©Sue J. Estey, 1993
Table of Contents
- Afraid of Alligators
- Getting Started
- Water
- Food
- Campsites
- Camping Gear
- Clothing
- Safety
- Beyond Survival
- Overnight
- Seize the Day
- My Route from Hell's Bay to Everglades City
- More Logistics
- Car Shuttle?
- Backcountry Permits
- Thumbnail Descriptions of Campsites
- References
- Nautical Charts
- Park Information Handouts
- Books
- What Did I Actually Take With Me?!?
- Weight
- How Much Water
- Equipment and Stuff
- Food
- Overnight
Sue J's Home Page
There's too many mangroves; it's boring. And what about those killer mosquitoes and no-see-ems? How did you carry enough food and water for ten whole days? You went alone?! Why didn't you get somebody to go with you? So, you just followed the Wilderness Waterway signs, right?
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Everyone who goes to the Everglades finds their own solutions to the problems of logistics, security, and personal pleasure. There are practical things to take care of before going: a need for sufficient food and water, for nautical charts and a compass, and for shelter from the weather, the sun, and the bugs. The rangers at Everglades National Park issue permits for camping at the designated sites, and limit the number of campers. The permit could be obtained the day I left, and could not be arranged in advance. Mid January 1992, few others were camping except a couple of Outward Bound groups, and I had no trouble getting the sites I requested.
A basic rule for water is to take a minimum of one gallon per person per day. All my water was in plastic bottles and jugs ranging in size from one quart to one gallon (old milk jugs). Some people prefer sturdy water bags, which flex to fill the space in the boat and take practically no space when empty. For my 10-day trip I intended to take 11 gallons, but actually ended up with 13 gallons, which was more than I needed. I had enough to use for a shower sometimes, and toward the end I dumped some out. Where does it all go? It is good to pack the heaviest stuff close to the center of the boat. My boat has space in the cockpit both forward of my feet and behind my seat. Both of those spaces were packed with water bottles. At the beginning of the trip, I also had a few gallon jugs between my legs.
Remember you will be paddling for hours, and that takes more food than sitting at a desk. Also consider that cooking at dusk can expose you to the sunset onslaught of bloodthirsty bugs, so bring some things that don't need heat. For cooking, bring a small stove. In the kayak, it doesn't matter if the food is heavy and wet, since if it's dry you must carry water to reconstitute it anyway. You can bring cans, which make food preparation practically instantaneous. Remember the can opener. How to pack the food? My kayak has small (8 inch diameter) hatches, so I packed most of the food in long skinny dry bags. First, I sorted the food out by day, arbitrarily planning a menu in advance. I put in some special treat to be unpacked every few days (Mint Milano cookies are one of my downfalls). Then I put the piles into plastic grocery bags, and then put those one after the other into the dry bags, with the food for the end of the trip in the very bottom of the longest bag.
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There are three types of campsites: beach, ground, and chickee. The beaches were out along the Gulf, and were sandy with lots of shells, good for exploring. The chickees, my favorite, are wooden platforms with a roof and an outhouse. Flat, smooth, with a great view of the water around and often the woods behind, where ibis stalk their prey. The chickee was a good place for sorting out stuff and still keeping it clean. I had worried about how hard it might be to get out of my kayak onto the platform, but I learned fast. I always managed to pull the kayak up also, though I had to partially unpack it first. The ground sites that I saw, except for the large grassy area at Watson's Place, were soggy muddy small spaces and I was glad I was not staying at any of them.
A tent with no-see-em-proof netting was essential. For the chickees, and also for camping in sand, it is best to have a tent that will support itself, though you could probably find a way to tie a tent to the chickees and keep it up. Do tie it down, in any case, so a sudden wind won't blow it away. I took a light synthetic fill sleeping bag in case of cold weather, and a sheet in case of warm weather. The sleeping bag was purchased with a stuff sack that would fit through the hatch of my boat. My old Svea stove came along, packed in a small pot. One thing I have not taken before was a plastic container with tight fitting lid, to use as a chamber pot in the night in order to avoid feeding the bugs hovering just beyond the netting. Oh, yes, duct tape. It came in very handy to seal the little hole where the tent zippers meet. The bugs found it very quickly.
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Don't bother bringing cotton. It never dries, it just mildews. Lightweight synthetic clothing can be rinsed out and dried. Long sleeves (and long pants for evening) protect against sun and bugs. A broad-brimmed hat that you can tie on is also good for sun, and gives some protection in heavy rain or hail. Once or twice I used a head-net against the bugs, but usually I simply stayed in the tent when they were most abundant. Rain gear can be useful. I wore sandals most of the time.
Wear your PFD. Waterproof flashlight(s) and spare batteries. Bring a first aid kit that you know how to use. Bring a map (a waterproof chart case will protect it on your deck) and a deck-mounted compass, and know how to navigate. It's easier to stay found than to figure out where you are after you get lost. Tide tables are nice, but the corrections for various sites in the Everglades are multitudinous; you may be able to get the local tides from the ranger station in Flamingo or Everglade City. Signal mirror. Spare paddle. Something to patch up the boat if it breaks. A weather radio: I listened to news of the tornado-laden storm front advancing toward me, then I got to lie in my tent to help hold it down as the winds arrived. Some might bring a marine radio. Tell at least one person where you are going and when you will be back out, so if they never hear from you again they may start a search. Just in case.
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Camera and film, books, a notebook, binoculars, fishing gear.
I met very few people during my trip, and I spent roughly 12 hours every night in my tent, happily separated from the mosquitoes. It was interesting to read about the history of the area, and the creatures who live there. I examined the charts and plotted alternative routes, looking for passages through the mangrove maze that would take me along channels less used than the official waterway. My Crazy Creek Chair made the tent more like home, and gave me a comfy seat for reading. Listening at night, beyond the hum of mosquitoes, there were splashes of mullet, and sometimes the explosive exhalations of dolphins chasing fish, or each other.
There was satisfaction each day in seeing the landscape flowing around me in such a way that I found myself just where I intended to be after plotting my course by the chart. It was reassuring when it showed itself in living green corresponding to the irregular shapes on the chart. I liked knowing exactly how every person on the trip felt, at every moment. I could always paddle at my own pace, never needing to catch up to the leader or wait for a laggard. In fact, I was always with the leader, since she was me. I loved stretching out naked in the afternoon sun, my sleeping bag on the warm deck of the chickee, with no one for miles around but mullet, alligators, dolphin, ibis and herons.
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Day 1: Hell's Bay Canoe Trail to Hell's Bay chickee, 6 miles. I wanted to start here because on the chart this area appears so chaotic, I couldn't imagine how one could find the way. I did.
Day 2: Via Lane Bay chickee, Lane River, Roberts River (detour up as far as passable), The Cutoff, to North River chickee, 13 miles.
Day 3: Via Watson R. chickee and channel heading WNW to Shark River chickee, 11 miles.
Day 4: Via Shark River, then a channel WNW, to Graveyard Creek, then along the coast to Highland Beach, 17 miles.
Day 5: Storm front coming through with associated tornado warnings; stay put for the day.
Day 6: Up Lostmans River, join the "Wilderness Waterway" at Marker 55, Onion Key Bay; to Plate Creek chickee, 15 miles.
Day 7: Via "Wilderness Waterway" to marker 97, then north to Sweetwater chickee, 12 miles with some exploring.
Day 8: Chatham River to Mormon Key, then skirt the coast and head west to Pavilion Key, 14 miles.
Day 9: Via Little Pavilion, Rabbit Key, Comer Key, Kingston Key, to Picnic Key, 19 miles.
Day 10: Via Camp Lulu Key and Russell Pass to Marker 25 at Chokoloskee Bay, to Everglades City, 12 miles.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 119 miles.
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North American Canoe Tours, Inc., would have shuttled my car for $155. Luckily, two friends volunteered to drop me off at one end, keep my car at home, and pick me up at the other end. Trips are easier if you do a loop and return to the starting point.
Permits are required for all camping except when on board boats. They can be obtained in person within 24 hours before your trip begins. Gulf Coast Ranger Station, Everglades City, phone (813) 695-3311. Flamingo Visitor Center, phone (305) 253-2241 or 695-3101.
In the course of the trip, I passed by, stopped at, or camped on 23 campsites. Brief observations:
- Comer Key: Tiny island, but with high ground, some plants, no shade whatsoever. Said to house a population of rats.
- Darwin's Place: high ground, shell mound, small but ok, right on channel of Wilderness Waterway.
- Graveyard Creek: ground site/beach, disturbed by hurricane Andrew.
- Hell's Bay chickee: Trees behind it.
- Highland Beach: very long beach, raised above normal water levels, hurricane devastation behind in the mangroves.
- Indian Key: beach. Closed after Hurricane Andrew.
- Lane Bay: chickee
- Lard Can: uninviting, small, soggy ground site.
- Lostman's Five: small, soggy ground site with dock.
- Mormon Key: beach site, when I was there covered with huge conch shells.
- North River: chickee along river.
- Pavilion Key: sandy beach; I camped in error on the south end, but north end was occupied by Outward Bounders; they said the contour of the island had changed drastically over just a couple of weeks.
- Pearl Bay chickee: on open water, not backed up to trees.
- Picnic Key: SW side has a long beach; I camped around the corner in order to have deep water close to camp for an early departure, but being off the open beach meant less breeze and more bugs, so I left late anyway.
- Plate Creek: chickee, close by an island in bay; seemed the most difficult site due to height of dock above water.
- Rabbit Key: beach site with lots of cactus and no flat area.
- Roberts River: chickee.
- Shark River: chickee, tucked in against bank, watch ibis forage in the mangrove woods behind it.
- South Lostman's: beach, eroded by hurricane I gather.
- Sweetwater: chickee, free of the mangroves, out in the bay; awakened by rushing porpoises in the middle of the night. Sounds of alligators.
- Tiger Key: long beach on SW, high spit on NW.
- Watson River: chickee.
- Watson's Place: spacious site, grassy meadow, fairly high ground with a big dock; relics from farming days.
11433, Florida Everglades National Park, Whitewater Bay.
11432, Everglades National Park, Shark River to Lostmans River, Florida.
11430, Lostmans River to Wiggins Pass, Florida.
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Everglades visitor handout has a map of the area that affords the bigger view of the whole territory.
The Backcountry Trip Planner, provided by the park, includes a diagram of the location of the campsites and a list of sites, and is handy for planning your trip.
A Guide to the Wilderness Waterway of the Everglades National Park, by W. G. Truesdell, Revised edition 1985. Univ. of Miami Press, Coral Gables, FL. Not as useful as one might expect, but when you're in the middle of nowhere anything seems as if it might shed light on the place.
Everglades, by C. Toops, 1989. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN 55082. A coffee-table paperback with great photographs and interesting stories, worth reading before you go.
Everglades Wildguide, by J. C. George, 1988. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. The "Official National Park Handbook" with information about plants, animals, habitats.
Man in the Everglades, by C.W. Tebeau, 1968. Univ. of Miami Press, Coral Gables, FL. As I lay in my tent reading alone, miles from civilization, it was amazing to read of the active society that once inhabited the 'Glades. Historical photos, too.
Forty Years in the Everglades, by C.R. Stone, 1979. Atlantic Publishing Co., Tabor City, NC 28463. True tales by a man who began exploring the Everglades in the early 1930's.
The Everglades, River of Grass, by M.S. Douglas, 1947. Mockingbird Books, Inc., St. Simons Island, GA 31522. Classic book about the Glades.
A Guide to Everglades National Park and the nearby Florida Keys, by H.S. Zim, 1960. Golden Press, NY, NY. Simply stated, with a surprising amount of information about what you see in the park in a slender paperback.
A Dredgeman of Cape Sable, by L.E. Will, 1984. The Glades
Historical Society, Belle Glade, FL 33430. First-hand tales of canal-dredging in 1922, with more history as well.
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When I got home from the trip, I took the time to unpack with care, listing every item, including the trash, food wrappers, dirty laundry, and water bottles. (Is this compulsive? or is it Research?)
- 98 pounds water
- 46 pounds food
- 55 pounds miscellaneous (camping equipment, books, clothing...)
- 58 pounds boat (Icefloe)
- 6 pounds paddles (Werner San Juan and cheap spare)
- 140 pounds paddler
Total weight = 403 pounds
Carried 11.3 gallons = 98 pounds.
Dumped 18 pounds (about 2 1/2 gallons)
Washed with 1 gallon; would have used more except many camps were in freshwater.
Had 16 pounds left over (about 2 gallons).
BUT
I ate about 21 pounds of wet food, the equivalent of 2.5 gallons.
So my total internal consumption of water and wet food was about 9 gallons, pretty close to the recommended amount.
- 3.2 lb Svea stove, small pot, can opener, matches, lighter, potholder and lifter, sponge, dry bag to contain all this.
- 1.3 lb White gas, 1.2 liter, used about 2/3 of it.
- 0.3 lb Cups and spoon.
- 6.8 lb Tent and ground plastic
- 3.7 lb Sleeping bag
- 2 lb Thermarest
- 3.5 lb Cockpit cover, paddle float, ropes, cord, patch kit
- 1.6 lb Camera, Nikonos II
- 0.6 lb Compass, carried on deck
- 3.4 lb Spray skirt, PFD with sunscreen and strobe light
- 1.5 lb Crazy Creek chair
- 0.8 lb 2 flashlights
- 1 lb Toilet paper
- 2 lb Bathroom stuff
- 3.3 lb Books
- 2 lb purse, weather radio, batteries
- 3 lb Dirty laundry (clean underwear daily, 1 T shirt, poly pro turtleneck, silk long underwear bottoms, bandana used as towel and for killing mosquitoes in tent), wading shoes (used for going out at night), sunvisor, head net
- 9.5 lb Dry clothes, including sheet, pillowcase, warm jacket, warm hat, Nylon long pants, long sleeved cotton shirt for use vs bugs while sun shirt dried, socks for cold nights, rain jacket, first aid kit, and unused clothing (spare shorts, 2 T shirts, long underwear shirt, cotton tights, bathing suit, sundress)
- 1.2 lb mask and snorkel, never used
- 1.5 lb running shoes, never used
- 3 lb wet paddling clothes: sandals, Nylon shorts, underwear, bathing suit top, sun shirt, hat, sunglasses.
- 3.4 lb Trash collected along the way
- Leftover food = 10.7 lb
- Empty Containers = 3.4 lb
- Food Eaten = 28.5 lb (21 lb were wet, either fresh or canned)
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Food I took with me
- Cadbury's chocolate
- Peppermint tea
- Instant coffee
- Cocoa
- 1.5 lb corn nuts, m&m peanuts, gorp
- Cookies, Brussels mint
- Milk in 8 oz boxes, some chocolate
- Juice in boxes, cans
- Canned fruit, 8 oz.: pears, peaches, fruit cocktail (worst)
- Granola bars
- Fresh Pears and tangerines
- Apricots, dried (mostly not used)
- Ramen noodles
- Tuna, 3 oz cans
- Cheese, 1 lb, uneaten
- Lipton's dry noodle dishes
- Sardines
- Vienna sausage (untouched)
- Dried beef (untouched)
- Canned soup
- Canned veggies: tomatoes, corn, yams, baked beans, green beans
- Wheat thins, wasa crackers
- Grapenuts, Granola
- Peanut butter
- Crystal light drink powder
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Last updated October 9, 1996