TravelStream™ news feed for member ericavanetten on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ericavanetten en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:50:58 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198614000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198614000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198614000/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:50:58 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Joe River - Homestead, Florida, United States

This morning all focus was getting out of no-see-um hell, which led to a hectic packing of the kayaks, which led to Jared flipping one of the kayaks which was -- according to Jared -- not funny at all. Luckily most of the hatches were closed so the swamp didn't take too much and there were no hungry alligators around at the time. Actually, that morning there was a sweet pair of dolphins cruising around while we packed up, which could almost make you like the place if you didn't have mammalian flesh to defend.

Finally bailed out & packed up we headed out for our longest paddle of the trip (about 18 miles), this time with the wind & tides at our back the majority of the way.

Somehow we arrived at Flamingo around 2pm, and had plenty of time to pack the car and get to the Everglades Hostel in Homestead to enjoy a fabulous night in babylon. $22/night/person for a dorm bed, which includes free internet, phone calls, tv & movie selection, random free food donated from area orchards and great hang-out areas (outdoor gardens & of course the didgeridoo room). http://www.evergladeshostel.com/
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Homestead, Florida, United States

After a great nights sleep at the hostel, we headed back to Gainesville -- along the way we stopped at a latino farmers market (called the 'flea market') which was great fun - a 3-D non sequitur maze of produce, knock-off brand household goods, random military surplus and different music blasting every 12 feet. A good taste of S. Florida before being back in grad-school-land.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198170000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198170000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198170000/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:35:59 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Joe River Chickee, Florida, United States

Graveyard Creek campsite proved to be a meer shadow of the no-see-um hell that was to await us at the Joe River Chickee later that day...

Before setting off inland, we wrote a message in our bottle and paddled it out to the Gulf to set it off in open water. Then we took an alternative route up Graveyard Creek (too far), turned around, and then wove around in mangrove islands for the next few hours, not too sure if we were really making progress forward. Eventally we ended up in the main channels for an intense paddle against the tides, wind & sun along Oyster Bay.

After paddling all day against the wind, we arrived at the chickee at dusk. As we approached through the completely still air, we began to hear the suspicious high-pitched humm of what we then thought were mosquitos. In front of us was a man sitting silently on the chickee platform with only his eyes visible -- the only exposed skin on his body. These were not good signs. As we approached the chickee platform the mob of no-see-ums descended upon us, not to leave until we fled the place the next day. In the next day's entry there are a few videos that capture the experience...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198083600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198083600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198083600/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:23:21 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Graveyard Creek, Florida, United States

This was our first and only LONG ocean paddle. Eventually we got to the point at the far end of the bay, which was all mud and dead trees. Around the corner was the campsite, which was outfitted with men's & women's portapotties, a picnic table, and about 40,000 no-see-ums. We made a fire to keep away the bugs & drank a bottle of wine to celebrate our last night on the beach.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197997200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197997200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197997200/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:20:27 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Highland Beach, Florida, United States

After exploring off the map in Lostman's Five river & bays most of the day, we kayak out to the ocean and catch another sunset on the water. Right at sunset we passed some unfortunate folks that had grounded their sailboat on a sandbar (and then the tide went out). The whole area is so shallow, including the coast along the Gulf. Highland Beach was deserted -- even though the Park Service will allow up to 60 people to camp there, we were the only ones.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197910800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197910800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197910800/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:18:00 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Plate Creek Chickee, Florida, United States

In the morning a powerboat pulled up and dropped off a single woman (age 70+) who was going on a 4-day solo kayaking trip. The folks that dropped her off were guides and told us all sorts of stories about the place. Following their advice we spent most of the day exploring a small creek and series of bays where we found several of the endangered wood storks, as well as many other birds, jumping mullet and gators. Exploring the smaller channels off the main route was the best way to see wildlife and get a sense of the place -- just be sure to keep track of where you are on the map!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197824400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197824400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197824400/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:13:01 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Darwin's Place, Florida, United States

We leave Sunday Bay in good spirits and have fun crossing several large bays on our way to the Sweetwater Chickee. We're all set to paddle in at sunset, but then misguidance strikes and we can not find the chickee... A little consulting with the GPS sends us backtracking and retracing our route, and eventually giving up on finding the place.

Along the way we find some amazing surreal phosphorescence -- clear blobs that light up like glow-in-the-dark donuts when we pass the paddle through the shallow water. The Everglades is downright wierd sometimes. No pictures of the glowing jellyblobs this time, but they say the phosphorescence is amazing in the summer.

After tossing Plan A (finding the Sweetwater Chickee) we decide to continue along our route and find the next available site, which turns out to be Darwin's Place - an old Native American shell mound. Kayaking by moonlight was beautiful, and finding the place was no problem, as it was along the marked route.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197748020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197748020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1197748020/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:06:27 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Sunday Bay Chickee, Florida, United States

After setting off around 1pm and paddling against a strong current, we arrived at the Sunday Bay Chickee, where we met Sean and Noel from Montana. Along the way Erica had caught a mullet that jumped out of the water onto the bank and was sort of flopping around with a bloody eye. Sean had powdered milk, cornmeal & a fillet knife. It was delicious. Sean & Noel were halfway through a 20 day trip, just back from a resupply mission in Chokoloskee, so they had lots of beer to share. Their very heavily loaded canoe hovered about 6 inches out of the water...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198451340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198451340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ericavanetten/1/1198451340/tpod.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 09:55:23 -0500 Everglades Wilderness Waterway

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Gainesville - Everglades City - Flamingo - Miami - camping.., Florida, United States

December 14th: 6 am -- Martijn, Jared & I start our very long driving day...
Gainesville to Marco Island, FL (aka Legoland) to rent a car, then to the Gulf Coast Ranger Station in Everglades City to get our backcountry permits & drop off the kayaks, then we drive to Flamingo to drop off my car (& sort out what we'll bring on the trip under the streetlights), then drive to Miami International Airport to drop off Martijn, then finally drive to free campground near Everglades city and set up tent @ 1am...
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