March 2011 loop trip

[Keith W]

Finally got some time to post a short trip report of my 8-day March loop from Hell's Bay out to Willy Willy and back. I won't go into all the details and will focus on the first 3 days of the trip, where I accomplished a long-sought goal of finding an inside southern route that completely bypasses Whitewater Bay, and takes you through some of the prettiest backcountry creeks that nobody ever gets to see. I started at the Hells Bay trail dock and spent my first night at Lane Bay. The Google Earth screenshot shows days 2 (red line) and 3 (green line) of the trip. Day 2 started at Lane Bay and runs through the maze of creeks that Terry calls the Old Camp Route, and crosses Roberts River, North River, and ends at North River Chickee. Day 3 was the most challenging of the trip and followed a long, tortuous series of small creeks and bays we call the North Watson Route, which starts at North River chickee and comes out near the entrance of Watson River. The entire route from Lane Bay to Watson River was passable with deep water in the creeks and bays, and there were no significant obstructions of any kind. If there was ever a prime candidate for an Alternative Wilderness Waterway trail, this is it. Having a route that allows paddlers to bypass the open water of Whitewater Bay is a very nice thing and this will probably become my standard route for future trips along the eastern shores of Whitewater Bay. I will post detailed aerials of these routes in the near future, but you should be warned that they are not marked on the ground, and are for those who already have some experience in following charts and aerials without a GPS. If you're just getting started paddling the Everglades, then get some more experience before attempting these routes, at least until the ENP gets around to marking them.

 

 

 

The rest of the trip was pretty much the usual WW stuff. Day 3 ended at Shark River Chickee after a long westerly detour through the Labyrinth to Shark Cutoff, and back up the Little Shark River on the rising tide. Day 4 took me to Broad River via the Nightmare. Day 5 was Willy Willy via the Gulf and Lostmans' River. Day 6 was a bit more exciting, as I got caught by a strong cold front on my way down Rogers River to Highland Beach. 50 mph wind gusts threatened to tear loose the mangroves from the river bank where I was holed up while the front blew through. Day 7 was a wild ride down the Gulf coast from Highland Beach to South Joe River with a 25 mph NW wind screaming at my back while crossing Ponce DeLeon Bay. The wind raised 3 foot standing waves against the falling tide at the mouth of the Little Shark, and I got a little whitewater action there. The last day took me from South Joe River across the south end of Whitewater Bay back to Hells Bay trail, and the end of the journey.

 

[yakmaster]

We can do it there as far as I'm concerned!

 

We could put in @ swan & have a BBQ @ Adams on the way out! Or make a loop of it & start & end @ Adams.

 

Just need to coord some transpo!

[vivian]

Yes, I've fished around these areas when I had a powerboat. It is beautiful! However, I've never ventured into that lagoon. I'll check with the park headquarters and see when they are offering some tours. One needs a powerboat to get out there, no?

[Keith W]

Better 2+ years late than never...right? Here are the aerials I used for the North Watson Route. These are designed to be printed out as 8.5x11 high-res color images and then 5 mil laminated. Before laminating them I glued each adjacent set of aerials back-to-back (04-05 and 06-07) and trimmed off the white margins. This left a wide margin of laminate that I punched grommets into and tied the 2 together with a SS split ring. Looking at the aerials it shouldn't be too hard to see where the route line in one image ends and the next one begins.

[Jay]

Nice Keith - thanks!

[vivian]

Thanks Keith!

[Keith W]

Looks like I screwed this up and posted 05-06 in the second zip file instead of the 06-07 charts. I'll correct this tonight and upload the correct charts.

[SteveS]

This place is the best.

[Keith W]

Here they are. Sorry about the delay, was too busy planning my own short Christmas paddling trip down East River to Camp Lulu and back to EC. Had a blast!

Keith W said:

Looks like I screwed this up and posted 05-06 in the second zip file instead of the 06-07 charts. I'll correct this tonight and upload the correct charts.

[vivian]

We finally did two of the camp routes this past week. Thank you guys so much for all the shared information! It is truly a beautiful route and much nicer than the boring rivers. Here is our trip report:

http://beachcamper.blogspot.com/

[Connie Mier]

Vivian's blog is awesome. Here is another version, a bit more wordy but with more images of the trip. Click here. 

 
vivian said:

We finally did two of the camp routes this past week. Thank you guys so much for all the shared information! It is truly a beautiful route and much nicer than the boring rivers. Here is our trip report:

http://beachcamper.blogspot.com/

[SteveS]

Great reports. Tis been the winter of wind. I'm hoping for some better conditions on my next trip of the season.

[Kim Gass]

Both of you wrote great reports and I am almost ready to go...the boats are bickering over who goes in the shed that is locked in snow.