SWAMP
FUNK
Christy
was feeling somewhat better the next morning, but she was still weak. She was able to eat breakfast, which was
encouraging. Now we just had to hope
that I didn’t get it from her. Can you
imagine a fate more horrible than intestinal distress while kayaking solo
through a swamp?
On
our way out of the campground the next morning we stopped to see the campground
host. We paid for another night, which
meant that we didn’t have to break camp.
Burns Lake was buggy and not particularly interesting, but it was quiet
and conveniently located. It only took a
few minutes to reach the small parking area at the put-in for the Turner
River. It was busy, as there was a
fairly large group unloading when we arrived.
Most of the parking spots were full, so we parallel parked behind a
trailer holding a single canoe. We were
busy unloading when the other group finished.
Several of them left to run a shuttle down to the take out. One guy backed his car out of one of the
parking spots across from us. He went
about it all wrong, initially turning the wrong way. He figured that out and corrected his angle,
but somehow managed to back up directly into the canoe on the trailer in front
of us. He didn’t even realize it when he
hit it. Christy and I both yelled, which
at least got him to stop. He pulled
forward, turned, and headed out of the parking lot. I had a new goal – get on the water before he
returned.
Christy
helped me carry my kayak and gear down to the water. The bugs were fierce at the put in. I was relying on a combination of clothing
and DEET for protection. I bid Christy
farewell, and we made tentative plans to meet at the Visitors Center around
5pm. I hoped to make it there earlier,
but figured I could call or text her from there if I finished ahead of
schedule.
I
floated under the highway bridge and into the wilderness. The first part of the paddle was challenging
due to thick tangles of underwater vegetation.
I’m glad I did this part near high tide!
I was able to power through that stretch. Fortunately, that was the only part that was
like that. After a short distance I came
upon a stretch that was full of beautiful water lilies in bloom. A few minutes later I encountered my first
alligator. The river is narrow, and I
had no choice but to float right past him.
At first he had his eye on me, but he seemed relaxed and even closed his
eyes as I passed by. I stopped for some
photos with my zoom lens before continuing downstream.
Before
long I entered the first of several mangrove tunnels. In the tunnels the river is narrow (maybe 10-15’
wide), and the mangrove branches arch overhead. It was here that I encountered a large tour
group. They were moving slow and let me
pass by. A few minutes later the group that we’d seen
at the put-in caught up with me.
Although they had 5 people, they were moving faster than I was. I let them pass by. The last one was the same guy that had backed
his car into the canoe trailer in the parking lot. He actually bumped into my kayak as he
passed, so I guess that was something of a recurring theme. That group did teach me something useful. I was having a tough time in the mangrove
tunnel because my long paddle kept getting caught on the overhanging
branches. This group was only using half
of their paddles. They were steering
their kayaks like canoes, but the shorter length prevented the paddles from
getting caught in the branches. After
observing that technique I did the same thing, which made navigating the
tunnels much easier.
The
mangrove tunnels were my favorite part of the trip, even though they were buggy. At the end of each the river opened up,
allowing me to enjoy the sunshine. The
first tunnel ended in a large open area surrounded by sawgrass prairie. I merged with a canal here. The river splits into multiple channels, and
I wasn’t sure which one was the correct one to follow. My guess is that it doesn’t matter and that
they all come back together, but I’m not sure about that. I ended up going as far east as possible,
which worked out well. I passed by a
rare stretch of dry ground, and it actually had two picnic tables. This was one of the first places I’d seen
where it was even possible to get out.
It was a little early for lunch, but it was too good to pass up. I had lunch there and enjoyed the sunshine
and peace. The only drawback to that
lunch spot was a fire ant bite I got on my foot while walking through the
grass. I react badly to ant bites, and
my right foot was red and swollen for the rest of the day.
After
seeing those two groups early on, I’d had the whole river to myself. That solitude would continue through most of
the day. Later that afternoon, farther
downstream where the river is larger, I did encounter a couple of power boats. Those intrusions on the wilderness experience
were brief though.
After
lunch I passed through more sawgrass prairie and several mangrove tunnels. I also saw five alligators. The first was on the bank in a very narrow
stretch. I had no warning, and passed
within a few feet of him. He glided
silently into the water just after I passed by. Later, in a narrow mangrove tunnel, I saw
one swimming across the river just ahead of me.
I reached for my camera, and when I looked up, he was gone. Where did he go? He wasn’t on either bank….which meant that he
was underwater. Underneath me! I paddled forward quickly to clear the area.
After
the last mangrove tunnel the river opened into a series of small lakes. There was a fantastic variety of birds along
here, including a whole tree full of egrets.
After the lakes I paddled down a wide stretch of river. I reached the junction with Hurddles Creek and then another with the Left Hand Turner
River. At this point I had a decision to
make. The normal route continues
downstream to Chokoloskee Bay and then continues past
Chokoloskee Island through the bay and parallel to
the causeway to the Visitor’s Center.
That is the fast, easy, boring route.
The other option is to follow the Left Hand Turner River and Halfway
Creek through more mangrove swamps.
Halfway Creek empties into the bay much closer to the Visitor’s Center. That route is the fun, scenic, adventurous
way. Guess what I chose?
I
was pretty confident that I could do the longer route in 3 hours. I was certainly hoping so, as I didn’t want
to be kayaking solo in a mangrove swamp in the dark! I paddled upstream through a wide stretch of
river and into a series of small lakes.
I crossed the last lake and found the entrance to the last, but longest
mangrove tunnel. This stretch was particularly
beautiful, with graceful trees arching high overhead. There were egrets everywhere, and I seemed to
be flushing them upstream as I paddled.
There was no current to speak of, as it was now low tide. Unfortunately that ultimately worked against
me.
It
was on this stretch that I had an "out of boat experience". Out of boat experiences are almost always bad
(unless there are mermaids involved). I
was following an official canoe trail, but it hasn't seen much recent
maintenance. The "river" was
maybe 10-15' wide, and it passes through mangrove swamp with little to no solid
ground. There were several challenging
stretches that required maneuvering through fallen trees. Then I hit the big one - a fallen tree blocking
the whole river.
It was late afternoon and turning back was not an appealing option. I tried to bushwhack around by walking across
mangrove roots while dragging the kayak behind me. Those roots are slick, and
one foot slipped off and into the muck. When it finally stopped my right leg was
crotch deep in the slime. My left leg
was stretched out behind me in a half split, while my right hand was clinging
to a tree and the left was holding the kayak. I pulled my right leg up using the tree for
leverage, but lost my sandal - actually Christy's
Chaco sandal - in the process. Once my
foot was out a cartoonish vertical leg hole was left behind. I didn't even think about it - I plunged my
right hand down the shaft of black ooze. Incredibly, my fingers felt a strap,
and I pulled the sandal out of the hole.
What can we learn from this?
A) Andy is crazy!
B) Mangrove swamps can eat people.
C) Andy's right arm is as long as his right leg.
D) Did you say something about mermaids?
I
managed to crawl across the roots without falling in again. Once past the tree I got back into the kayak
and resumed paddling. Now I was getting
nervous. What if I encountered another
major obstacle? Turning back would mean
having to deal with all of the obstacles I’d already passed. What if I got trapped in here, in the dark?
Luckily
the rest of the river was clear. Before
long I joined with Halfway Creek. The
channel upstream looked similar to the one I was in, but downstream it was
wider. That was a relief. Before long I was passing houses and boat
ramps. I reached the bay at 5pm. From there it was an easy paddle under the
causeway bridge and around to the Visitor’s Center, where Christy was waiting
for me. She’d had a nap on a beach near
Marco Island and was feeling somewhat better.
She even had an appetite for the first time in a couple of days. We were hopeful that she would be up for the
kayaking trip we planned to start the next morning.
I
was a mess. My lower half was covered in
swamp mud, and my upper half was mostly bug bites. It had been too hot for a long-sleeve shirt,
and I got a lot of bites before I realized how bad it was. I should’ve bathed myself in DEET from the
very beginning. I smelled like a swamp,
too. Swamp Funk isn’t just a
particularly fantastic musical sub-genre.
It can also refer to the slime and stench that is the result of
floundering around in mangrove swamps all day in hot weather.
I
cleaned up in the bathroom and changed clothes before we hit a nice seafood
restaurant for dinner. I was famished,
and going back to the campground to cook dinner wasn’t happening. After dinner and a couple of beers we headed
back. We spent the rest of the evening
enjoying a fire (mainly to keep the bugs away) and organizing our gear for our
three-day trip in the Ten Thousand Islands.
Christy had gotten our permit changed earlier that morning. We would be doing a much easier trip that
what we had originally planned. It would
be a loop from the Visitor’s Center, hitting beach campsites on Picnic Key and
Rabbit Key.
Continue reading about our trip as we spend three days kayaking and camping in the Ten Thousand Islands
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!