Wilderness Camping Trip in Okefenokee Wilderness Area - Days Two and Three

After spending the evening listening to alligators bellow, then sleeping before waking in the early hours and admiring the beautiful bright stars above our tents, we woke to another beautiful day.  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, then packed and got ready to leave. I set up my camera on a little tripod so we could get this picture.  Took me about six leaps into the canoe.

Leaving to start our second day

 I wanted to see how much further we could get down the orange trail so we started off in the opposite direction we needed to go to get to our next shelter. Along the way we found a moma alligator sunning on a log with several babies sunning behind her. (To make sense of our trails, click on the map showing the various trails and shelters.)

More baby alligators

 After about a mile of paddling, we go to this set of logs and had to turn around.

Current end-of-the-line for Orange Trail

We continued back down the orange trail and stopped back at our camp to take a break.  Then we went on down to the turn for the purple trail. By the time we got to the intersection with the green trail we decided to not explore it but to continue to our next camp site, Roundtop.

With all this power, we paddled nearly four miles an hour

My end of the canoe - both of us switched between single and double blades

Soon after we turned on the purple trail, the swamp turned into mostly a marsh with scattered islands of trees.

View after we turned on Purple Trail

Ibis on Purple Trail

We didn't reach Roundtop until about two in the afternoon. We approached it from the back but this is a better view of it.

Roundtop  - Our quarters for the second night

We again set up our tents, this time keeping them under the roofed part, because we were forecast to have rain during the night. This place has a 360 degree view and we had a relaxing time just watching different parts of it.  We did have an alligator that took umbrage with us being out by the porta potty and hissed at us. Later he had a confrontation with another alligator and made it leave. He attracted our attention to the confrontation by giving a kind of a coughing sound which seemed to intimidate the other alligator who was almost nose to nose with the aggressive alligator when we noticed the confrontation.

Supper that night was black bean quinoa soup with  jalapeno cornbread muffins.  Pat volunteered to heat it all up.  He even figured how to heat everything up with only one stove and pot.

Pat cooking supper 

Black bean quinoa soup with Pat's fresh cilantro and  jalapeno corn muffins

We got an almost sunset just before the sun actually set and just before the clouds obscured everything.

An almost sunset before the clouds closed in

We did fight the mosquitoes after sunset and finally went to bed soon after dark. It was very warm and I found it hard to sleep until after we had had several showers.  Pat felt his tent getting wet so got up and moved it; he also drug mine to a drier place on the platform with me in it.

The next morning, we got two tiny showers while we were packing up.  The rain falling on water among the water lily leaves was so beautiful, I had to take a picture of it.

Morning rain 

We only had a few hours of paddling so we were in no rush to leave.  We finally left about 9:30 A.M. under cloudy skies, but with an occasional glimpse of the sun.

New Pitcher plants among the old 

Sandhill cranes and golden club

In only a few miles, we were at the turn back into Suwannee Canal and headed back to the beginning.

We got home in time to eat a late lunch before repacking for the next two days of paddling and camping on the St. Mary's River.  It was a wonderful, warm trip with rain just how I like it best - at night and falling on a tin roof.

Postscript:  Pat sent me a picture of our route.

Way Up Upon the Suwannee River: Okefenokee Swamp to Fargo Paddle - by Guest Blogger: Julie DeVore

I was working at the Visitor Center one day, when I got a really interesting call from a lady that was planning to paddle into the swamp to Floyd's Island, and then on down the Suwannee River to Fargo, Georgia.  She went on to tell me that this is the last section of the Suwannee River not yet paddled  to have done the entire river. We continued to chat and I ended up inviting her to paddle the St. Mary's river with friends and me.  She couldn't schedule it but I hope to get to paddle with her before I leave. 

And she agreed to tell me all about the trip.  It was so interesting, I KNEW you would want to hear about it too. 

Julie and her Dad ready to start out

My Dad, Paul Hoobler and I have been paddling sections of the Suwannee River for the last 3 years. We had not been able to paddle our last section - the first portion as it comes out of the Okefenokee Swamp - because of low water and fires. (A fire in 2011 burned 80 % of the swamp and burned for nearly a year. ) But now the water is up so we planned a paddle. We also wanted to spend one night in the swamp so we left out of Stephen Foster State Park. This is the West entrance to the Okefenokee and  we paddled to our reserved campsite on Floyds island, approximately nine miles east of the entrance.

Trails are well-marked

Dad on paddle break

Suwannee River View - going upstream

The trail is beautiful, and because it was the warmest day so far this year, we saw countless gators. It's a long paddle between rest stops. There is only one place to stop and it is a shelter about 3 hours in, depending on the current flow. The paddle is all up-stream till the turnoff from the red trail, then it is flat water.

After the turn into the canoe-only trail off the Suwannee

One of many gators we encountered

After turning off the red trail it got interesting. The canal narrowed to only five-six feet, but the gators were getting ever bigger. We had the choice to either use half of a paddle or paddle straight up and down for about an hour.   It was pretty shallow so there was no where for the gators go get away from you. I'm just glad the water is dark so we couldn't see how close we were to them. 

Me

Once we reached Floyd’s island we set up camp. The weather was perfect, except, surprisingly enough, that  the mosquitoes were out, in February, so just be prepared any time of the year here. I never camp in Florida/S GA anytime of year without a thermacell pad to be ready for cold weather.   

The cabin is really neat, but I’m sure Floyd had a hard time getting a woman to live out in the middle of the swamp. The east side entrance trail to Floyd’s island is totally blocked. There is a bathroom on the island, but no water. We did see a deer the morning we were leaving, heard there is a bobcat, but never saw him. (note from Marilyn: Volunteers are currently working to clear all the blockages on trails leading from Floyd's Island.)

Dad at Floyd's Island

The next morning, we packed up and headed back down the small creek to the red trail, back by the Stephan Foster entrance and headed to the Suwannee River Sill. (You need a permit to go through this area. )We encountered a storm along the way that caused us to seek cover under a tree, sit in our kayaks of course with ponchos that really did not help in this storm.  

Stormy Weather

We waited for the heavy rain and lightening to pass and then paddled about an hour in rain to the shelter.  We got changed, dry and waited out the storm for 1 ½ hrs at Minne’s Hammock Shelter and then kept going.  It was a nice break for lunch and hot coffee.  (Yes I bring a bullet and French press, I have my vices, LOL.)  Unfortunately this put us behind about 2 hrs, and the fact we were told it was 2 miles to the sill from the west entrance and it is over 4 miles, made for a long day. 

Drying out at Minnie's Hammock Shelter

On this stretch we had a twelve- fourteen foot gator lift his head and make a barking noise at us. He didn't move so we went to the other side of the river to pass him, and give him his space.  We paddled through a grass prairie on the way to the sill that depending on water levels, could have you paddling grass, not water, with gators lying within arms reach. There was one log across the trail and portage is not an option, we could not touch bottom with our paddle, it is over 10 ft deep and only grass.  So you just had to work over, and rock, and rock, you know…..

Grassy area

When we reached the sill, we portaged around it, not because it would be hard to go through it, but because the rule is you have to and my dad is a stickler for the rules. A nice local put our yaks in his truck and drove them to  the ramp, It is about a 100 yard carry. We paddled about three more miles and set up camp.  We found a great spot, the view was amazing as you can imagine.  Had a nice fire, great dinner of sweet potatoes in tinfoil on the fire and chicken with artichoke hearts, fresh spinach and feta in tinfoil on the fire.  And of course a bottle of wine.

Campsite

This made for a long day of paddling and I guess we did about 16 miles and lost time to breaks during  the storm, So we didn't start setting up camp until forty-five minutes before sunset.  I prefer to have a spot way before then, so if you do this trip, hope you have good weather and start early. 

There are plenty of spots and flat ground from a couple miles past the sill to Fargo. There was only one road that came down and it must have been Griffs fish camp, because we never passed anything else till Fargo. At this water level there are no sandbars. This is a beautiful stretch of the Suwannee. There is no development, and we saw some of the biggest gators of the trip on this stretch….

It is 21 miles from the sill to Fargo and so we had about 18 to go, but the water was really moving and we were able to do a mile every 20 minutes.  We were at our car by 4.  I was definitely off the grid. I have T-Mobile and did not have service the entire trip.  I kind of like it that way.

Happy Paddling,  

Julie Hoobler DeVore

Water information:

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Floyds Island and the Suwannee to Fargo.

Water lever 10.2, approx. 53 miles