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Everglades Trip Written by Dr. Stoll
This is the paper that Megan's dad wrote, after our Everglades trip. He has an awesome eloquence, that I can't match, but I feel like it was a little worse at time than he makes it seem ;)

I take no credit for this writing!! AH!

"Ten Thousand Island Canoe Trip

January 2-5, 2008

Number in party: 4

Number of nights out: 3

On Wednesday, January 2, a blast of cold air hit Florida, by far the coldest weather of the year. This was the day Megan, Alec and I and a college friend of Megan’s, Auz, were scheduled to begin our 3 night canoe trip into the ten thousand islands section of the Everglade National Park. Megan likes Carl Hiaasen’s novels; the Ten Thousand Islands is the setting in one of Hiaasen’s novels. I had long wanted to explore this area, and when Megan raised the subject it seemed like the right time to do it.

There are over 40 backcountry campsites in the Everglades, only assessable by boat or canoe. We planned a 3-day trip to Pavilion Key, Mormon Key and Darwin’s Place. There are three kinds of campsites: land, chickee huts (raised wooden platforms over the water) and beach campsites. Fires are only allowed on beach campsites. You can only reserve the sites up to 24 hours in advance.

The wind howled from the northwest as we made our way across Alligator Alley early in the morning—the temperature was in the mid-forties and dipped down to near freezing that night. We were determined not to cancel our trip, even though the park rangers at Everglades City suggested we should consider it. Due to extreme conditions we converted our plans to a shorter trip, and chose more accessible campsites. We planned our trip down Indian Key Pass, a well-marked, frequently used boating channel that begins at Everglades City. At the end of the boat channel we would veer to the north and in about two miles, reach Picnic Key for our first night campsite. The second day we would make a short trip to Camp Lulu (just outside the park) and for the third night back to Tiger Key, close to Picnic Key.

The beginning was far from auspicious as we loaded our canoes in low tide that involved wading in the mud up to our thighs. What saved us was the warm temperature of the water, in the 70’s. Eventually we were off, our canoes heavily loaded with supplies including well over 15 gallons fresh water including our solar showers. The wind blew like crazy, mostly at our back, so we made good progress. Pelicans and herons sat ominously in the mangrove trees. Ahead we saw some type of dock, where we landed, and a sign that indicated we were on Sandfly Island. There was a nature trail, but did not have time to explore. Our maps indicated we were a mile or two to the left of Indian Key Pass, considerably off course. Rather than turning back, we decided to carry on down Sandfly Island pass toward the Gulf, and then swing to right back to Indian Key Pass. This development added an additional 3 miles to our journey—the original route was about 7 miles.

We rowed partially with the wind and around mid-afternoon we arrived at the tip of Jack Daniel’s Key. Here our course called for a change to a more northerly course and into the wind. After thirty minutes of hard rowing we spotted a sandy beach (later identified as Kingston’s Key) and contemplated camping there due to the adverse weather conditions. A lone park ranger in a motor boat came out of the howling wind and stopped Alec and Auz in their canoe, shouting, “How old are you? Do you know what you are doing?” They directed him to me—Megan and I were in the other canoe. He brought his craft over to our canoe and generally painted a grim picture. He said the rangers shouldn’t have given us a permit. It wasn’t safe to be out in these conditions and that there was a chance we would capsize as we crossed the main channel just ahead of us where the water was deep. He immediately lay to rest any notion that we could camp anywhere except at our designated site, and said we had to make it to Picnic Key. He was helpful in one small way, though—he pointed out a shortcut to Picnic Key.

With considerable fear and trepidation we made our way forward. We saw the channel markers and we knew we were approaching the main channel. Another clue was obvious white caps. By directed our canoes directly into the wind, and paddling fiercely, we struck the waves headlong and escaped capsizing or being swamped. We stopped momentarily on a long bare spit of sand (Indian Key) to rest. Shortly, we were back into the canoes to complete the second part of the channel. We rounded a large mangrove key and headed in a more westerly direction. We rounded the final key, and at last saw the white beach of Picnic Key. The last 3 miles took close to 3 hours. Now the sun hovered dangerously close to the horizon. We beached short of the campsite, and I had to persuade my crew to put their things wearily back into the canoe and paddle the last stretch to the campsite.

Having survived the harrowing journey, and finding ourselves encamped on remote tropical key; it didn’t take long for our spirits to improve. Everybody felt great, even if utterly exhausted. Picnic Key lies at the edge of Gulf of Mexico, white sand beaches, with sea grape and mangrove trees to shelter our tents from the wind. Two women with several kids were already camped at Picnic Key, and they not only welcomed us, but also helped us unload our canoes. After feasting on a hobo pack, we sat back in our chairs, in front of a camp fire, and looked overhead into the darkened sky to see a brilliant Milky Way.

The predictions had called for a low of 30 degrees Wednesday night, so we had come prepared. The next morning was cold and we got up late. We were scheduled to move to Camp Lulu but my party rebelled, and refused to move. It worked out just fine. The campsite did not fill up, and we saw no more rangers the rest of the trip.

The remainder of the trip was relaxed. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool. There was no sign of mosquitoes, sand fleas or any other insects. Two pairs of osprey were building their nests close to the campsite. A row of white pelicans sat on a bar in the low tide. Megan and I made a day trip to Camp Lulu. We found what appeared to be a family of Florida crackers who had set up a fishing camp. Crows were cawing, but the camp seemed abandoned. Each night we saw the sun set over the ocean, but did not see the green flash. We explored the island and walked on the beach. About mid-afternoon the solar showers were well heated, and needless to say, refreshing. The third day we ventured to Tiger Key for the last night, and again pitched our tents in a beach campsite. Sand got into everything, but we were dry and warm.

Saturday morning we reluctantly broke camp. The rangers had given us a chart listing high and low tides. By consulting this chart we were able to time our return trip to Everglades City to coincide with the tide coming in. It proved to be an amazing help. Even though we headed into an easterly wind, the tide pushed us forward at a good speed, and we reached Everglade City in less than 3 hours. On the way in we saw another school of dolphin playfully break the surface with their dorsal fins. Our trip out the first day had taken us over 6 hours. Just as we docked our canoes a shower caught us. But the tide was in, so we avoided the mud flat. Overhead vultures wheeled in the sky. We saw a bald eagle sitting on its nest high up in a tower as we pulled out of Everglades City and returned home."

If you took the time to actually read this, awesome!
Leave me a comment with what you think.