third bag as Brian pointed out the alligator 3 feet away from the unloaded bags!! We stuffed a quick lunch down our throats and got down to the business of removing the gator. Yelling, whistle blowing, banging tables and throwing pebbles had no effect. Finally a well aimed tree branch hit the right spot and after a loud hiss the gator slid off into the water with a miffed look on his face (if they are capable of a miffed look ! ). The bugs were pretty bad but the thermacell and burning coils kept them away. That night it rained and it was a mad scramble to put the rainflies on. Up until now it had been too hot with them on.
- Wood River
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- Wood River
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- My face felt lumpy and uneven (more than normal)
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- Wood River
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- Wood River
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- Alligator in the camp
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- Frogs in the Port-a-john
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DAY 6... At Dawn we were greeted by a muddy campsite and 10 trizillion no see-ums. Today we had to catch the tide to pass through an area called "The Nightmare", only passable 2 hrs either side of high tide. We were glad to have a quick oatmeal breakfast and get out of there. The "Nightmare" was similar to the Wood River but less bugs and was a breeze in comparison. There were still plenty of obstacles and tight turns but easier than the dreaded Wood River. After 8.1 miles in 3 hours we easily made it to our camp platform at Harney River Chickee for lunch. We hung all our gear up to dry as everything got wet during the night. Our canoes were full of leaves, twigs and insect colonies from two days of tough going so we hauled them up onto the platform to wash them out. After all that work we used the water from Camp Lonesome for showers....nice to wash off all that cancerous 100 % deet. I had bought a Coleman Extreme cooler specially for the trip and couldn't believe that the frozen chilli I had made was still rock solid after 6 days!!! I was very impressed. It tasted deicious too !
- In the Nightmare
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- In the Nightmare
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- Drying out
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DAY 7....Today was another shorter relaxing day so we enjoyed a blueberry pancake breakfast before loading up and catching the incoming tide for a ride upriver. The Harney river split and we chose the quieter smaller North Harney River. It quickly narrowed down to a small creek and there were alligators everywhere. The wind died down and we made good time, we could manage an easy 4 mph without too much effort. The creek finally opened up into Tarpon Bay. We followed the north east arm of the bay to what looked like a dead end, but a tiny creek branched off and after a mile or so we arrived at Canepatch campsite, another of the parks most remote sites. We had paddled 11.3 miles. After setting up camp and having lunch we spent the afternoon exploring creeks around our camp. The water here is brackish so we stocked up on more cooking and washing water.
- At Canepatch Campsite
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DAY 8....Another long day today so after a quick breakfast we were off. Our packing routine by now was super speedy. No wind this morning, but there were a few raindrops and it was overcast but humid. We saw a number of dolphins during the day, some pretty close. We eventually joined the big Shark River, this time we had a slight current against us. After a few miles we turned south into a maze of creeks and ponds, an area known as the Labyrinth. After the turn we were with the tide and we slowly and carefully picked our way through the maze, with the help of a Google Earth printout, until we reached the northernmost part of the huge Whitewater Bay. The Bay can be rough as it is 10 miles long but today it was mirror calm. we stopped at Watson River chickee for lunch and a break and from there it was 3 miles to North River Chickee, our site for the night. Our total for the day 19 miles and we averaged 3.6 mph.
- Mangroves
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- A calm Whitewater Bay
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- Pickle buckets !!!
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DAY 9....We planned a short day so had a leisurely breakfast and hit the water. We skirted Whitewater Bay and navigated our way along the creeks and ponds that line the east side of the bay. The Google Earth printouts were much better than charts for navigating this confusing maze. We were constantly turning this way and that with creeks leading off in all directions, opening into ponds and back down to narrow creeks again. after a short break at Lane Bay Chickee we arrived at our camp at Hells Bay Chickee at lunchtime, earlier than expected. When I planned the trip I allowed extra time in case we got lost in this confusing area but it wasn't too bad. The wind was blowing and it was quite chilly, we were in our fleeces already even though it was 1.30pm. The Chickee was very exposed and after a detailed look at the map we decided to pack up and press on to Flamingo as the prospect of a cold afternoon on an exposed platform was not appealing. So off we went again and after an hour we emerged at the southern end of Whitewater Bay. We took a compass bearing from the chart and made a beeline to the exit of the bay, it was weird to be paddling open water after so many creeks and rivers. After another hour we were in the last bay before the canal to Flamingo. A few fishing boats were heading in at the end of their day. The last few miles is a man made canal that links Whitewater Bay to Flamingo and we powered down it hoping to make it before it got dark. At 5.30pm and an epic 21.2 mile day we had made it. A grand total of 122.6 miles.That night we had hot showers, beer and a comfortable campsite. It had been a fantastic trip.
- Breakfast on the last day
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- Calm Lane Bay
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- Dolphins, North River
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- Buttonwood Canal, trying to get in before dark
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