Robertson Millpond

Saturday was a beautiful fall day, so we decided to take our kayaks out and go to Robertson Millpond Preserve.  We arrived around 930 and put in at the dock.  Park staff have installed numbered buoys to mark a paddle trail through the swamp.  The last time we visited, about a year ago, the buoys went up to 37, at which point we had to turn around.  Now, they've made a complete loop going all the way up to #73.  The weather was just perfect and the pond was so scenic.

Sandy was excited to kayak since we haven't been in a while, so we went around the loop rather quickly.  Since it's just over a mile, we continued on another partial loop, going a lot slower so we could enjoy the views and get some pictures.

The bald cypress trees here are really beautiful and so unexpected to find them here in Wake County.  I even found some Spanish moss.

We went about a quarter of the way through the loop then slowly made out way back.

Back to the Mainland

Thursday morning, we woke up again before sunrise.  The views were beautiful, but the bugs were back.  Dave made another great breakfast of French toast and cinnamon buns and then we broke down camp.  At low tide, the water was too far out to easily get in our boats.

So we waited and enjoyed the beach for an hour or so.  As the tide came in, we started paddling back.  Dave took us a different way back and we spotted some dolphins and pelicans on the way.  We stopped at an island near the beginning of Indian Key Pass for lunch.  It would be a lot easier going back in as we would be going with the tide instead of against it.  And sure enough, we were back to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center in no time.  We unpacked the kayaks and helped Dave load everything in his van and then said good-bye to our new friends.  Sandy and I headed back towards Miami on US-41 and then went south to Homestead, checking in to the Hampton Inn.  A shower felt so great after camping and swimming in salt water the past two nights.

Ten Thousand Islands

Wednesday, we woke up around sunrise and the bugs were back.  Sandy and I stayed in our tent for a while and watched the raccoons out on the beach.

All food was safely stored in the kayaks, so the raccoons headed into the surf to look for crabs for breakfast.  Since there’s no freshwater on the island, they would drink dew off leaves.  As the sun rose in the sky, the bugs died down and Dave made a great breakfast of eggs and bacon. After eating, we started our paddling tour of the Ten Thousand Islands.  We first headed northwest to Round Key.  It was low tide so a sandbar was sticking out where a number of pelicans and gulls were resting.

After a short break, our next destination was Camp Lulu Key, where we would eat lunch.  Surprisingly, there was a building here.

Apparently, someone came out with a boat and built a house here.  The park service let him squat for a while before finally kicking him out.  The house was all boarded up, but the porch made a nice spot for lunch.

The beach was really pretty here, with one side facing the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the other looking deep into the Ten Thousand Islands.

After lunch, we continued our paddling.  Dave led us through a mangrove tunnel, hoping to find some roseate spoonbills, but no luck.  We spotted a manatee from a distance but too far for a picture.  We then continued back to Picnic Key.  While swimming off our beach, I saw a fish apparently jump really high in the air.  We had seen lots of jumping fish – mullets, I believe – but they only jumped a foot or two in the air.  This one must have been six to eight feet.  Just as he crashed back to the water, a dolphin popped out and ate him.  The fish hadn’t jumped that high – I think the dolphin knocked him out of the water.  For dinner, Dave made jambalaya with sausage and shrimp. Since the bugs were pretty bad the night before, we gathered some driftwood to make a bonfire, which helped quite a bit.

We enjoyed one last sunset from Picnic Key and stayed close to the bonfire to keep the bugs away.  Once they died down, we went for another evening walk on the beach.

With a new moon and no light pollution, the views of the stars were fantastic.  Then we headed to bed.  With the fire built below the high tide line, the waves washed all trace away.

Picnic Key Camping

Tuesday morning, we woke up and had a great breakfast at Ivey House before checking out.  It was just a short drive to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center at Everglades National Park.  Here we met with Dave and the others in our camping group.  After getting our stuff safely in dry bags and packing the kayaks, we paddled out across Chokoloskee Bay.  Due to low tide, it was very mucky getting into the kayak.  Once across the bay, we started paddling out towards the Gulf of Mexico through Indian Key Pass.  This is also the route used by the tourist boats from Everglades City, so we had to stay to the side.  Dolphins like chasing the motor boats - kayaks are too slow for them - but we did see some chasing the boats.  Since the tide was coming in, paddling through Indian Key Pass was difficult.  We stopped for lunch on a shell mound and then made the last strenuous bit to get out to the Gulf of Mexico.  In the distance was One Tree Island.  Formerly connected to one of the Sand Key islands nearby, a hurricane had washed out the land between and now the island was so small, only a single tree grew here.  Getting out of the channel, it was a little easier and we paddled another mile or so to Picnic Key, our home for the next two nights.

Once on shore, we set up our tent on the beach a good ways back from the high tide line.  While we were swimming in the warm Gulf waters, Dave made a delicious dinner of stone crab, fried grouper, and salad.  I’m not a big fan of seafood, but it was very good.  Normally when camping, I eat Raman noodles or Beefaroni, so having real food was great.  After dinner, we relaxed on the beach and watched the sunset.

At about this time, the wind and waves calmed down and the bugs got pretty bad – lots of mosquitoes and no-see-ums.  Seeking shelter in our tent, we waited an hour or so and the bugs died down a bit and we went for a short walk.  It had been a long day and so we went to bed early.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Wednesday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel. It was complimentary, but the continental breakfast consisted of some toast – not very filling. I learned my lesson and got the Costa Rican breakfast the following morning. After breakfast, we headed into town and met Ro at the entrance to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was incredibly crowded, but thanks to Ro, we were able to get in relatively quickly. Even early in the morning, it was very hot and humid so we picked up an extra water from one of the many vendors along the road heading into the park. Entering the park on the main road, almost immediately we saw some white-faced caphuchin monkeys frolicking about in the trees.

About half-way down the road, we took the Sendero Paralelo trail and saw a deer just off the boardwalk.

At the end of this trail, we came to the restrooms and the main beach in the park, Playa Manuel Antonio, and it was tremendously crowded.

Ro suggested we go to another beach, just a short ways away. There was almost no one here at Playa Espadilla Sur!

It was just great to have someone show us all the local tricks so we could concentrate on just enjoying our vacation. For an hour or so, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. We dropped our stuff in the shade and headed out into the water to cool off. At least one person stayed on shore with our stuff while others were in the water. This was intended to ward of human thieves, but there was another type of thief at this beach.

A pair of raccoons came out of the woods and started going through unattended backpacks. They worked as a team and quickly got the bags opened and rummaged through them for food.

The raccoons were fairly aggressive, but would flee when sand was kicked at them. I walked around on the beach for a while getting pictures, taking a dip in the ocean when I got hot.

After a couple of hours on the beach, Sandy and I headed off on a hike around the park. We went to Playas Gemelas, a double beach separated by volcanic rocks.

While I was taking some pictures of the beach, Sandy found a huge black iguana.

We then continued on to the overlook for Playa Punta Escondido beach. The path leading down to water level was blocked off for safety, but we had lovely views of the small bay.

We then started making our way back. There's no food in the park and it was well past lunch time, so we were all getting hungry. I made a quick detour on the Sendero La Catarata, but this waterfall is seasonal and it was too dry to be flowing.

As we were almost out of the park, we saw some Costa Rican squirrel monkeys in the trees just overhead, picking fruit to eat.

They were really cute! We left the park and headed back to Gemelas for lunch again. They had good food and great service so we decided to eat here again, since it was conveniently close to the park entrance. After lunch, we got picked up to go kayaking in the mangrove forest. The driver took us out to the put in on Rio Paquito at Isla Damas.

There was a delay in transport, so we got started late and it was already nearing sunset. But the views along the river were absolutely gorgeous as the sunlight was fading.

Shortly after getting on the water, we spotted a beautiful white heron in the shallow water.

We paddled down a ways and headed into the mangrove forest. Our guide gave us some information about the different types of mangroves in Costa Rica.

We didn't get a lot of time in here before it got dark, so soon we started paddling back. As we were going, a large swarm of bats flew overhead. By the time we got back to the put-in, it was completely dark. We pulled our boats of the water and got back in the van and our guide took us to dinner at Rancho Leon. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Sandy got a massage while I swam in the pool. Then, we started getting our stuff packed up.

Lassiter Swamp

It was very chilly Sunday morning when we awoke around sunrise. We layered up to get out of the tent and then packed our stuff up. Without the heavy firewood, we were able to get all our stuff on the boats and only have to make one trip back to the parking at Merchants Millpond. It was a lovely morning for a paddle, even if it was chilly, and the pond was beautiful in the early morning light. Back at the boat ramp, we packed up the car and got the boats back up on the rood, then set out for a hike before heading home. From the boat ramp parking, we hiked along Mill Pond Road over the dam, where a great blue heron was wading in the murky water.

Past here, a short spur trail led through the woods to the park office. After checking out, we started hiking the Lassiter Trail, the longest trail in the park. Almost immediately, we saw a deer on the trail, but she ran off before we could get a picture. The trail follows the millpond’s shore at first, crossing a wide section of the millpond on a boardwalk.

The water all around here was very mucky and this area looked like the epitome of a swamp.

Shortly after this point, the trail split to form a loop. Turning right, we soon passed the path that leads to the campsite where we had stayed the night before. We also saw some American Beautyberry growing here.

This bush makes pretty purple berries that are popular with birds. I have a bush growing in the backyard, but this was the first time I had seen it wild. The trail then crosses the old fire roads where bicycling is permitted and then heads past Lassiter Swamp.

Lassiter Swamp is located near the head of the millpond where Bennets Creek flows into it. This was another beautiful area of murky water and deformed cypress trees that were gnarled into the most bizarre shapes. Along this section here, we saw a marbled orb weaver spider. I was surprised that it wasn't too cold for it.

I don't particularly care for spiders, but these orb weavers have really pretty coloring and patterns. After Lassiter Swamp, the trail heads back, passing an area near private property and finishing up the loop.

There were several benches along the trail to stop and enjoy the view of the forest and swamp. We then hiked back to the car and started making our way home.

Kayak Camping at Merchants Millpond

Last weekend, Sandy and I headed to northeastern NC for kayak camping at Merchants Millpond State Park. This fall has been exceptionally wet and rainy, so we were excited for a dry weekend to take our boats out. We left Raleigh shortly after sunrise and began traveling east, making it to the park around 1030. First, we stopped by the visitor center to check in and get a parking pass for the car. They didn’t have any firewood here, so we swung by the family campground to pick up a bundle. Then we drove to the boat ramp and got our stuff ready to head out onto the millpond. It was our first time taking the boats out overnight for a camping trip. With the firewood, we couldn’t get all of our stuff in the boats. So we got the tent and most camping gear in first, along with a couple pieces of the heavy firewood, and planned to come back for the rest. Once our boats were all packed up, we set off paddling across the millpond.

As we got in the water, we had to paddle through some thick green “muck” along the surface of the pond that really made paddling more of an effort. But soon, we got past it and followed the orange trail towards the canoe campsite.

There were a tremendous number of beautiful bald cypress trees in the pond, though unfortunately, they had pretty much lost all of their leaves by now. I was able to find a couple patches of remaining fall color.

When we got to the campsites, we got out of the water at camp site 1. From here, we carried our gear to site 4 and got our stuff set up. I walked down to the shore here, so I would know how to paddle back to the right campsite. Once our tent was all set up, we headed back to site 1 and got back on the water. We paddled along the yellow trail towards the group canoe campsites and then continued further into the millpond and “enchanted forest”.

The many cypress trees sticking up out of the shallow pond were draped in beautiful Spanish moss and made for a beautiful and relaxing scene. It was too cold for any alligators to be out that we could see, but we did spot one lone turtle sunning himself on an exposed log.

We paddled around for a while in this area, then started making our way back to the boat ramp. We cooked dinner at the picnic area here so we wouldn’t have to hang food at the campsite and I did a quick loop around the Cypress Point Trail.

After dinner, we packed the rest of our stuff and firewood for the paddle back to camp.

There was about 30 minutes left of daylight when we got back to our site, so we spent that time gathering small branches and twigs to start our fire. Fortunately, there was plenty of downed wood all around the campsite. It got quite cold once the sun went down, but the campfire kept us warm until it was time for bed.

Pitcher Plants at Horseshoe Lake

On Sunday, Sandy had the day off and the weather forecast looked fabulous, so we took the kayaks out to Horseshoe Lake in Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. We got on I-95 south and took exit 49 to NC-53 east. In about 15 miles, we turned on to Live Oak Methodist Church Road right after the water tower and continued to Suggs Mill Pond Game Land. Although this place is rather remote, there were quite a few other vehicles here, so clearly we weren’t the only people who wanted to paddle the lake today. Even before putting in, we saw a blooming pitcher plant right by the water’s edge.

The water level was higher than when I had been here in the past and reached almost up to the dock. We got in our boats and started paddling out on the water. We initially paddled to the west, where the lake is more swampy.

There were a ton of cypress trees sticking out from the water and the lake’s surface was covered in fragrant water lilies.

It was still early to see the lily pads in peak bloom, but we did find a few beautiful flowers. There were also some nice patches of blooming pitcher plants in this area.

We paddled around this area, exploring for a bit, then headed over to the main part of the lake. The water is more open here with cypress trees mainly along the shore.

We paddled out about half way across the lake and stopped for a bit to have a snack. Then we paddled some more along the shoreline and found some more great patches of pitcher plants.

They’re easy to find as the bright yellow of the pitchers and flowers stands out in contrast to the green of other vegetation. The flowers on these plants are really interesting - the flower has five petals with an umbrella-shaped structure in the middle.

Looking straight on, it appears to be solid, but looking from the side, I could see that it was like an umbrella. At one point I was right in the midst of the pitcher plants and a fly was buzzing around my head.

I thought to myself that isn’t a very safe place for a fly and that he would likely end up as lunch for one of these carnivorous plants.

The sun was quite bright and there was no adequate shade, so after a while, we paddled back to the dock to finish our kayaking adventure.