Weather conditions:
High: 86 record high
Low: 61
Skies: clouds early otherwise mostly sunny
Winds: SSW 10-15 mph
Today’s mileage: 10 miles
Total mileage: 31 miles
Where we traveled: Big Waters platform to Floyd’s Island cabin
Alligator sightings today: 30
Total for the trip: 40
Ate:
Breakfast: quinoa with fruit
Dinner: chili with cornbread croutons and wine
Dessert: apple pie
8:45 a.m.
Up with the sun at 6:30. Traveling with others means we are more relaxed. Based on our previous trips, John would have set his alarm for 4:00. This is much nicer!
Alice was gone this morning. I wonder when she left and where she went.
Finishing up our packing and then away we go.
It is warmer today already. My sunglasses steamed up as soon as I put them on—my barometer for assessing heat and humidity. The mosquitos must be hatching.
Let’s talk about the DeKock’s gear. A tent with a vestibule, bear barrels, solar panel with a kickstand, fancy chairs with a head rest. Of course, they do…. (No envy here.)
We went to bed with the sun last night around 7:00. I read only 12 pages before falling asleep. I was more tired than I thought. It wasn’t as windy as Monday night, so I slept better.
2:33 p.m.
We are sitting in our chairs with a back on the porch of the Floyd’s Island cabin, eating venison jerky, hard cheese, and drinking Gatorade.
We landed about 1:30 and carried our gear and canoes 50 yards to the cabin. Once we were settled, we portaged the canoes 100 yards to the other side of the island to save time tomorrow. The out house is conveniently located by tomorrow’s put in.
The breeze blows through the leaves; the sun shining through the trees creates speckles on the ground; the screen door slams as Gary goes into the cabin. Now, all we need is some moonshine. I guess Merlot-shine will have to do. (Yes, we have two boxes of wine. It’s a rough life here in the swamp!)
Many alligators dotted the path on today’s four-hour paddle. The first of thirty was within five minutes after launching, followed by eight more in the next mile. One swam at John and me before disappearing under our boat. I didn’t breathe until I was sure we were out of his path.
This morning while we were still at Big Waters, we heard a sound we couldn’t identify. It sounded natural yet sort-of like someone trying to start a chainsaw. Later as we approached an alligator, he let out a bellow before slinking into the water. So, that is what we heard earlier.
We put in some extra miles because we weren’t sure where we were. We reached a mile marker (yes, there are mile markers on the water trails) we shouldn’t have reached yet. So, we turned around. You don’t realize how much current there is until you paddle upstream. We found the sign-less post and lily pad-covered canal we missed the first time through. There used to be two ways to reach Floyd’s Island. This trail hadn’t been used for a long time. We turned around again and found the other path.
Trees bordered the three-mile, narrow passageway from the main channel to the island. At some points the trees created an arch over the water. The water was so calm (no current) that the reflection sometimes made it difficult to distinguish what was real and what was the water. A few times John tried to miss something that was just a reflection.
Even though the cabin is the most remote we’ve been, I have cell reception for the first time since we launched Monday. The texts and well-wishes on Facebook made my day.
The cabin’s two bedrooms led off opposite sides of the main room. An old description of the cabin said there were four rooms. Based on the foundation in the back of the cabin and the lack of windows on one wall in one of the bedrooms, I assume there was a kitchen through the back door in the living room. The fireplace was removed because it was crumbling and presented a fire hazard. Boy scout troop #123 from Winter Haven, Florida—200 miles away—takes care of this piece of history.
A Seminole village is part of the history of this island. After the village was burned during the Second Seminole War in 1838, they fled. The island was later named Floyd’s Island for Charles Rinaldo Floyd. Almost a hundred years after the Seminoles left, Daniel Hebard built a hunting cabin. I don’t know if the cabin we are staying in is the one he built, but then again it might be.
Oh, the stories this cabin could tell. Stories of many years ago and tales of yesterday. The last entry in the logbook was written in French last night by someone from Quebec. It’s hard to believe someone else was here a day ago. I feel like we are the only ones who have traveled these miles in years.
Okay. Time to set up our tent in the left bedroom. (I’ve never written those words before.) More later.
7:30 p.m.
It’s dark, so we are in our tent in our bedroom. With no wind to worry about, and no stakes, I set the tent up by myself. I impressed myself!
Standing up to get changed is a luxury. It never fails, I will have everything laid out in the tent, but when I reach for the next item, it has disappeared somewhere in the 30 square feet of our tent.
Gary is drinking wine by the fire. John is resting beside me. (He has had a headache since before we landed.) Linda is in her tent in the other bedroom.
This afternoon was full of drone flying, relaxing, e-mails and texts checking, firewood cutting, fire making, food preparing, supper eating, and lots of laughing.
While we were sitting by the fire, John felt the wind from the wings of something as it flew over his head. The owl landed in a tree nearby. A near miss.
Sleeping in this old cabin keeps us dry from rain or dew. It’s warm. We opened as many windows as we could. Some screens had holes. For other windows we found sticks to hold them open. Everything is stored in our dry bags and buckets because of the possibility of mice. I’m not very excited about that.
Oh, I forgot one hilarious moment. I’m still laughing about it. John was charging our solar panel. The sun moved, leaving the panel in the shade. Gary walked by it and nonchalantly said, “Oh, I see you have the model that works in the shade.” And then proceeded on his way. It was so funny.
I’m going to read until I fall asleep. The plan is for a long day tomorrow.
How many alligators will we see?