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.

[SteveS]

Nice job everyone for providing this information to those of us who don't get to spend time route searching, this applies to those who have done the route in the past and are coming out of the closet and admitting their guilt....er....success.

Big fan of Jay's videos along with the soundtracks.

Well done to all. Looking forward to heading out there this season or next.

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

Here's my special extra for ya'll !

“Go West to East Cape young man”, said no one ever!

(click pic or link)

 

http://kayakfari.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/go-west-to-east-cape-padd...

Thanks for the memories & enjoy!

-Flex

[Jay]

Simply outstanding Flex.  Spectacular!

[Connie Mier]

Great story and photos Flex! I love your overlay lighting effect on Toby's light up. That's my fav photo, the one with the campfire. Very cool!

[yakmaster]

Excellent, as usual!

[Roger Hammer]

I personally never had any doubts whatsoever that they'd make it all the way!!!

[Terry]

Who is this Roger crank pot anyhow?

Roger, you should have been there, for that matter, everyone

should have been there.   Beautiful weather, lots of discoveries and great paddling with

a bunch of crank pots.   We even got to witness swimming in the Homestead Canal cesspool.

Too much fun.

 

[toofaraway]

What a trip report Flex, well done indeed.  Loved how you integrated the old aerial photo with the google map.

John

[Jay]

My call to action is - if anyone transits this area between now and the end of the season - or in coming seasons, please post water depth route conditions.  We need to establish if/when it shuts down.  Although there are indicators prior to crossing the pass, the easternmost part of Raulerson's Prairie will be the limiting factor.

We are in a wet year, it might stay paddleable until the summer time rains start.  We know there are times of certain years where conditions may not be paddleable.  Let's see if we can get that figured out over time.

[Flex Kayakfari.com]

Thanks Connie, I thought you'd like those!

Connie Mier said:

Great story and photos Flex! I love your overlay lighting effect on Toby's light up. That's my fav photo, the one with the campfire. Very cool!

[Roger Hammer]

Here you go Terry...

http://www.rogerlhammer.com

[Jay]

Just back from a trip up to Roberts River with Bob and Helen (who went on the trip across the Prairie with us). They went back out to West Bear Lake on 2/18 and were not able to make it to the creek opening at Spoonbill Pass due to low water levels.  Other indicators of low water was the Bear Lake Canoe Trail - barely passable, the stump at the opening from the canal to Bear Lake - exposed.  The Graveyard area in the creek connecting Bear Lake to West Bear Lake barely passable.

When we left for Roberts from Coot Bay Pond, I noticed much lower water levels.  The water in the pond was about 12" deep.

Cheers!