• Paddling the Everglades Wilderness Waterway
  

• Planning the Adventure
  

• Equipping for the
  Adventure
  

• Paddling the Course

Paddling the Everglades Wilderness Waterway

So let’s say you want to do something memorable, like completing a marathon, cycling
a hundred miles, climbing Mount McKinley, that sort of thing. How about paddling the
Everglades Wilderness Waterway? It’s one hundred miles of open water, mangrove
covered streams, countless birds and alligators. A real adventure, and you can do it if
you try. Four of us just did, and now we’ll let you in on the secrets of the trip.

Adventure has been described as terror recalled in tranquility, so you must plan to have
some tranquility to recall the events. The best time to do the Wilderness Waterway is
between December 1 and March 1, when the weather and the remarkably diverse insect
life are most agreeable to the journey. Unfortunately, that’s when everyone else wants
to do the trip, so there is some uncertainty associated with the planning.
The planning steps are:

• Get the detailed waterproof charts (Charts 39 and 41, available at Bill Jackson’s, West
  Marine, US Boat, or any other supplier).

• Get a good compass and learn to navigate with the compass and chart – this is not
  optional – all mangroves look alike, and the consequences of getting lost range from
  discomfort to disaster.

• Set at least a 10 day time period for the trip, because you’ll need to go down the day
  before, go to the Everglades City National Park Service Ranger Station to reserve camping
  sites, and start in the early morning. Then the trip will take six to seven days, and bad
  weather can add a day or two, and you’ll want to relax after the long journey home.

• Get tide information, because the tides in the Everglades can range over 5 feet in
  places, and the tidal currents run upwards of 1.5 knots. These factors control the
  speed you can travel, and whether or not you can cross The Nightmare (see below).

• Up to 24 hours before you launch, go to the National Park Service ranger station in
  Everglades City and obtain a permit. This permit will list the camping sites and days to
  be occupied, and you will give an address for emergency notification. Remember that
  everyone has to file this permit application (it’s $10 for up to six people), and if you
  don’t you can’t use the camping facilities. Camping site reservations are first come
  first served, and are rigorously controlled by the NPS. If you’ve reserved a camping
  site, you have absolute priority at that site.

Because of the need to plan in detail, it’s a good idea to start the planning now for
your future trip. Aids to planning include the following web sites.

http://www.iveyhouse.com

http://www.nps.gov/ever/

http://www.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/

In addition to these information sources, it’s not a bad idea to start with a two to three
day trip to acquaint yourself with the local conditions, get some experience, etc. before
the Big One.

Equipping for the Adventure

We did the trip in two canoes, but a mix of canoes and kayaks or kayaks alone would also be
suitable. The constraints include the need to carry sufficient water, food and shelter. You’ll
need at least one gallon of water per person per day, enough food for the trip at 1.2
times normal consumption plus an allowance for unplanned weather related waiting. We
finished the trip with about one inch of instant coffee in the bottom of the jar, and that
was all we had left – ate everything else. If you take water in gallon jugs, or three-
gallon light plastic containers, you’ll have to protect them from raccoons. The Everglades
wildlife has no source of fresh water except licking dew off of leaves and stealing from
tourists. Raccoons will gladly chew through light plastic for a drink, so on ground sites,
plan to turn the canoe upside down over the water jugs and food. On chickees, tie off
the boats so that a rising tide will not trap a gunwale under the chickee and sink
the boat (see below).

Get sufficient dry bags to contain your sleeping bags, foam pads and dry clothes. One 70 liter
dry bag per person is the minimum for a canoe trip, with additional dry bags being useful f
or cameras, toilet articles, etc. Food can be contained in dry boxes or in plastic totes in
zip lock plastic bags. Consider that everything will get wet, and could be chewed by
raccoons, and plan accordingly. Plan to cover all food with the canoe or in a boat tied
off to prevent entry. Don’t bother hanging it from a tree, raccoons climb too well for that.

During the best time for the trip, mid December through mid February, the weather
will usually be comfortable, with dry sunny days and cool nights. You’ll usually get wet
paddling, so wear clothes that dry quickly and retain warmth, such as nylon or Supplex
and polar fleece. One member of our group had a synthetic jacket and trousers that
converted to shorts, and was comfortable and dry for the entire trip. One member
(the author) wore chronically wet blue jeans and sweatshirts, and shivered for seven
days. Sleeping bags should be synthetic materials as well, because down doesn’t survive
wetting, and a foam pad is absolutely necessary for sleeping on a chickee. Bring lots of
sunscreen and sunglasses, because the bright sun and cool weather can results in a
serious sunburn on exposed skin and the sun reflecting off the water can blind effectively you .

A few last thoughts about food and cooking: You’ll need a good stove using either propane or
white gas, and because the days are short at that time of year a lantern or other good light
source is a must. We relied on single pot meals, usually pasta or rice and beans for supper.
Hand grated Pecorino Romano cheese on each serving adds a touch of luxury. We usually
had scrambled eggs (a mistake was buying premixed eggs – tasted bad and were watery)
or oatmeal for breakfast. You'll be using lots of calories, so have plenty of raisins, sugar,
honey, syrup and butter to supplement breakfast. We brought along eight tangerines
and apples per person, and that was about half what we needed. Fruits supply moisture
as well as energy during the day. One important social lubricant was instant coffee, with
several cups per day giving us a reason to stop and rest. Arranging to stop for lunch
at a chickee or ground site will give you a chance to make coffee or soup, answer the
call of nature, and generally make the day more pleasant.

One last food related topic is waste disposal. Don’t throw any food off a chickee. We had
an unpleasant evening fishing in the water for spilled water jugs at the Rodgers River Bay
chickee. Prior guests had fed the local boss alligator, and he spent the evening drifting about
ten feet off the chickee waiting for us to feed him. Then, when the canoe with the water jugs
capsized at one in the morning, we had an entertaining few minutes. If there’s any leftovers
(we didn’t have any), pack them out with the garbage. There’s a big dumpster at Flamingo. 
As for other issues, you should have a well-equipped first aid kit, and ideally someone trained
in first aid, because there’s no one there to answer the 911 call.  Also, plan of having at
least two of every critical item. Critical items include compasses, charts (we erred in having
only one set), fire starters, paddles, etc.

Paddling the Course

OK, you’ve done the planning and organized the equipment, so the only thing is to do is the
course itself. If the planning and equipping are good, the trip should be wonderful. You’ll
be in the most remote spot in the lower 48 states, more than 50 miles from a paved road
at the Rodgers River Bay chickee. That’s more remote than any other point east of the
Mississippi River. You’ll see more stars, be more self-sufficient, and have more time for
reflection than you are accustomed to.  Remember to conduct yourself accordingly. Be
cautious, because you are truly on your own. Always have a backup plan for where you
intend to stop and spend the night, have sufficient food for an extra day, and achieve
a consensus on each day’s plan.


 

A Few Topics of Caution:

The Nightmare is the pet name for the connection between the Broad River and Broad
Creek to Harney River. It’s a four mile stretch of narrow shallow water with innumerable
snags. Don’t plan to paddle The Nightmare unless the daily high tide (there will be only
one really high tide per day) is in the middle of the day. We were told that "we could just
wait for an hour or so if the tide was wrong." If we’d waited, we’d still be there, ‘cause
the water was at least 4 feet below the level of the snags, and the high tide that day
came at 4:00 PM. This combined with the six-hour paddle to the next chickee meant we
couldn’t possibly make the crossing. In fact, the crossing couldn’t be made for at least
ten days unless one were to paddle the Nightmare at night. We retraced our course
and took the alternate passage through the Gulf.

Critical markers can be missing Two critical markers on our route were missing, and we
only found our way with good navigation and blind luck. The markers are installed by
the National Park Service and are painted in unobtrusive colors, so as not to interfere
with the wilderness experience. Brown and green stand out poorly against mangroves.
The marker posts are not made of pressure treated lumber (it’s not environmentally friendly)
and don’t last too well in the Everglades. The markers set by the Coast Guard in Shark
River and Whitewater Bay are in contrast easier to see and follow.

Pay attention to the wind. Strong winds (over 20 knots) can set up significant waves in
the larger bays. Four canoes capsized on Whitewater Bay two days before we started, and
the paddlers had an uncomfortable evening waiting for rescue. One pair spent the night
waiting on a mangrove island. Be able to use the shoreline as a windbreak to work you way
to the next point.

Don’t vary from your float plan. In the planning, you read about the absolute priority
for use of camping facilities. We met two people that missed one chickee and pressed
on to the next instead of going back to the planned stop. They were settled in at
10:00 PM when the party of 12 with the permit cruised into the chickee. Their evening
spent on the chickee roof would have been more pleasant if not for the high winds, rain
and lightning. If you don’t like sleeping on your boat, maintain your float plan.

The Everglades Wilderness Waterway is patrolled during the day by the NPS using light
planes. Have a means of signaling using strobes, flares or mirrors in case of emergencies.

At the end of the adventure, check in at the Flamingo Ranger Station so they know you’ve
arrived, get a reservation at the restaurant (there’ll be a 10 to 30 minute wait to be seated)
and load your equipment for the return to Everglades City. Order the conch fritters and fish
chowder in a bread bowl, and you’ll really enjoy the feeling of completion.

- Jim Shirk

 

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