to the tip of Florida and beyond

After Disney we continued traveling south down Florida with stops at  St. Lucie South SP on the canal between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Okeechobee,  Curry Hammock SP, a day trip to Dry Tortugas National Park and landing in the Everglades NP at Flamingo campground for a few days.

We were pretty hit and miss on the weather, some days rainy and cool, some days sunny and warmer. But man, it seemed like all the days were significantly more humid than what we had been acclimated to in wintertime Vermont and much of the previous summer and fall in the arid west. It all hit  my personal “wilting” zone, aka “grouchy” zone, “Medusa impersonator” zone. Poor Martin! That aside, we still did our best to find some fun adventuring. 

We've been trying to go to the Dry Tortugas NP for a long time. It is actually located out on these little islands off the top of Florida where the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico meet. Another one of those places that I had read about and thought (with stars in my eyes), oh how I would love to see that some day…  We tried to go one time with the boys, but alas, there was a crocodile about and they closed the park until they could get the crocodile relocated. Crocodiles are not very friendly and there was concern over life and limb… This time however we were lucky, no crocodile and we had a day without rain!

Dry Tortugas NP is one of our most unique national parks because being located on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean it is only accessible by boat or seaplane. The island, which is all national park land, consists mostly of a fort, Fort Jefferson, but also has a small campground (9 sites, I did say small),  a beach for swimming and great snorkeling. There are a few nearby islands, also part of the park, but requiring additional ferry service (and time) so we didn't go to them. Alas, one had a lighthouse and another was a bird sanctuary.  

The Everglades NP is always a place of great fascination. It really has two seasons, the wet season and the dry season and to those of us from the northern climes, who come from mountains and rivers and four seasons, it is not a big swamp. It is a river of grass, a World Heritage site and an International Biosphere reserve.  It was the first land set aside for a national park not so much for it's stunning scenery and spectacular views, for the benefit of the unique diversity of life it sustained. One of the things that I found so interesting was that a change in elevation of one foot created an entirely new ecosystem. A foot?  Most of us have more than a foot of elevation change in our yards! But, here in the Everglades, at one foot it was the “river of grass”, a slough, the sawgrass, then there were the pine forests and finally at three feet, the hammocks of deciduous trees each supporting different flora and fauna.  The water was high when we were there so several of the trails we had hoped to hike were underwater, but we did some biking, great birding and went on a cool boat tour that went up a canal into the Everglades. 

On to pics

This was our greeter at our campsite at Curry Hammock SP on Little Crawl Key (one of the middle keys). It looked a bit scary to me …it was probably a good 18” long!  Of course, maybe he was just “saving” our site for us and making sure no one else took it. Haha.

A few more shots from this spot. It was just a one night stopover, so we went for a quick exploratory walk along the beach after we arrived and headed out the next morning.                                               white Ibis looking for the good stuff.

and semipalmated plovers

Then we found a hermit crab who has decided it was time to move to a bigger shell. We watched for quite awhile, but the transition from one shell to the other still wasn't complete when we moved on.

Oh and I had my first experience with “quick sand” while exploring. I was just walking along (ok near where it was looking a bit wet and sketchy) and the next step I took I sunk down to my mid-thigh! I let out a startled yelp, worried about my camera (of course) and then tried to pull my leg out which resulted in this sort of sitting, rolling, crawling business. I'm sure I looked ridiculous. Haha But it was enough to cool my enthusiasm for exploring in the near darkness, so I looked around for Martin and when I found him told him I was ready to head back.  He was curious why my leg was all sandy and muddy. HA!  

Dry Tortugas NP.                                          This was a day trip, a long day trip. We left from Key West on a ferry early in the morning.  It took about 2 hours to get to the park which is 70 miles from Key West. It's about halfway between Florida and Cuba, pretty much in the middle of the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico.

Ft Jefferson was built sporadically (but never completed) from 1846 to 1875 with a goal of protecting the Gulf of Mexico and is the largest brick masonry structure in the western hemisphere. It also can claim to have over 2000 arches. It served as a prison during the civil war primarily for union deserters and a few other special folks, the most infamous being Dr. Mudd, who was convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and is most well known as the doctor who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg.

Entering the fort

The light on the fort

Looking across the parade grounds and out through the opposite side

The thing about being the largest brick masonry structure is that it also means it's super heavy. And super heavy things built on sand …well, let's just say that's only one of the reasons they never finished it.

Much of the fort is at the edge of the island and into the water.

images

corridors 

and more corridors and more arches

windows looking out

the rest of the island

reflections 

magnificent frigate birds.                     They are a remarkable seabird that is known to fly for two months at a time without landing. It sleeps while flying by allowing half of its brain to sleep at a time.  Now that sounds like a neat trick if we could figure out how to do it!

a ruddy turnstone 

seaplane landing

and taxing in

a big hermit crab on the pier

the beach

brown pelican at Key West hoping for some cast-offs from the fishermen cleaning their catch.

The Everglades 

Palm with multiple “homes” (I told Martin I thought it was an apartment building)

Our boat ride started by going up a canal. There were many kayakers and canoers exploring the Everglades as well. This section is actually part of a paddling trail. 

It was beautiful.

As we went down the canal we encountered quite a bit of wildlife.

a tricolor heron 

juvenile tricolor heron 

tricolor heron, likely a juvenile 

Tricolor heron 

red shouldered hawk

great egret 

a crocodile! yikes!! He was probably about 5’ long, just hanging out on the branches near the canal. Crocodiles are found in saltwater and their teeth stick out past their mouth when their jaws are closed. They are usually lighter in color and known for having a “testier” personality.  Always best to give them a wide berth!

other water views

ferns growing on branches 

Epiphytes or air plants

so many different kinds of palm trees. I loved the way the light hit this leaf with its dimensional pleating.

overlooking the river of grass with occasional flowers and dead trees

apple snail

fish

water lilly 

purple gallinule.                                    Gorgeous birds that use their large feet to walk and keep their balance on lily pads. Apparently they like to eat the lily seed pods!

GIANT GRASSHOPPER!!!

Our first aligator.  He seemed pretty chill 

until …

he started opening his mouth …

wider

AND WIDER! YIKES!!

Then he turned and escaped to the water

great egret 

gumbo limbo tree

more great egrets (aka a white heron)

 another purple gallinule

anhinga 

great blue heron

anhinga antics

and more alligator sightings 

cardinals are beautiful wherever you see them 

red-bellied woodpecker (I know, I know he doesn't have a red belly …don't blame me. I didn't name him 🤷)

palm warbler

great egret doing a two step while crossing a road

great blue heron 

little blue heron.                        Interestingly these birds spend their first year completely white, except for their two toned beak, then start to add the darker gray-blue feathers over the next few years until they become this dark gray-blue-purple color at maturity.

Next stops:

We'll continue our exploration of Florida by heading up the Gulf Coast side,  a Koreshan community, an Audubon center, hurricane recovery on Captiva and Sanibel Island, meeting up with Vermont friends and more.