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.

[Jay]

Anyone not out there that wants to follow along can do so here.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=02UqTsz...

It should go live @ 7:30 - someone please remind me to hit the "track button".

[Terry]

Of course not, that's illegal, but it hardly needs it, just the second time I went I didn't even use

GPS or maps, it wasn't very hard.

If Tom marks the trail all it would need is about a dozen pipes to Gator Lake, far less than either

Hells Bay, Noble Hammock or Nine Mile Pond Trail.    Better yet the old pipes are still out

there just move them over to the correct route and fill in a few gaps.   Tell you what I'm gonna do -

since it will only take 2 dozen or so to mark the whole route, I will buy and donate the pipes

to take that "impassable" off the brochure. 

Everybody is making such a big deal about it's so advanced when the other beginner trails are harder.

You want to get lost, try doing Noble Hammock or Nine Mile Pond without pipe markers!

[toofaraway]

Pics of Cape Sable from Alexander Sprunt's book Birds of Florida, 1954.  Have a great trip!  My canoeing experiences on Bear Lake were in the early-mid 70's with Tropical Audubon. By the way,  Bear Lake got a lot of visits back then with rangers leading weekly trips in the winter and small powerboats allowed (kept the canal open by the prop wash).  If Spoonbill Pass existed in those days you can be sure that people were using it.  I seem to remember that West Cape was were people paddled to as the destination back then, with a ground site called Raulerson's on the map.  We never went past the Bear/Mud loop. The entrance from West Cape looks really cool.

[Roger Hammer]

I wouldn't think installing pipe markers is legal without official ENP approval.

[Terry]

That's why it's Tom's cup of tea.

[Roger Hammer]

Who is it in ENP who has to give it the official go ahead? Dan Kimball?

[toofaraway]

tree branches sticking out of the mud have been known to work as markers....

[Esther Luft]

The pipe marker is old, circa Nine Mile Pond pipe marker era.  Darn things sure do last a while.

Roger Hammer said:

I wouldn't think installing pipe markers is legal without official ENP approval.

[toofaraway]

Looking at it from the Superintendent's perspective I can't see any reason that he'd want to draw more people into the area beyond Bear Lake.  It's not closed now so enjoy it.  I'd be very, very careful about the long term impacts and issues created by drawing more attention to this route beyond this (worldwide) forum.  The Herald article was more than enough publicity. The Superintendent can close it at his own discretion if he feels it's necessary for public safety or the integrity of the ecology of the area.  Mark it discretely with natural sticks if you must (west of Bear Lake so you don't draw people out of the lake). Use it, enjoy it and share it with friends.  Loose lips sink ships...

Roger Hammer said:

Who is it in ENP who has to give it the official go ahead? Dan Kimball?

[Esther Luft]

From what I understand, everything gets reviewed and approved at multiple levels, including the park's wilderness committee for compliance and impact, administration, etc.  Not an easy, simple, or quick process.  Nonetheless, anything done to date has been done with consent, and enormous care.

toofaraway said:

Looking at it from the Superintendent's perspective I can't see any reason that he'd want to draw more people into the area beyond Bear Lake.  It's not closed now so enjoy it.  I'd be very, very careful about the long term impacts and issues created by drawing more attention to this route beyond this (worldwide) forum.  The Herald article was more than enough publicity. The Superintendent can close it at his own discretion if he feels it's necessary for public safety or the integrity of the ecology of the area.  Mark it discretely with natural sticks if you must (west of Bear Lake so you don't draw people out of the lake). Use it, enjoy it and share it with friends.  Loose lips sink ships...

Roger Hammer said:

Who is it in ENP who has to give it the official go ahead? Dan Kimball?

[Roger Hammer]

Out of morbid curiosity, what about the creek that connects Noble Hammock with West Lake? I cannot fathom what triggered that creek to be cleared. The creek entrance at West Lake was a quagmire of looping red mangrove roots and there used to be lots of wading birds using them as a perch for roosting and for hunting fish. I'd imagine there were red mangroves killed in the process of clearing it so it's hard to believe it was officially sanctioned by ENP and, if so, why? Especially since a friend of mine got ticketed in the West Lake parking lot for having two of his tires parked off of the asphalt on the grassy area. Forget the fact that you can pull off on the road swale of the main park road anywhere you please. Where's my bazooka???

Sorry for the rant. Carry on.

[yakmaster]

Not no mo.

The buck used to stop there. The Acting Super has been selected, but not disclosed...
 
Roger Hammer said:

Who is it in ENP who has to give it the official go ahead? Dan Kimball?