Get me Going in the Right Direction

[Sarah Orman]

Hi! I am a newbie to the boards and to the Everglades. I am planning a canoe trip with my cousin for next month and could use a little push in the right direction. I have a lot of paddling experience in the BWCA, so I can navigate with a map around lots of water and lots of islands. However, I have zero experience with tides, so if you have any ideas how I can figure those out I would be grateful.

We would like to do a 3 or 4 night trip, staying at chickees and beaches. When we canoe in MN we worry about weight because we have to portage a lot. Do I need to be concerned about weight in the Everglades too? I know we have to carry all our water, but I'm trying to figure out what other food and equipment is feasible.

So if anyone can suggest routes, give me some tide pointers, and clue me in about weight, I would appreciate it.

(P.S. I have ordered the Molloy book, but it hasn't arrived yet.)

[Amazon Bill]

If you search this site using campsite names.found on the Everglades national park website you can often get route and. Tide info. My first trip was a backcountry route thru Hells Bay Lane Bay and Roberts River. Watch the winds and waves if you go beach camping in a canoe. 4 nights can get you a good long loop to shark river and back to Flamingo. The mangroves all look the same so good google earth prints with waypoint and routes are good.

[Kim Gass]

Weight can be a factor. There is such a thing as an Everglades portage. Its the unfortunate misery of having to land and launch at low tide. If you have a heavy pack..you will sink a lot. Also heavy packs are harder to throw up onto chickee platforms. I use dry bags and a small barrel.

I tend to think launch out of Everglades City. Sure you can launch out of Flamingo but a loop that has beaches and chickees there is  around Cape Sable. Its a long loop for three nights.  Possible in four if a cold front does not bring high winds.

Crooked Creek, Watsons. and  Pavilion or Rabbit gives you a sample of ground and beach and chickee. Out of Everglades City.

Tides are not very ruly in the Everglades. Wind has a tremendous effect.  What you do not want to plan on is paddling against the tidal current on rivers like the Lopez and Chatham. You will get an eeny piece of paper with tide times with our permit. I use the tide features on my GPS and download tides on bigger paper from

http://www.saltwatertides.com/  Some concerns re tides are.. that the bigger range is at night. You need to tie your craft so it does not get lodged under the chickee nor hung in the air. Normal tidal range is about 3 feet but locally in some areas is more (Harney River)  Three feet does not sound like a lot but the tidal currents can be four or five mph.  So secure your boat well.

You might consider staying in sheltered waters though the Gulf is fun if you are comfortable in three foot waves.  The wind always comes up at nine thirty it seems and builds so after 11 it is a real force.  You will see many Glades paddlers breaking camp before dawn to beat the wind.

[Sarah Orman]

Thank you so much for your replies.

[rudderless]

There is a wealth of information including routes at Connie Mier's website:

http://cmierphotoandfitness.net/everglades.html

Although I love launching from Flamingo, I tend to agree with Kim, that launching out of Everglades City might be best for your timetable in the Glades. As Kim said, you have beach, chickee and ground sites all within a few hours paddle. You also have gorgeous coastal estuaries, backcountry rivers & mangrove tunnels. If the tides aren't favorable for paddling out to the islands, you could always take Halfway Creek to the Left Hand Turner River to the Turner River, then Hurddles Creek to Mud Bay, Cross Bays and camp at Crooked Creek Chickee or Lopez River. This is all pretty protected from wind, and other than the Turner River section itself, doesn't have strong tide effect. 

Tides present two main concerns; Firstly, paddling against the tide when it is ripping i.e.- paddling out Indian Key Pass from Everglades City on an incoming tide, can wear you out- a lot of effort for little progress. So whenever possible, plan/time your routes to go with the tide so it works in your favor. When that is not possible, try to find a route where the tide effect isn't as strong. Meandering through the islands around Rabbit Key Pass you can minimize your exposure to the main current flow and can be a nice alternative to a faster moving waterway like Indian Key or Sand Fly Pass. Besides, it is very beautiful.  Secondly, there are many areas throughout the Glades, especially around Chokoloskee Island and Bay and the 10000 Islands, with extremely sharp oyster shoals or other shallows that become exposed at low tide. These areas are pretty well defined on the Waterproof Charts brand of nautical charts. If you haven't paddled out there before, you definitely want to have a chart and a compass. The exposed shoals are absolutely beautiful, almost surreal. But some gashes in your hull will dampen the enthusiasm rather quickly.

You are going to have a blast!

[Sarah Orman]

We are wondering if we are better off doing two one-night trips (one into the interior and one along the coast) with a stop at a front-country campground in between. Maybe a little less intimidating for newbies?

[Jay]

My early trips were mostly on the East side of the park.  As Bill said, Hells Bay Canoe Trail is a good place to start in that it is a marked trail all the way to the Hells Bay Chickee. It gives you an introduction to the tight creeks, bays and Mangrove islands with the added security of markers.  Once on the trail, you are a relatively protected (there are still some bays that can get chopped up if it is very windy) day paddle from Pearl Bay, Hells Bay, Lane Bay and even Roberts River. A second day over to North River or Watson River and then back to one of those sites you haven't been too. Once you are out of the tight part of the trail (1+45-2+00 hours for me), you can set your sites on any of those locations.

Granted it is all "Chickee Life" (which I actually like).  The tides don't effect most of those sites very badly.  If you can time tides on the North River, Roberts River and Lane River - it just makes things a bit easier.

One recommendation for the NE section of the park would be to avoid camping at Lard Can.  Stop there to stretch, maybe a snack on the dock and use the port-o-let if you want.  But it is mostly a muddy mess off the dock.  In fact 4 weeks ago the campsite was under over a foot of water.

My recommendation on tides is that you should have the tide charts for the area, once you are on the water, keep an eye out for high and low in your local area.  Time your departures/arrivals/transits based on what you see.  The maximum flows last for 3-4 hours. The really low and high (and slow) water last for a couple of hours.

Enjoy!

[Kim Gass]

Its possible but front country camping for tenters is limited.  Collier Seminole is a little off the path near Everglades City and perhaps hard to get into..(its a hot bed for retired RVers.) I use it as a night before camping area but I reserve some two months ahead of time.  There are other wide open hot campgrounds in the Big Cypress.  Flamingo has never been a problem for me to get into as a walk-in.

From Flamingo of course you can go east to  Clubhouse, East Clubhouse or  East Cape ( IMO the best beach  and with an all tide landing) But its ten miles each way.  The other way you could go to Hells Bay or Pearl and maybe even Lane ( which I like very much for the scenery).for a night on  a chickee.

This is a good link for mileages(scroll down a bit). Its best on your first trip when you are more apt to be on a tidal/wind learning curve to go for no more than ten miles a day.

http://www.nps.gov/ever/upload/Wilderness_Trip_Planner_2009.pdf