-Total Miles = ~120
-Days = 10
-American Crocodiles = 19
-American Gators = Too many to count
-Manatees = 1 and maybe a second one
-Birds = A plethora plus three Spoonbills (VERY pink)
-Mangroves = Our fill of mangrove
We left Flamingo with a canoe full of 10 days worth of water, two dry bags, and two action packers stuffed with supplies. Another sea faring fellow asked us if we had a sea canoe due to the fact that it was weighted down so heavily but still managed to give us a fair amount of free board (we were both quite surprised as well). Luckily the wind and tide gave us a lot of help and we reached our designated camp in no time. We were signed up to camp at Clubhouse Beach but after a quick inspection we decided to head for East Cape Beach. We found a fabulous beach camp protected from the wind and ate steaks.
In the morning, after noticing raccoon footprints through camp, all over our canoe, the action packers, and the water, the culprit slowly sauntered through camp paying us no mind. Continuing around Cape Sabol (we thought you Sabol family!) we headed for the northwest cape. Once again the wind was at our backs and we had a fairly easy but interesting paddle. The wind created some pretty decent waves that we surfed into camp. This was our buggiest encounter and we spent New Years Eve in our tent eating Oreo Cookies and playing cards. It was a raging party. Upon awaking we noticed that a Bobcat had been checking out our tent during the night.
In order to get to our next camp we headed north up the coast and tucked into the Shark River to reach the more protected interior of Ponce de Leon Bay. The wind had picked up and even though it was to our back, we didn't feel like surfing waves all the way across the bay. The camp was set up with a picnic table and after setting up camp we paddled up the creek where Ron did some fishing where we caught some mangrove. Raccoon sighting #2.
When we awoke, we could not hear any waves. The tide had gone out during the wee morning hours and we were left marooned so we made a huge breakfast and poked the tidal flats. Our goal was Highland Beach Camp and along the way we spotted numerous dolphins fishing along the coast. Upon arriving we ran into an Outward Bound group that was taking their final exam that night. They had to build their own shelter and spend the night alone. We headed up beach and found our favorite campsite which we named Palm Point. We went in search of Big Creek and found the point just past Highland Point instead. The return was brutal into the wind and waves. Another group pulled up next to our camp on the beach and decided to camp right next to us. We thought they had a rough time in the wind but after talking to them, they had just been dropped off two miles up and had not been paddling very long. They provided great entertainment. Bucket boy to our left pondering life's important questions and the three stooges to the right trying to put up a tent on a wicked slant.
Our next day was a layover day so we left all our stuff and headed up the Rogers River where almost all our crocodiles were spotted and our possible second manatee. This was our first encounter with the croc/gator scene. It was super exciting to see them swim out in front of you and then very troubling when the slowly disappeared below the surface right in front of our canoe without so much as a ripple. It makes you consider how close your paddling arm is to the water. All limbs intact, we then took the Cutoff to Broad River and back to camp.
From Highland Beach we abandoned the coast for the interior. Our route took us up Broad River, down the Nightmare (Name understood. The pictures posted show the actual route which the park service seems to kind of clear about once a year. At one point a shallow log forced both of us off the canoe and onto the log in order to float/push the canoe over the log. This was just after we saw 3 crocs. EEK.), up Broad Creek and onto the Harney River to the Harney River Chickee. The chickees consisted of either one or two 10' by 12' platforms with a walkway to a porto-john. This one was a double chickee where our neighbor had a motorboat, no tent, and a lot of mosquito bites.
After waiting for the tide to change, we headed up the Harney River to Tarpon Bay where we began our battle against wind and tide down the Shark River to the Shark River Chickee. That evening we spotted a handful of crab and one firefly.
In the morning we headed down the Shark River headed for Joe River Chickee. The day ETA was continuously 1 hour. Sometimes it increased. The boat guy had said some wind and weather was moving in so we tied the tent to our chickee anticipating hurricane force winds. Our 5 chickee neighbors showed up around dinner time in ghetto kayaks and no spray skirts. There was a lot of cheering and thanking god (no really, these guys were a Christian group). They had a rough time with their tent set up, managed to fit all five of them in a 3 person tent, sang some songs together, and prayed for good winds. We appreciated the wind prayers due to the fact that they were heading the same direction as we were the next day.
We had an easy day of paddling to the South Joe Chickee where we arrived early, ate grilled cheese sandwiches, and headed our for some easy paddling and fishing in a nearby lake. It turns out that the mangrove islands in the lake were too small for the map and really easy to get lost in. By the time we turned around, we were a little lost and once again heading into the wind and tide. We learned the hard way that our canoe as an awful lot of sail area when it is empty.
Our paddle back to Flamingo was relaxing, filled with mangrove, and finally some plant and wildlife diversity once we reached fresher waters near the dock. The manatee and crocodile planted by the parks service even made an appearance together.
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