After a full day at the main part of Everglades National Park I feel like the student in a Far Side cartoon: “Mr. Olsen, may I be excused? My head is full!” As hoped, we were on our way Wednesday by 7:00 and should have been driving into the sunrise. However, it was completely overcast and would remain that way all day long. This was although we picked the day because it had the best weather forecast for the week. Luckily, it didn't interfere with anything we wanted to do and kept the temperatures at a comfortable 71 or so. We drove the two hours along the Tamiami Trail without incident but spent some time frogging around trying to get the cheapest gas only to find that most places had at least a 13¢ difference between cash & credit prices. We were in the park before 10:00 and went to the main Visitor Center to find out the schedule of Ranger Programs and watch their introductory video. The first Ranger Walk of the day was at the Anhinga Trail at nearby Royal Palm visitor center. There we found out that the area was the original park, which was the first Florida State Park, begun by the local Women’s Club to save the Long Pine Key, an island of scrub pine in the saw grass prairie that was threatened by developers. Throughout the day we walked about 3 or 4 miles on short loop trails. The Anhinga Trail offers one of the best opportunities to view wildlife, including alligators and birds, up close. The Pinelands Trail explores a subtropical pine forest maintained by fire. The pinelands are the most diverse land habitat in south Florida. We observed a red bellied woodpecker high up on one of the pines and marveled at the solution holes, depressions where standing water is eroding through the limestone underlying all of Florida. At Pay-hay-okee Overlook a boardwalk leads to an observation tower offering a panoramic view of the River of Grass. At Eco Pond we watched a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills and a pair of osprey, who appeared to be feeding small ones in their nest amidst much screeching and calling. We ate our lunch at the far end of the park road at Flamingo. From their visitor center we saw a large flock of white pelicans out in Florida Bay, whose water depth is only 3 feet on average. In the small marina next to the center there was a group of large manatee cavorting and playing in the water. And a friendly photographer showed us his pictures of the pair of osprey we were watching in a low nest, mating. Our other guided walk was at Mahogany Hammock which crosses the Glades and loops through a subtropical tree island with massive mahogany trees. We have now seen and can identify five herons: Great Blue, Lesser Blue, Night, Tri-color, and Little Green. We can tell the difference between cormorants (hooked beak) and anhinga (sharp, spearing beak). We know the characteristics and inhabitants of bay heads, willow heads, Cyprus domes, dwarf Cyprus forests, and Hammocks. And we understand the major difference a few inches in elevation make in the different habitats and in how the all important river of water flows across this vast area. As I said, our heads are full!
After all our driving Wednesday we decided to stick around the campground Thursday and not start the truck at all. That allowed Peggy to sleep in a bit while Marv got up to do the coffee, got dressed and went out in the screen tent to read. He made French toast for breakfast while Peggy cut up one of the 25¢ grapefruits we bought at the Dudley Farm. Afterwards we took our coffee for a walk to the blockhouse Visitor Center but found the upstairs is closed to all but staff and the downstairs just has some poster boards of a bit of information, taking the place of future exhibits. At the campsite we cleaned the front seat of the truck and organized the back a bit, finding some missing items in the process. The rest of the morning was spent reading and relaxing. We made fabulous Cobb salads for lunch and then rode our bikes about half a mile down US41 to the service road for a 6.5 mile hiking trail. There is a mountain bike/hiking trail the other direction on US41 but it is closed right now because of a nesting pair of bald eagles. The service road was a pretty good surface for biking, though there was some loose sand which made the 5 mile trip feel harder (to me) than the 10 mile paved trip the other day. Most of the road was through a pine hammock but we took the trail between the two “tines” of the road and it went through a short Bald Cyprus dome, illustrating the difference just a few inches of elevation makes. After relaxing and reading again late in the afternoon we grilled pork chops and made black beans and rice before going to the “Screen Room” for a concert of Baby Boomer Era music by the Allen Brothers. There will be another concert and ice cream social tomorrow evening and this weekend is “Jammin’ in the Hammock”, a yearly Blue Grass festival. After the concert there were pockets of people playing bluegrass all over the campground, which makes a nice atmosphere. We will be leaving Saturday morning so we won’t be here for most of the festival but the set-up suggests they expect a large crowd.
After breakfast on Friday we drove to the boat basin and put in our kayak. As we inflated it we had three different couples stop to ask about it and a man from Quebec even took a picture of it so he could look into getting one. We paddled for about an hour and a half on the Black River, so named apparently for the dark water. It is a tunnel through the mangroves and we were going out with the tide so we had to work a little bit to come back up. We saw only one alligator and one Great Blue Heron, along with an anhinga and 4 diving ducks of some sort. It wasn’t as exciting as the earlier two rivers with their alligators, turtles, and otters. But it was a pleasant paddle on a hot, mostly sunny day. After lunch we drove to Marco Island, parked for free on a side road, and went to the public South Beach. We watched dolphins fishing right off the water’s edge and sat in the sun for a bit. As we walked south on the beach to a breakwater the fog came rolling in so that we couldn’t see up or down the beach very far nor more than a few floors up on the high rise hotels and condos at beachside. Fearful of rain, we returned to the campground only to find that it was still sunny and 80°. We decided to take down the screen tent, which we had enjoyed having as protection from the fierce little mosquitoes. They hadn’t bothered Marv as much as they had me—my feet, ankles, and the backs of my arms were covered with bites. Dinner was quick so that we could make it to the 6:30 Ice Cream Social and stay for the concert afterwards. They had Bluegrass Open Mike night with some performer-wannabes who, if they had good reviews from the crowd, would be invited to perform at next year’s Jammin’ in the Hammock. The first performance was a put-together group of 4 guys who don’t play together all the time. The fiddler, Gary Mackey, seemed the most accomplished and had several CDs for sale. The lead guitar, Steve Palmer, also had CDs. Rhythm guitar was a colorful character named “Beau”, who sang harmony and told stories. We didn’t catch the bass’s name and he said he was only called at 4:30 that afternoon to play. They played very well together and seemed very at ease performing. The second group, “Captain Joe and the Bottom Feeders” was a bit more amateur. They had a lead guitar, a female vocalist who barely played guitar, a female vocalist who played mandolin, a banjo player and a bass. It made for a nice evening of free entertainment. Back at the camper we began getting ready to leave in the morning.
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