by John Kumiski
As we unloaded the last of our duffel, the van's driver roared off, making dust fly as he headed back towards Miami. In a hurry, I guessed. I surveyed the scene, wondering if we'd tackled more than we bargained for. A mountain of gear and supplies faced us, as the dawn sky slowly lightened in the east. Where would we put it all?
My friends and I were at the Turner River bridge on S.R. 41, about halfway between Miami and Naples. We planned on paddling canoes to Flamingo, approximately sixty miles away as the crow flies. Our route would cover more than twice the straight-line distance and would take us through some of the wildest country this side of the Mississippi River, a maze of creeks and mangrove islands, sand and surf, water and sky.
For the next fourteen days our lives would revolve around sun and moon, wind and tide.
If you want to make a trip like this you need good planning and preparation skills, and a good source of information. This report will be that source!
You probably want to see some birds, catch some fish, live life simply for a couple of weeks, and most importantly, relax. It's quite possible to paddle from Chokoloskee to Flamingo in only six days, but it's impossible to take it easy while doing it. If relaxation is a high priority, take my advice and take your time. Plan layover days into your trip so it doesn't turn into an endurance test.
Planning and Packing
Get a backcountry planner from the National Park Service (www.evergladesnationalpark.com) and the necessary nautical charts (NOAA charts #11430, Lostman's River to Wiggins Pass; #11432, Shark River to Lostman's River; and #11433, Whitewater Bay) from NOAA (http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/nsd/states.html). Use them to plan the route you want to take, complete with campsites. Canoeists need a good compass, you may as well get that at the same time. Modern types may want a GPS. Be sure to bring enough batteries. There's nothing like a chart and compass, though. Keep the compass and the charts together.
Choose as many alternate sites as you can if you intend to travel during a high travel time (after Christmas and during spring break, for example). Chickies can only hold two parties at most, and the NPS does not accept phone reservations.
When you show up at the park to get your backcountry permit (required, $20 fee) and the chickee you want is already occupied on the night you want to stay there, you will save time by having an alternate site already chosen. Beach sites can hold many more campers, and tend to not fill up. Get off the Wilderness Waterway and out onto the Gulf coast or way into the backcountry and trip planning is much easier.
You don't want to take a canoe trip through the Everglades during the summer. The sun, heat, and bugs will conspire to make you completely miserable.
Winter is the time to make a trip like this. Between October and Christmas there are relatively few people there (Thanksgiving excepted) and you can experience some solitude then.
During the winter the prevailing winds are generally from the northwest, so if you intend to take a through trip (from Everglades City to Flamingo or vice versa) it's usually better to start at Everglades City. The wind comes from any direction depending on the frequency of cold fronts, so don't expect the breeze to be at your back all of the time.
If you want to make a through trip you're going to have to make a shuttle. North American Canoe Tours, 107 Camelia Street, Everglades City, FL 34139, (239) 695-4666, makes these shuttles for you for a fee, which is much more reasonable than you doing it yourself. Call them and see. They can outfit your entire trip, for that matter.
A few paragraphs back I mentioned sun, heat, and bugs. Protect yourself from the sun with good polarized sunglasses, sunscreen, and a big floppy hat. I'm partial to Tilleys, but anything like that will work. Heat during the winter isn't that big of a problem, and actually it can go down into the 30's temperature-wise. Bring good raingear and some type of warm, lightweight clothing, as well as wear for warmer days.
There are a number of fine products on the market that will keep dry items dry. They're nice, but expensive. I use five gallon plastic buckets I purchase at donut shops. Clothes, sleeping bags, cameras, binoculars, food, lots of items can be dry stored in these buckets. Although not space-efficient, they're very durable, have many uses, and are inexpensive. The raccoons can't get into them either.
The bugs can be horrible at any time of year. The Watson Place, Lostman's Key, Graveyard Creek, and Flamingo are in my humble opinion the buggiest places in the park. Bring insect repellant with DEET and long sleeve shirts and long pants. A head net is always a good idea. You might not need it, but it's good, cheap insurance.
You'll need to carry food and water. Any trip longer than three days or so means ice is out as a method of preserving food. Dried and canned foods and citrus fruits are the best items to bring. Carry all foods in raccoon-proof boxes (ordinary hard plastic coolers are fine) and bring rope to tie them shut every night. Never bring any food into your tent, unless you like furry midnight visitors. Bring an extra meal, something real easy to make, in case you get weather bound or pull in too late one night to cook a regular meal.
I have always planned half my meals to be fish of some sort, and while it's been a close call a few times we have always pulled it out. There are lots of edible species of fish in the park. Sheepshead, snapper, black drum, seatrout, snook, redfish, flounder, mackerel, bluefish, and mullet are all fairly easily caught, at least on some days.
The raccoons will also chew holes in flimsy water bottles. Water has to be carried to the tune of a gallon per person per day, in raccoon-proof bottles. I've always used heavy duty five gallon, thick-walled, blue plastic bottles, with a few store bought one gallon bottles for use inside the tent and canoe.
Although they're easy to foil, the raccoons will rob you blind if you let them.
Days passed and we found ourselves pulling in to camp at the old Watson homesite. Watson, a homesteader here around the turn of the century, was an unsavory character to say the least. He had the nasty habit of hiring migrants to work on his place, which was rather remote. When time came for Watson to pay them, the unfortunate workers would disappear, never to be seen again. The residents at Chokoloskee Island, the nearest settlement, took a dim view of Watson's hiring practices. One night while at Chokoloskee Watson got in an argument and was shot by bullets from at least ten different guns. So ended Watson! Legend has it that his ghost still haunts the homesite.
When to Paddle
Start at daybreak on travel days in an attempt to beat the wind. Frequently the breeze is non-existent at dawn and is blowing 15-20 a couple of hours later. You might be two thirds of the way to your next campsite before the wind comes up if you start early.
Carry a tarp and an extra paddle. When the wind is going with you, take full advantage by making a makeshift sail. The bow man (or men, if there is more than one boat) holds the sail in place while the stern man steers. Expect the bow man to complain about this arrangement, but gently remind them they could be paddling instead of holding the sail.
You will not want to fight the tide. If you have to travel up or down rivers, paddling against a strong tide related current will discourage you, lower the morale of your group, and put the trip leader in a position where he has to defend the reasoning that led to the (poor) decision to fight the tide. Plan your paddling to take advantage of the currents instead of fighting them.
After paddling through some narrow, winding tidal creeks, we found ourselves in Plate Bay. We started looking for the night's campsite, Plate Bay Chickee. "Chickee" is a Seminole word which, roughly translated, means "place where one sleeps". The Seminoles would build elevated mounds to keep themselves up off the ground, which was more often than not wet. The Park Service builds roofed wooden platforms for the same reason, and the chickee at Plate Bay is one of the nicest in the Park.
Recommended Stops
Some campsites are nicer than others. Some have better fishing. Some offer better opportunities for viewing wildlife. While I haven't visited all of the campsites in the park, I have been to a lot of them. Here are some of my favorites:
Rabbit Key- good fishing nearby, great views of the Gulf and sunset.
Pavilion Key- good fishing right from the beach, great views of the Gulf and sunset.
Sweetwater Bay Chickee- out of the way, nice location, good snook fishing.
The Watson Place- buggy, but interesting history. Fruit and flowers here.
Mormon Key- good fishing nearby, great views of the Gulf and sunset.
Turkey Key- good fishing nearby, great views of the Gulf and sunset.
Plate Creek Bay Chickee- a beautiful chickee on a lovely bay. Fishing can be excellent.
Middle Cape Sable- One of my favorite spots on planet Earth. Superb fishing; birds in Lake Ingraham, much more. A MUST.
Watson River Chickee- out of the way, nice location, good fishing.
Oyster Bay Chickee- lots of trout in Oyster Bay.
Joe River Chickee- good location, good fishing in Mud Bay.
Pearl Bay Chickee- the only handicapped equipped chickee in the park.
Hell's Bay Chickee- nice spot, nice chickee. Fishing can be excellent. It can also be non-existent.
Lane River Chickee- nice spot, nice chickee. Fishing can be excellent.
Roberts River Chickee- A beautiful, remote location.
Places to Avoid if Possible
Lopez River- ground site, damp, buggy.
Lostmans Five Bay- ground site, damp, buggy.
South Lostmans- This was a great site but is no longer open.
Highland Beach- great fishing but you can only get in and out at high tide.
Graveyard Creek- buggy. Great fishing but you can only get in and out at high tide.
Lard Can- This one should be outlawed. Ground site, small, damp, buggy.
Other Considerations
Just some odds and ends as they spring to mind.
Don't feed raccoons or alligators! It's illegal and makes them view humans as food sources. In the case of alligators this can be very dangerous.
Two or three round crab nets can add live blue crabs to your menu, a very nice touch. Bait them with fish heads.
If fishing is tough and you encounter fishermen in powerboats, ask them if you can buy a dozen live shrimp. They'll usually give you some. Shrimp for bait almost always equals a fish dinner of some sort.
If you're hot and thirsty ask any fishermen you encounter if you can buy a few beers. They'll usually give them to you.
The fishermen in motorboats think you are crazy. They'll grant almost any request for goods if you offer to pay for them.
The ability to throw a castnet is a tremendous help here, both to catch bait and for fried mullet dinners. If you don't know how to do this some net makers supply an instructional video with their product. A six footer is adequate, an eight footer better.
Take a first aid course before you go, and make darned sure you have a good quality, well stocked first aid kit. You're a long way from help out here when you're in a canoe. Think about what you're doing before any boneheaded ideas are acted on.
There's always more. I once wrote an entire book (now out of print) on this topic. But you have an excellent start here to planning and executing your trip.
I wish you fair winds, following seas, and the best of luck!
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This article was written by John Kumiski of John Kumiski Outdoors and Travel. Contact him at his website www.johnkumiski.com or via email at john@spottedtail.com. Copyright 2007 John Kumiski.
John Kumiski 's most recent fishing guidebooks are How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System (Argonaut Publishing Company), and Fishing Florida's Space Coast (Argonaut Publishing Company).
John Kumiski's newest book is Redfish on the Fly- A Comprehensive Guide.
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