August Exploration of Sweetwater Slough Southwest from Loop Road?

[shawn beightol]

Discussion forming of a 3-4 day kayak paddle/drag SW from loop road (bend) of Sweetwater Slough/Creek.

Yes, I've heard it "peters out" SW of loop road.  Maps and aerials pre 1940 show sweetwater creek/river ran up to and beyond Loop Road.  I wonder if we set out and did some portaging, how far we could get?

Thoughts?

[Chris Meyers]

Hey Shawn – since this thread is so much more interesting than what I should be doing….

  

RE: Thoughts

Lots of ‘em. Here we go.

 

RE: your shorter route (RLS south?) was my plan A (see first graphic)

 

<sigh> I really should try reading before commenting. Tho I did force myself to use the new Google maps editor to do up my own version of RLS South, so that’s a plus.

 

 

RE:  I saw the fish/hunt camp and got curious

 

Understandable. Some NPS fire burn maps showed this place (and another to the south) but at such a low resolution I really couldn’t find ‘em on GE. Glad you did and I’m curious also. One of the buildings looks to have lost its roof… so possibly abandoned. We will see.

 

 

RE:  if we do Plan C (RLS north) counter-clockwise

 

The first little bit right of Loop presents some twisted ankle challenges! But from what I remember it opens up into marl prairie after that. GE shows smooth sailing all the way down RLS North, past the camps, and through the turn back to the east. HOWEVER, the jump from the airboat trails over to Sweetwater… well.. that looks pretty hairy.

 

Same resolution images of a) trail around the camp and b) bushwhack around Sweetwater. Notice cypress density.

 

RE: Overnight

 

No worries if not.

RE: Kayak down the Sweetwater

 

LOL. I definitely don’t share your optimism on this one.  I’ve never met anyone, nor read any story besides what you pointed out, of paddle trips on the Sweetwater. I’ve done a fair number of canoe/kayak trips through cypress creeks, and I like to think I’m decent at following those trails on GE.

 

Here is a GE image of a cypress swamp creek up in my neck of the woods. The creek is pretty obvious (green line) and runs about 20-30 feet wide.  The red line is a false creek that pinches out both in width & depth. But even then you can still make out the creek in GE. 

 

 

 

This is the same resolution image of Sweetwater. The blue line leads off into dwarf cypress (ie. not where the water is).

 

 

This leads to my last map. I believe the orange line represents the best path of water. Even then, after 1500 feet there is no easy path to follow.

Just my unasked for $0.02. 

shawn beightol said:

Chris, your shorter route (RLS south?) was my plan A (see first graphic)...until I was mapping the Plan B departure - as I was placing waypoints on the crossover to RLS north, I saw the fish/hunt camp and got curious.  I'm pretty sure if we do Plan C (RLS north) counter-clockwise, the trail should get better after the first bit of overgrown (I hike it 10 years ago for about a mile).  My thinking was that it'd be cool to hike by the camp and see whats up.

Just plain curiosity.  

I'm game for an overnight.  I've posted this on the Florida Trail Association Happy Hoofer's FB page and got 2 bites from interested parties.  Let me ask them if they'd do overnight.  I was going to save the overnight for the following weekend and do 2 nights with Kayak straight down Sweetwater if we find water further down the strand (I know there's water at the culvert).

btw, the interest in Sweetwater is that in 1919, John King's account of fishing up Sweetwater with his son was described by Livingston Larned in Forest and Stream (August 1919, p 396 ) where they saw what they hoped was Fort Harrell (but I think was something else, another fort,  a plume hunter's camp, an old indian settlement):  "[a] picturesque jaunt up Sweetwater River there was little to see save the solitude of hammocks and marshy ground stretching away into misty perspective and ridges of rotted wood where once had been fortifications.  They stood as a mute testimony to the ravaging work of time which brings all of man's creations at last to dust "

Thoughts?

[shawn beightol]

My blue line in sweetwater represents a slog, not kayak.  I deliberately kept to one side of the occasionally clear water passage.

You'll notice that I actually have us cross Sweetwater Slough and touch the north side of another close/parallel slough before turning back up the south shore of Sweetwater.  Just curious to see the sloughs, see if there's a creek bed, any hope for kayaking down and out to the wilderness waterway on one or the other.  

Its a recon mission to see if we can pull/use our kayaks further in.  

I expect the recon to be hard as hell.

I'm all for 2 days.  Let's see what the other parties say.

[Chris Meyers]

RE: John King’s account of the Sweetwater

Interesting read. I would guess that the water was high enough that they just rolled from Sweetwater right on into Sig Walker Strand, then southwest into Chevelier Bay. That cross-over to the bay would be about 1 mile south of your location for Ft. Harrel.

 …picturesque jaunt up Sweetwater River there was little to see save the solitude of hammocks and marshy ground stretching away into misty perspective and ridges of rotted wood where once had been fortifications.

 

Hmmm, it would appear they go upstream here for a “jaunt up the Sweetwater River” to see the “fortifications”. Yet the rest of the story is about the downstream trip to Chevelier Bay. 

…we will proceed down stream until sunset and then select a likely camping site.

 

So one has to ask, where was the upstream portion of that trip? Do you have any maps from that time frame (ie. 1919) that would possibly show Seminole trails or maybe logging/tram roads? (Dale – you got anything?)

 

Here’s a clue.

 

They did their “picturesque jaunt up Sweetwater River there was little to see save… fortifications”.  At that point it was “too late [in the day] to even attempt making the boats before nightfall”.   So they head “downstream until sunset” until they stop “at a little point where the stream was twenty feet wide and the thick hammock could be cut away with ease”. They investigate all the birds by cutting to “the extremity of the point”. At the edge of the water they see “mangrove and bay roots” and the “stream… is alive with crawfish”. The next morning “down the Sweetwater they cruised” entering Chevelier Bay.

 

ANALYSIS

 

They make an upstream trip and see fortifications.

The head downstream late in the day and make camp at sunset on a hammock. Let’s assume a 3-hour trip.

At the camp, the water’s edge (referred to as both “stream” and “Sweetwater River”) is full of crawfish and tangled with mangrove.

 

So if we find the beginning of the mangrove, which would probably be further downstream than today’s mangrove boundary due to more fresh water flow in 1919, then work upstream 3-hours, we should be at the place the story started. From there, work upstream the length of a "picturesque jaunt".

Now we just need to figure out the distance of their 3-hour downstream run, through a stream/river littered with downed cypress, etc.  Easy stuff.

[Chris Meyers]

RE: slog not kayak

<facepalm> Just beat me with the stupid stick. Well, that sure beats walking the slough itself (and across the backs of every gator curled up in the mud).

shawn beightol said:

My blue line in sweetwater represents a slog, not kayak.  I deliberately kept to one side of the occasionally clear water passage.

[Megan Digeon]

I would be available to join you the weekend of July 26th!  I do not have any preferences as to B or C.

[Rolando Perez]

I am interested in going to this 1 day hike. Do you have any confirm date?

[shawn beightol]

OK, 3 of us are lined up for the original Sweetwater Slog Plan A TOMORROW 8 AM, Wednesday, July 23rd . 

8 AM, Wednesday, July 23rd  we will do Sweetwater Slog Plan A

(August 2nd (saturday) we will do the Sweetwater Slog Plan C - upper Airboat Trail through the hunt fish camp - Plan C here: http://gladesgodeep.ning.com/forum/topics/august-exploration-of-swe... - same prep as below for 1 day slog

August 7-9, depending on the outcome of the above recons, we will do a 3 day/2 night kayak pull/slog from looproad south on Sweetwater Slough - prep notes TBA)

IF you are going to join us TOMORROW, July 23, please text me TODAY (July 22) to confirm.

let's meet tomorrow morning 8 AM at the Gator Hook Trail Head on Loop Road. We can talk there about whether we want to try the hike clockwise from Sweetwatere Slough to the Airboat Launch or vice versa (Plan A here: http://api.ning.com/files/hlBnt738bkzDXDyKpAfXhqX81eX-XaFaNmSphldL0...).

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For the trail, I recommend long pants, long sleeves, mosquito head net, DEET, 2-4 Liters of water (I will bring my filter so 2 L should be fine, we can replenish), lunch. a walking stick. I will bring my gps and a backup gps and my machete. If you are experienced and want to bring/use a machete, I have no objections, but if you haven't used one on the trail, it can be more dangerous than helpful due to slippage, ricochets, etc.

For the car, I recommend having a change of clothing/shoes/flip-flops, a cooler with water, gatorade, or other beverages (I usually keep a couple beers for after the rehydration).

Let's say 6 hours from the time we start to return to the vehicle. That puts us back at the vehicle by 230 PM.

My phone/text number is 305-801-8717 and my email is [e-mail].

Please send me your text number too.

Shawn

[Swamp Hunter]

How did it go?

My good maps are in my camper Chris that I will pick up in about 2-3 weeks.

[shawn beightol]

Tom Gantt, Albert Hook (from FTA) did the hike yesterday from the "RLS" to an arbitrary transect of the Sweetwater Sloughs (they divide into 3 branches).  The airboat trails had ~1 ft of water, enough to easily pull a kayak (hmmm, suggests other possibilities).  The transect revealed calf depth water in a couple strands, some showing current.  My initial impression is that the others on this board who have tried kayaking south from loop road at that inviting looking section at the culvert are right.

However, we found the "understory" in the strands to be open enough to comfortably hike (unlike some strands/sloughs that are completely choked out by cocoplum etc).  Meaning, it may still be possible to launch and paddle/pull SW to break out to a mangrove tunnel/creek.

I want to digest yesterdays impressions and study the maps to further plan the August 2 and August 7-9 ventures (btw, would an overnight August 8-9 be more do-able for y'all?  I haven't heard any interest in the 7-9 trip).

View Larger Map

[Swamp Hunter]

Did it rain much?

[shawn beightol]

Anyone interested in going out to Sweetwater August 2 (Saturday, meet 8 AM at Gator Hook Trailhead to coordinate) and hiking the Sig Walker Airboat Trail (North - as in Chris' RLS North reference or as in my "Plan C").  Should be about 7.3 miles and a real ass kicker.  Of interest would be to investigate the hunting/fish camp at 

25.78668, -81.13676 and to investigate an old trail fork that leads south into the strand at 25.77879, -81.12961 ( I can trace this path down to here 25.77042, -81.13874 on modern maps and maps from the 90's show at least 2 branches that run into Sweetwater strand).

Please let me know if you are interested.

Additionally, I am still looking at a multiday trip either next Thurs-Saturday August 7-9 to Sweetwater?

I am toying with 3 ideas:

1) Zig-zagging my way back and forth across the Strand to gather GPS data on altitude vs lat/long (see image below that shows likely path of sweetwater flow/creek bed)

2) Dragging a kayak on the airboat Trail (Chris' RLS south, my "plan A") and then a little west to explore the old trail heading into the strand that I describe above....or....

3) a kayak trip to Sweetwater chickee Thursday, August 7 (16.5 miles), an exploratory push UP Sweetwater River/Creek from the chickee on Friday August 8, then return August 9 to Chokoloskee.

Input requested.

[shawn beightol]

August 2 Sig Walker Airboat Trail, Hunt Camp, Sweetwater Strand Exploration.

7 Miles (ankle deep water most of trail, calf deep at times, slough crossing may be waist deep).

Same meet up plans as earlier:  Meet Saturday, August 2 at 8 AM Gator Hook Trail Head to arrange car parking for shuttle from Loop Road Sweetwater Culvert (exit) back to Sig Walker Airboat launch (start).

Link to view route (with waypoints):  http://goo.gl/maps/nxDWs

Direct download of gpx file for loading to your gps: http://shawnbeightol.com/Aug2SweetwaterHike.gpx

Direct download of kml file for google earth viewing: http://shawnbeightol.com/Aug2SweetwaterHike.kml

IF you are going to join us Saturday, August 2, please text me by TOMORROW 5 PM (August 1) to confirm.

For the trail, I recommend long pants, long sleeves, mosquito head net, DEET, 2-4 Liters of water (I will bring my filter so 2 L should be fine, we can replenish), lunch. a walking stick. I will bring my gps and a backup gps and my machete. If you are experienced and want to bring/use a machete, I have no objections, but if you haven't used one on the trail, it can be more dangerous than helpful due to slippage, ricochets, etc.

For the car, I recommend having a change of clothing/shoes/flip-flops, a cooler with water, gatorade, or other beverages (I usually keep a couple beers for after the rehydration).

Let's say 8 hours from the time we start to return to the vehicle. Assuming we hit the trail by 830 AM, that puts us back at the vehicles by 430 PM.

My phone/text number is 305-801-8717 and my email is [e-mail].

Please contact me if you are planning to go and send me your text number so we can stay in contact prior to the hike in case of last minute changes..

Finally, if you are interested in the 3 day trip next week, I need input on the options described in the message above.

Shawn