Inland Route - Flamingo / Cape Sable

[Terry]

Inland Route - Flamingo / Cape Sable

Before Hurricane Andrew the preferred paddle route between Flamingo and
Cape Sable was the Homestead Canal. Avoiding the open bay provided a
wind protected route and separated paddle craft from power boats. It also
guaranteed solitude and remoteness by staying in the back country wilderness.
The 1992 hurricane damaged Homestead Canal with downed trees making passage
very difficult. As it became less traveled, foliage growth accelerated and
the 2005 storms made the canal impassable. After Hurricane Wilma a plan was
created to reopen the canal and a volunteer group headed by Tom Rahill and
Jim Brack took on the project. They cleared the canal to Bear Lake and
reopened the Bear Lake Trail which loops through Mud Lake and comes back
down Buttonwood Canal to the Bear Lake parking lot. The section of
Homestead Canal between Bear Lake and Gator Lake remained impassable,
cutting off the inland route to Cape Sable.

Sue Cocking, Bill Evans, Terry Helmers and Jay Thomas devised a plan to
survey the damage to the canal west of Bear Lake and search for an alternative
passage through a body of land between the waters of Bear Lake to the east
and open water to the west. Previous trips by Thomas had identified
the narrowest section of land between these two waters which was called 64M
but there was another slightly wider area of land that warranted
investigation. If a navigable route could be established through these two
bodies of water the entire stretch of Homestead Canal between West Lake and
Gator Lake could be abandoned. It would also establish a natural route from
Coot Bay Pond to Cape Sable - the ultimate trophy. The group also had heard
reports of a route that went into Bear Lake with a portage over the narrowest
piece of land between the canal and the lake.

On 18 January 2014 the four set out in 3 canoes from Bear Lake parking lot
and went directly to the narrow area between the lake and canal. The last
time Helmers had paddled the canal was 28 years ago when there was nothing
at this narrow spot. This time, the explorers found ruins of what appeared
to be a dock that could have been built to assist portaging. It's assumed
that shortly after Hurricane Andrew an attempt was made to keep the
Inland Route open by using as much of the lake as possible to shorten the
length traveled in the canal. Today there's a small break in the narrow spot,
making it easier to slide a canoe through this slot and back into the canal.
After doing this, the group continued west through near impassable
"jack straws" (a sawyer term for criss-cross piled trees) but after making
headway of only a couple hundred yards in an hour the effort was abandoned
and the canoe party returned to the lake to continue west in Bear Lake and
then across the lake to its' west. Since Thomas had already examined the
narrowest portion of land barrier between the east and west the decision was
made to continue directly to the other narrow spot just south of 64M. After
negotiating mud bars a small creek-like opening was spotted. Although there
was a 3 foot mat of pneumatophore roots to be portaged, the creek continued
west with a hard twist to the north then west again to the open water of the
"other side". After the search party spooked a spoonbill at the west mouth
of the creek it was quickly dubbed Spoonbill Pass. Knowing "this was it" all
agreed to ignore 64M and paddle the shallow but open water to Gator Lake.
How ironic that paddlers spent decades paddling back and forth in a straight
as an arrow canal, how ironic that a large dock was built to go over the
narrow spot between Bear Lake and the canal, how ironic spending the effort to
keep trying to push through the canal between Bear Lake and Gator Lake when
there was a beautiful natural creek waiting for paddlers at Spoonbill Pass.

On 20 January 2014 Terry Helmers launched at Coot Bay Pond to
specifically survey and map the Spoonbill Pass area. Although launching at the
pond meant it took 2 and a half hours to get to the pass, it reduced the
paddle distance in the canal to just 200 yards between Bear Lake Trail and
Bear Lake. Two additional non-portage creeks were mapped with the optimal
route going from 09.858'N and 59.397'W to 09.857'N and 59.447'W. After two
rewarding explorations, a natural route from Coot Bay Pond to Lake Ingraham,
Cape Sable has been established.

To use the Inland Route, study and printout or download maps of the area.
Carry a spare GPS unit. There's a lot of shallow water throughout the trip
but it's all open paddling.

[yakmaster]

C'mon, one of you hardcore fishing types has to have a through-hull sounder on your yak!

BRING IT, let's get some reliable soundings, besides, I'd like to see what that soup looks like on a Hummingbird high def sonar unit!

Wonder if it looks solid or 5' deep!

Esther Luft said:

Mark it!  Paddle it!  Do it! 

The east/west segment is closed, leave it alone.  The segment after the bend is wide open.  Interested to see how much water is out there.  Can you take a yardstick? Unofficial measurements are better than none.  : )

[Terry]

Spoonbill Pass took care of the Inland Route.

If there's to be any dredging, do what they considered right before the establishment of the

Wilderness Waterway - dredge the Lost Portage!!!

There is no other brochure trail that has brought out the passion like the Inland Route.

Be a part of that passion:

Flamingo - Cape Sable Inland Route Dedication

Saturday 1 February, Coot Bay Pond, 07:00 

[vivian]

Overnight group to east cape has been confirmed for permit. Anyone wanting to join will have to self permit Friday in order to join up with our group Saturday morning.

[Roger Hammer]

Don't forget my Plan B...!!!

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

Is that the pull out, Plan B?

[toofaraway]

Re Closed Areas, here's the list from the Superintendents Compendium for 2013, a very useful thing to read from time to time:http://www.nps.gov/ever/parkmgmt/upload/EVER-Compendium-2013-FINAL.pdf



Areas Closed To

All Public Entry

1. Little Madiera Bay, Taylor River,

East Creek, Mud

Bay, Mud Creek,

Davis Creek,

Joe Bay and its easternmost portion, co

mmonly called Snag

Bay, and all creeks

inland from the northern shoreline of

Long Sound to U.S.

Highway 1.

2 Rogers Bay Rookery.

3. Cuthbert Lake, with attendant rookery.

4 The small group of islands at the sout

heast entrance to Gaskin Bay, i.e., Indian Key

Rookery.

5. The waters immediatel

y adjacent to Porjoe

, Sandy, Duck, and

the Tern Keys, as

posted.

6 The moats and internal cr

eeks, as posted, associated

with the Buchanan Keys.

7.

In the East Everglades Dist

rict; Mitchells Grov

e, Kendall Glider Port, Heck House.

8.

The area known as

Frog City.

9.

The Nike Missile Base, unless as part of NP

S-guided visit or as

authorized by the

Superintendent or his/her designee.

10.

The Buttonwood Canal Plug, as posted.

11.

Hidden Lake Environmental Education Ce

nter, including the access road from the

intersection with Old Ingraham Highway, unl

ess participating in

Ranger led activites

and scheduled camping trips.

12.

Loop Road Environmental Ed

ucation Center, unless par

ticipating in Ranger led

activities and schedul

ed camping trips.

Closed to Public Entry and Landi

ng During the Periods Indicated:

1. East River Rooker

y from Nov. 1 to June 1

2. Lane River Rookery from Nov. 1 to June 1

3. Paurotis Pond is closed, as posted, du

ring that portion of the year determined to be

nesting season for wading birds.

4. Frank Key Channel, as posted.

5. Chek

ika area, as posted.

EVER 2013 Compendium

3



Pursuant to 7.45(e)(6), the Fo

llowing Keys in Florida Bay are Open During the Periods

Indicated:

1. Little Rabbit Key, all year.

2. North Nest Key, all year except when

beaches, shoreline and adjacent waters are

closed as posted by appropriate signs and markers.

3. Carl Ross Key, from April 1

st

to October 15

th

, from sunrise to sunset.

4. Bradley Key, fr

om sunrise to sunset.

Roger Hammer said:

I've paddled from either Coot Bay Pond or along the Bear Lake Trail to Gator Lake four times over the past three years. I'll be very interested in knowing if Cape Sable can be reached because the two times I've attempted it in recent years have ended with having to turn back because it was beginning to feel like I was paddling in soupy cream cheese that smelled really bad. The bummer is that if you get that far and realize you can't make it through, it's a VERY long and lonely paddle back. Ask me how I know.

I'm certain that everyone here is aware, but just to set the record straight, except for the Little Madeira Bay-Joe Bay area, anyone can go anywhere they want in Everglades National Park, whether there's a trail or not.

[Roger Hammer]

Holy Moly, I pity the poor general public. Good thing I have special privileges!

Yes, Plan B is when you get mired in gray ooze about two miles from your destination and then have to turn around and paddle about nine miles back to Flamingo. Hopefully you'll arrive back before the Marina Store with the cold beer closes. I'd keep an emergency bottle of rum in your car just in case.

[yakmaster]

TFW

The first few are the crocodile sanctuary (which they are considering a partial reopening of).

2-6 are bird rookeries so folks don't spook the mom's out of their nests

Don't know why 7

8(Frog City), we got a special use permit to use for the last invitational and it would be a GREAT launch opportunity, but they ain't got the $$$ to keep it open

9 I highly recommend the tour (VERY cool)

10 probably during croc nesting season (I understand it's VERY popular with our reptilian friends, sometimes rendering it unpassable)

11 & 12 are the two educational centers.

Still quite a bit of acreage we can play in!
 
toofaraway said:

Re Closed Areas, here's the list from the Superintendents Compendium for 2013, a very useful thing to read from time to time:http://www.nps.gov/ever/parkmgmt/upload/EVER-Compendium-2013-FINAL.pdf



Areas Closed To

All Public Entry

1. Little Madiera Bay, Taylor River,

East Creek, Mud

Bay, Mud Creek,

Davis Creek,

Joe Bay and its easternmost portion, co

mmonly called Snag

Bay, and all creeks

inland from the northern shoreline of

Long Sound to U.S.

Highway 1.

2 Rogers Bay Rookery.

3. Cuthbert Lake, with attendant rookery.

4 The small group of islands at the sout

heast entrance to Gaskin Bay, i.e., Indian Key

Rookery.

5. The waters immediatel

y adjacent to Porjoe

, Sandy, Duck, and

the Tern Keys, as

posted.

6 The moats and internal cr

eeks, as posted, associated

with the Buchanan Keys.

7.

In the East Everglades Dist

rict; Mitchells Grov

e, Kendall Glider Port, Heck House.

8.

The area known as

Frog City.

9.

The Nike Missile Base, unless as part of NP

S-guided visit or as

authorized by the

Superintendent or his/her designee.

10.

The Buttonwood Canal Plug, as posted.

11.

Hidden Lake Environmental Education Ce

nter, including the access road from the

intersection with Old Ingraham Highway, unl

ess participating in

Ranger led activites

and scheduled camping trips.

12.

Loop Road Environmental Ed

ucation Center, unless par

ticipating in Ranger led

activities and schedul

ed camping trips.

Roger Hammer said:

I've paddled from either Coot Bay Pond or along the Bear Lake Trail to Gator Lake four times over the past three years. I'll be very interested in knowing if Cape Sable can be reached because the two times I've attempted it in recent years have ended with having to turn back because it was beginning to feel like I was paddling in soupy cream cheese that smelled really bad. The bummer is that if you get that far and realize you can't make it through, it's a VERY long and lonely paddle back. Ask me how I know.

I'm certain that everyone here is aware, but just to set the record straight, except for the Little Madeira Bay-Joe Bay area, anyone can go anywhere they want in Everglades National Park, whether there's a trail or not.

[Terry]

 Flamingo / Cape Sable Inland Route Dedication

 Saturday 1 February, Coot Bay Pond, 07:00

 The participant list is growing, we want all the daylight we can get so, remember,

 07:00 means be ready to paddle at 07:00.  If you are planning to spend the night

 make sure you communicate with Vivian or Jay.   Backcountry permits can not be

 pulled on the same day since we will be paddling before the ranger office opens.

[yakmaster]

If anyone else is pulling an overnight permit for the cape, I would appreciate being included on it.

Thanks

BTW the name is Carlos Arazoza and the vehicle is a grey Subaru, tag#acud52.

[Jay]

Carlos.  We will add you on to the permit.

Type of Boat/Model/Color?

[vivian]

One thing I would like those going on the overnight trip to know is that the route we think "will work" is 16 miles one way to East Cape.  If we have to re route then more mileage will be added. Ask yourself if you can paddle all day even in high winds and against tides before committing to the trip.