Fakahatchee River

[Terry]

Vivian asked on 26 January "...is the Fakahatchee River open?", I take that as an

invitation to the next probe.   Faka Union River and East River shown here as

white lines are open excellent canoe routes.  The Fakahatchee River, the blue line, has

the best landing and would make another great addition to a loop trip connecting with

either Faka Union or East River.  The only little reconnaissance I have heard so far is

it's closed up.   Does anybody know anything about the Fakahatchee River from

Tamiami Trail down to Fakahatchee Bay?

[Dallas]

I want to do this river. It is very difficult to find any information about it. It is featured in the book "Day Paddling Florida's 10,000 Islands and Big Cypress Swamp" by Jeff Ripple. It is rated as the most difficult paddle in the book and he goes on to say that it is not all that scenic. More of a challenge. Apparently Outward Bound was using it for some of their trips. I'm not sure if they still do or not. Does anyone know if this route is open?

 

[Terry]

I've been getting requests for another Fikiunee run, this ain't it but it's close and besides

the Fikiunee is a been-there, done-it.  Let me see if I can round up some serious paddlers

I know for a Saturday in February to explore the Fakahatchee, it's been in the to-do bucket.

Even though I don't know anything about the Fakahatchee if it's in a book and talked about

by an outfitter I wouldn't expect it to be any harder than a double-black-diamond.

Since we don't know the condition of Fakahatchee River we will need the shortest return

trip so it will be down the Fakahatchee and up East River.   I know everyone likes the

Fikiunee but it's a longer trip out and not knowing the conditions we have to plan on

reaching the bay late in the day.

[Gary M]

I used to routinely go down to the main Fakahatchee from 41 back in the 80s. Your blue route was called the Weaver Station route. When the water was up it was better to launch where the "90" is on your map... thats the old airboat launch... it is still visible today and probably the better bet unless very dry. I'm not sure about the Weaver Station route though - the manmade canal part was usually open but more difficult when Brazillian Pepper started taking over.

A few years ago I heard the route was pretty well cleared, and I believe that was post Wilma, but Isaac did a number on a lot of the smaller trails over there, and the upper Fakahatchee is quite small.

Terry will probably love it.

It used to be the quickest way to get down to the main Fakahatchee, when open, but the East River is just so much more enjoyable that I have not tried it in a long long time.

[Terry]

Saturday 23 February 2013

GladesGoDeep is going to end the speculation about Fakahatchee River.

Meet at 06:00 at Weaver Station (7 miles west of SR-29, on the south side of

Tamiami Trail at Big Cypress Boardwalk, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park).

The plan will be to go down the Fakahatchee River to the gulf and return up the East River.

I have no clue what to expect so be prepared to slog and use your boat as a battering ram.

 

Sunrise: 06:56

[Dallas]

Going to mark the date on my calendar.

[vivian]

Dang it!   I have an event that weekend and I am the event leader so can't cancel.

[Amazon Bill]

I marked my calendar, started sketching some routes on GE, and downloaded aerials to my GPS. Anyone know if there are any passable tunnels in the tree line following the creeks?

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

I'm in .. :)

[Terry]

Just what Gary says.

However, two probes we did over there last year were very successful:

The Fikiunee was cut clean and clear, open enough for Captain Schettino to

attempt even though it could not be seen from the aerials.   Everyone on the trip

commented it was better than the advertised East River.  Barron creek,

the creek connecting Barron River with Ferguson Bay, was a cathedral arch

big enough for running airboats to pass; the Mammoth Cave of mangrove tunnels

completely blind of the satellite's eye. 

I guess since these areas are newer to protective status and they've had decades

of trimming, the mangroves have grown in and around forming a thick shield.

Both these trips were excellent loop additions to the Everglades City area.

Personally I have never even slowed down on the highway to look at Weaver Station

so for this one, as with the others, prepare for the worst.   Also, this probe has

attracted the attention of heavy duty 'paddlers' so expect a high level of pain before

abandonment.

[Dallas]

Which river is the Fikiunee? I can't seem to find that on any map.

[Terry]

The local name of the Faka Union River, not to be confused with

the Abomination Canal running up to the Port of the Intrusion.

Doesn't matter you won't find paddling the Faka Union either, yet

it's a beautiful open and clear paddle down to Faka Union Bay

just jump in at Bridge 030058.

[Jay]

I can’t make the run next month.  I have tried to re-arrange my work schedule without positive results. I had the day off today and I decided to do a probe down the river and here is the scoop.

I had @5 hours –and I knew I would only make it part way.  I ended up only making it @ a mile down river (as the crow flies) in 2.5 hours. 

I parked on the grass at the first opening to the water.  It was a pretty steep entry.  As I paddled out I saw a much better launch/recovery point near the south end of the clearing.  I pulled out there.  Watch out for the fire ants on high ground.

The water level was pretty low – but passable. Right out of the box there were quite a few snags in the first section of the open water paddle.  The water was very murky and it is easy to slam hard on unseen logs.  Take that part carefully.  The route was very overgrown.  Many of the tunnels were barely passable.  I think if the water was much higher – or lower, it would be very difficult to pass.  Very little paddling – mostly pulling through.  When it does open up you have to look very hard to find where the river continues.  Generally the route was on the southern side of most openings. Most mistakes were apparent pretty quickly and you won’t waste too much time when you miss a turn…although in most cases it meant backing out.  In a canoe I can just flip around…not so much in a kayak.

Along the way, it gets very narrow in places.  I took my 15’x30” canoe.  Anything wider would not fit through without getting out and flipping it on edge.  I had to bypass snags using reptile slides on three occasions.   While we are on the subject of those slides – several opportunities for arms length, eye level  ambushes.  It was cool this morning and I did not see any toothy critters – evidently they were charging batteries else-ware.

I was approaching my outbound time limit – I expected a left towards east followed by a right back southerly.  I missed the southerly turn and came to a dead end.  When I backtracked, I never did find the way south.  I am sure it was there, I just didn’t spend much time looking.  The pin on the image is where the south turn should be.

Battle gear will be the uniform of the day - gloves, eye protection, back country helmet (big floppy hat to fend off branches.). Biting bugs were non-existent. 

Out in the middle of no-where, I saw a couple of barnacle encrusted pilings.  My guess is that it was storm debris…but  you look at it and say – how the heck did that get here.

Terry – excellent call on the very early start.  I was not racing by any means – but it is pretty slow going.  That lower section looks pretty tight.  I think you’ll make it – but it’s going to take lots of time.

Have a great time all!  Can’t wait to hear how it goes.