Peter wrote: Has anybody on the list ever done the Wilderness Waterway, 99 miles from Everglades City to Flamingo (or v.v.). We are planning on doing it (how's that for a New Years paddle!), and would like to hear some first hand experiences. Peter , I have made many trips into the Everglades including most of the wilderness waterway. It is a wonderful place to canoe or kayak. Dolphins, manatee, Pelicans, and other birds abound. A few tips.... -You will need to carry in all your water (the glades are salt water or brackish) The park service recommends one gallon per person per day. -Keep your water out of reach of the racoons, they have few sources of fresh water and will chew into water bottles.People have had to turn back because the racoons stole their fresh water. We keep our water in our tents at night or inside the kayak hatches. -Be prepared for bugs,headnet and repellant , they are still there in the winter. -Be prepared for wind, it can kick up fast and the water being shallow the waves get very choppy -Get the latest map and mount a compass to your boat,use them constantly, you can get lost quickly as the trail winds through the mangroves. Also fog can be a problem. -Try to make it out to the outer islands (pavillion or rabbit key)...more wildlife and shells -Beware of the oyster bars, they are extremely sharp and a fall onto one when landing the boat can cause serious injury. -You have to camp at designated campsite. You will need to register with the The national park service. Register as soon as you get to Everglades city so you can get the campsite you want. The week you are going is a busy time.The chickees (camping platforms built above the water) can get crowded especially if a storm sets everyones schedule off. -Take a bird guide Have a great trip Bob Sitka *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: Rev. Bob Carter <revkayak_at_ptialaska.net> To: paddle wise < Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 3:01 AM Subject: [Paddlewise] everglades > > -Keep your water out of reach of the racoons, they have few sources of fresh > water and will chew into water bottles.People have had to turn back because > the racoons stole their fresh water. We keep our water in our tents at night > or inside the kayak hatches. > Good advice by Bob on all points except for water storage in tent: Do not keep your water in tent even at night. Some friends last winter had a racoon tear up their tent at Pavilion Key looking for the water jug they stored in their tent. Safest place to store food or water is inside kayak hatches. Also, don't go walking far from food that is cooking or you will come back to a tipped pot from the racoons trying to get at your meal. This happened to me one night as I momentarily went over to get something out my kayak and returned to find a racoon tipped over my cook pot to get dinner before I could. Bathing: Last winter I tried a product called No Rinse body bath (ordered at Campmor) and it works by adding 4 capfuls of the product in a quart of water. Use a washcloth scrub up and towel off, no residue and you feel clean and fresh. This made the water last alot longer with a gallon per person the perfect formula. One quart to bathe, one to cook with and two to drink I wash dishes with salt water. Bring a collapsible bucket to retrieve water before tide goes out so you can wash your dishes or you will have to walk very far in mud to water source at low tide. One last bit of advice, ask the rangers which are the sites most frequented by powerboaters and try not to stay on them. These fishermen will keep you up all night drinking and partying, unless of course you like that sort of thing. Sites such as Watsons, New Turkey Key, Lostmans 5, etc are preferred by fishermen in powerboats because they have docks. Have Fun! Viv *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 06:36 PM 11/20/1999 -0500, Vivian Oliva wrote: >Do not keep your water in tent even at night. Some friends last winter had >a racoon tear up their tent at Pavilion Key looking for the water jug they >stored in their tent. Safest place to store food or water is inside kayak >hatches. And definitely do not carefully store away all your food, except one little bag of peanuts which get left on your table. Not unless you want a grizzly bear to smell them from all the way across a lake and come into your campsite sniffing around your tent like a 600 pound dog. I speak from experience on this one. Just try to clean bear snot off a nylon tent. Just try. jerry. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 14:36 11/22/99 -0800, Jerry Hawkins wrote: > >And definitely do not carefully store away all your food, except one little bag of peanuts which get left on your table. Not unless you want a grizzly bear to smell them from all the way across a lake and come into your campsite sniffing around your tent like a 600 pound dog. I speak from experience on this one. Just try to clean bear snot off a nylon tent. Just try. > >jerry. better that than the crap out of my shorts ;-) we took all precautions when in grizzly country, and never saw one ... mixed feelings about that!! mark "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." --Winston Churchill *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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