Bear Creek Canoe Trail

I have hiked many a trails. I have aimlessly wondered city streets.
I have never, until now, paddled an official canoe trail.

Let's go back to the beginning.  We have two 9ft Swifty kayaks made by Perception.  The swiftys have met our needs perfectly.  The boats are well suited to playing in a river or lake.  The cockpit is large and open so we can fit 1 adult and 1 kid in each boat.  This will absolutely be the last year we can pull off 2 people per boat.  The boys are getting bigger and the boats just don't track and paddle as well with 2 people in them. We will get to that in a moment.








We were camped at Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park when we decided to try our first official canoe trail.  We walked down to the Visitor Center and talked to a Ranger.  She informed us that some of the trails were closed due to low water conditions.  We chose Bear Creek because it was near the Flamingo Campground and it lead to Bear Lake, a decent fishing spot.

As we walked to the trailhead we could feel how different the habitat was from our own. The water looked shallow and golden brown. The air was heavy, thick really.  Mosquitoes buzzed in our ears. Epiphytes hung all around.  The trees and plants were unfamiliar. And the insects and animals were a total mystery.  We were honestly scared or at least out of our comfort zone.  But we are Team Mobley so we started paddling.











The trees hung low over the narrow creek.  We ducked our heads to avoid  hitting the beautiful plants dangling from the trees.  The smell was distinct.  It smelled rotten, like a nasty old potato. The water, brace yourself, looked like watered down baby poo. There is honestly no other way to describe it. As we paddled we were in awe of the spiders and there webs.  There were so many!

We started paddling in the early afternoon.  We packed some snacks but there was no place to stop.  The entire trail required our attention.  If we weren't paddling, we were running into spiderwebs or red mangroves.  By now the trail was feeling like this post, long and never ending! The creek was getting shallower and smellier.  It was more difficult to paddle as the water lessened and the mud increased.  We could only get 1-3inches of our paddles in the water without scooping up muck.  It seemed like we were paddling and going no where! No where! Our arms were pumped. Images of our family sleeping in the Everglades crossed my mind. How would I be brave as the darkness set in. How would I be brave for my kids when there were spiders all around.  I knew we were not lost on this canoe trail called Bear Creek.  I mean how could we be lost? There was a clear trail map at the put in.  The trail was straight.  There was one main waterway with only tiny impassable tributaries. Then again the trail we were on was close to impassable. Scary stories flooded my head.  In the midst of my stories James asks me if we are lost.  He was worried too? Fabulous! I better get my brain together. I took a deep breath and let the stories be just that, stories. I used one of my favorite techniques: acknowledge the story and then watch it float away on a cloud.  Man I miss yoga class, but I digress.

We agree we will paddle another 20 mins and if we don't get to the lake we will turn around.  We do not want to turn around. I know we must be so close!  Paddle, Paddle, Paddle. For every 5 paddles we travel a foot or two.      Finally we can see a small turn in the river that leads to the lake! LAKE! LAKE! As we entered the lake we were able to get out on a tiny beach.  The beach would be our fishing spot. Based on the trash picked up by our JR Rangers, others have fished here too.  Time for a snack and for fishing.

 

We caught nothing.  Not even a nibble. Lost a nice weight in the mangroves. Enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. The paddle back was almost as treacherous as the way in.  It was made easier just because we knew what to expect.  E and I paddled back together and created a lovely song to keep us occupied as we struggled through the muck.

Sung to Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Row, Row, Row Kayak 

with epiphytes above

liquid poo under you

and a gator or 2

(and repeat!)

Luckily we saw no gators! After reaching the parking lot, E and I took the boats and paddled the canal to the marina. James and T drove back.  The kids have been looking for the Florida Bigfoot, also called Skunk Ape.  As we paddled, E called out with his best Bigfoot call.  A few moments later we heard a call back! James and T had parked down the river and T had heard the call and responded!  It caught E and I off guard.  We all had a good laugh as the boys continued speaking to each other in Bigfoot language.  E and I paddled into the marina just after sunset. We loaded up the boats and headed to camp for dinner.