Tomorrow at Okefenokee

Tomorrow is the day: I will spend 8 hours canoeing the swamp and should be able to get well away from tour boats, fishermen, other canoeists -- all signs of humanity except the ever present airplane. This is what I drove 700 miles to find -- absolute isolation in absolute silence surrounded by absolute beauty.

 Look for a more significant post on the swamp over the next couple of days ... I suspect it will take a few evenings to write!

Okefenokee Swamp: Day 1

Since I have two days to explore the swamp I figured I would spend the first day doing what could be done on foot and by car. It is a swamp, after all; there ain't that much you can do and still keep your feet dry! Still, I arrived about 10 minutes before the first tour boat left. Now, I have to admit I am not without shame when I admit that I paid the fee and climbed aboard the little skiff. I've always thought such things were for tourists! Then I realized, hey, I'm zipping through here -- I AM a tourist. Our tour guide was named Joey, a 7th generation "swamper" who, as all good tour guides do, regaled us with corny jokes and a surprising knowledge of the swamp, its history, its present and its critters.

Should be 18" of water covering this peat ...

The Water (hydrology): So we got 90 minutes of the following: "They say the water in this swamp is pure, 90% pure -- the other 10% is gatorade." This elicited a groan from me ... and a smile, though I hid it from Joey because I did not want to egg him on. The water level in the swamp was down about 28" due to lack of rain. The swamp is fed entirely by rain (called ombrotrophic) -- there are no streams flowing into it, though the St. Mary's and Suwanee rivers flow from it! The swamp occupies a basin, a low bowl left over from 65 million years ago when the area was part of the sea. The sea left nutrient poor, sandy soils while wave action in more recent times carved the basin which today is filled with rainwater. Joey also pointed out that it takes 10 billion gallons of water to cause the water level in the swamp to rise one inch. Its a big place, covering over 400,00 acres (an acre is the size of a football field.) So for now, until the next hurricane the peat will be dry. This turned out to be pretty cool as Joey stopped the boat and we were able to wander around on the peat flats. I understand why the Seminole named the area "Okefenokee", or "land of the trembling earth". You bounce on the buoyant peat -- its like walking on a firm mattress, as if the ground were not quite solid ... well, because it isn't solid!

Alligator Hole

Palmetto Thicket

The Habitats: Whew, where to begin. The diversity of wetland habitat here is astounding! There are wet forests (what we traditionally think of as a swamp), swamp shrub environments, floating peat mats, wet and dry prairies, saw palmetto thickets, bay forests, bald and pine cypress swamp, tupelo swamp, and bog. More on these tomorrow.

The Critters: A sampling of today's Critters:

Little Alligator

• Birds
• Pied Billed Grebe
• Wilson's Snipe
• Great Blue Heron
• Cooper's Hawk
• Eastern Phoebe
• Pine Siskin
• Catbird
• Mockingbird
• Great Egret
• Sandhill Crane
• Anhinga
• Barred Owl



Great Egret

• American Alligators (Lots, Joey said they were popping up like mushrooms because the day was so warm!)

Big Alligator

And More: Of course the silence was total and lasting. Occasional birds, the course scraping of saw palmetto leaves blown by the wind and, of course, the occasional  airplane were all that could be heard. I spent a couple of hours writing and about an hour and a half in silence, just sitting, meditating until civilization crept in; I had left my phone on and my sister called! I had finished walking every trail I could get to and it was time to move on anyway. Alas.

At Years End ... Finally, Okefenokee!

The Plan for Friday 31 December: I chose to stay near the coast so I could relax on the beach and spend the first moments of the new year in peace -- no alcohol, no crowds; just stars, sea and silence.

However, this has left me with an hour and a half commute to the Okefenokee Swamp. I will leave early tomorrow morning and head for the East Entrance to the National Wildlife Refuge. Here I can plan my two days in the swamp and explore what there is to see at this entrance. While I am sure the offices and such will be closed on the first of January, I am hopeful that access to the refuge by canoe, especially, will remain open. We will see.

So, I'm off for a night walk on the beach. Too bad it is not a full moon as there is little more peaceful than a moonlit beach. (Except, perhaps, a moonlit, snow-covered field.)

A demain.

Back to the Beach

Fernandina Beach

The day ends here ... Fernandina Beach, FL. I will hang out here for the next two nights while I explore the Okefenokee swamp.

The Atlantic at Peace

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Maritime Hammock

Arriving at the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve headquarters, I did not know what to expect. I was in the suburbs of Jacksonville, surrounded by wide, tree-lined suburban streets with large suburban homes and people out walking suburban dogs. Where was the National Park? Turns out there are 600 acres of wilderness in their back yard! Is that cool or what. Now this would be a great place for a kid to grow up! At least, despite my earlier judgement, I rather liked the place.

Napping Tree

Napping Tree: Shortly after starting down the Willie Browne Trail I found a tree, a wonderful, beautiful, beckoning tree. Tired after driving down from Brunswick and wandering around Jekyll Island, I settled into its well worn crook for a nap. Clearly I was not the first wanderer cought by this tree. Two hours later I was on my way again. Yup, needed that too. 

Rattlesnake habitat!

Maritime Hammocks: The southern maritime hammock is very different from anything we have in Maryland. Walking through this habitat i knew I was in the south as there were few plants here that could be found in St. Mary's County. Gone are the red, willow and chestnut oaks -- here there are live oaks with their deeply grooved bark and gnarled canopy. (Great, it seems for sculpting the ribs of wooden boats!)  Red bay -- much like wax myrtle and bayberry is a purely southern plant. The palms, cabbage palm and saw palmetto, give the area a decidedly tropical look and feel.

Oyster Shell Soil!

Oyster Mounds: Ever been to Smith Island? Seems like many islands in the Chesapeake Bay are made of oyster shells! Same thing here in northern Florida. The Timucua and their predecessors have, for the past 1000 years been piling up oyster shells. At Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve there is a spit of land, overgrown with trees that is nothing but oyster shell! Note: you can find a similar phenomena on Sotterley Creek, off the Patuxent River.

Sigh.

War Again: Seems like everywhere I go around here I encounter some evidence of war. Here, along the trail, alone in the middle of the woods, is this white, marble, surprisingly clean tombstone. One wonders what the story behind Sgt. Spearing's final resting place might be; is his body here? or did he die in the area and the stone placed later? The stone looks recent and official. Considering he died after the Civil War ended, his service had to be important to someone -- to place a military stone alone on an oyster mound, bordering an isolated salt marsh is a notable act of remembrance.

At the end of the trail is Fort Caroline. Should one need a reminder of the folly of believing that we, our people are better than thou, thy people, look no further than this French settlement -- wiped out by the genocidal hatred of one against another.

A great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.

~Anonymous (German)

Jekyll Island, GA

An ominous sign...

Not a bad day, as there was not a lot of driving! About 1/2 an hour east of Brunswick is Jekyl Island. On the map it looks like a mix of public and private land with a state park; I figured it was worth a look. I should have turned around when I saw the sign! Jekyl Island is a resort/park/retirement community for, mostly, the wealthy. It is a barrier island with a large upland interior making development easy on the stable soils.

Atrocity? What Atrocity?

History: There is apparently some history to the place -- though after reading about the ship "Wanderer" and its illegal shipment of slaves; after reading of this "atrocious" act and not being sure if it was the importation of slaves that was atrocious, or merely the fact that they were brought in illegally, I decided I didn't want to know any more history.

Along the Intracoastal Waterway

The Controversy: The yuppity, and ongoing, development of the island is not without controversy. Recently, a scene from the next "Xmen" film was shot on the island and apparently did a fair bit of damage -- or so say the environmental folks. There was a ton of development taking place at the northern end of the island and I can only imagine the preference for development over conservation will continue. For more information see: http://www.savejekyllisland.org/.

Trees ... Man's Best Friend.

Finding Peace: Despite the golf course, the quaint shops, the hotels, tennis centers and, yes, even an airport, with a little effort and a bit of wandering away from parking lots and roads I found a nice place to sit and write. The morning chill was just disappearing with the rising sun and the air smelling fresh and clean. So I sat and wrote for about an hour. To sit, to think, to write, perchance to dream ... That was good. Needed that.

Oyster Bar

Big Tides

Oysters: Living around the Chesapeake Bay we have grown accustomed to hearing about the plight of the Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Over 98% of the Bay's oysters are gone due to overharvesting and our two imported diseases. We forget the oyster is doing well in other parts of its range. There are places around this island that lead me to imagine what the Chesapeake must have looked like with oyster bars everywhere, oysters along the banks of creeks, oyster stuck to pylons and every other sort of hardness available. Here the decline of the oyster would be due to over-harvesting and loss of habitat. Still, they look good.

Oysters on Pylon

Spanish moss hangin' from a live oak tree ...

The path to peace ...

Thursday, 30 December: The Plan

Today's high temperature will be 68F! Today will be my only beach day. Starting in Brunswick, I will work my way down to  Fernandina Beach, FL, stopping to explore Jekyl Island, Cumberland National Seashore and the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. Tomorrow and Saturday I am off to the Okenfenokee swamp.

Harris Neck NWR, Georgia

Brunswick, GA: If you have never been here it is definitely worth the trip. You may want to bring a bicycle though as the place is huge and there are many places accessible by bike that would take too long to reach on foot and not at all accessible by car. Sadly, it is also a place with limited canoeing. There is a public boat launch adjacent to the refuge that will grant access to the tidal marshes. I spent about three hours here, until darkness set in and I was forced to leave.

Birds: If you are into birdwatching it is a great place. The diversity of habitat is astounding; from field, to hardwood forest, to salt and fresh water tidal marshes, and freshwater swamps. Here I saw white ibis, moorhens, american coots, coopers hawks, bald eagles, great egrets to mention just a few.

Armadillo: I also came across an armadillo! Been a long time since I've seen one of those little armored opossums! Odds are we will one day find them in Maryland as well. The 9 Banded Armadillo came from Mexico, crossing on its own into Texas in the 1800's. It was introduced to Florida at about the same time and has been expanding its range ever since. Currently, on the East Coast, they can be found as far north as North Carolina.

American Alligator: On a seriously cool note, I saw my first alligator of the trip today. I was wondering if I would encounter any as it has been so unseasonably cold and they, being cold blooded, are likely not very active. Of course, the one I saw was not very active -- I don't think I saw him move once! The american alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) was brought to near extinction by harvesting for its skin and meat and general slaughter because of fear. Today there are more than a million alligators from Virginia south, though you don't encounter them in quantity until you get to South Carolina -- they don't much care for the cold! If alligators remind you of dinosaurs, that is probably because they were around when dinosaurs were ruling the planet -- they are basically little dinosaurs who got the upper hand when their bigger cousins died off and they survived! They can grow to 15 feet long and weigh almost 1000 pounds. Clearly an animal to reckoned with. They eat mostly fish, turtles, snakes, and small mammals; sometimes unfortunate pets and, rarely, humans.

Palm Trees: Cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) can be found from Florida to southern Virginia. They are, however, not trees at all, but are, rather, more closely related to grasses. They are a monocot, meaning when their seeds sprout only one leaf emerges; as opposed to a dicot were the seedling has two leaves. Grasses are monocots, just about everything else is a dicot. This is a cold tolerant plant and would probably do quite well in St. Mary's County.

Gnarley Laurel Oak

When plantations die ...

Plants grow on plants!

South Carolina Tidal Marshes

Look familiar?

After leaving Charleston I headed down to Beaufort and then on to Georgia. I chose to bypass Savannah as the realization that I would rather wander around the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge then another city. Sticking to the coast I was amazed at how expansive the coastal salt water marshes were. They look much like the Blackwater NWR on the bay, or the marshes around Delaware Bay.  Spartina alterniflora is the primary plant and amazingly ... no phragmites! These marshes look like what the tidal marshes of St. Mary's County must have looked like before the phragmites invasion! Functionally they play the same role in the ecosystem as the estuarine and coastal marshes of Maryland; they are the most productive habitats on earth and may be responsible for providing the food for 95% of the commercially valuable fish we harvest.

Charleston, South Carolina

I have fond memories of Charleston, thinking it a beautiful and interesting city. Of course until today, I had not visited in the past 20 years. It is the arch-typical southern city, with plantation style architecture, narrow streets lined with Spanish moss draped laurel oak trees.

There are many beautiful parks and gardens, though the most interesting seem to be tucked away in private, walled off areas around the stately homes.

Like all cities, Charleston is not just the central historic district, but a large and diverse gathering of people of all backgrounds. The poverty of the area is not far away and it appeared to me a city, not unlike Baltimore, of stark and opposing contrasts; of rich and poor -- two worlds set apart, where each is an unwanted visitor in the other's home.

So, truth be told the city did not live up to my memories. This I take to mean that I have finally and irrevocably become a country boy; a realization that I simply don't like cities. Really, historic Charleston is very beautiful and steeped in history. If you can't like this city then, well, you ain't gonna be likin' cities atall. That, apparently is where I am for the city held little appeal for me.

I suppose if you are into war then the history of the place may be of interest. War is not my gig and so the guns surrounding the city, what they mean today and what they meant 150 years ago, are of little import. (Though the boat ride out to Fort Sumter might be interesting -- at least there would be some pelicans!) I visit places like this and can only think we pay far too much attention glorifying our warrior moments, forgetting the tragedy; the death and destruction war brings. Alas.

Charleston Wetlands

Now on the other hand, the city was not without its wetlands, small and confined as they may be.

Wednesday Morning ... The Plan

Today I will start by walking around historic Charleston for awhile. Then I will head south to Beaufort, Hunting Island State Park, Savannah GA, and perhaps even further south toward Harris Neck NWR for some birdwatching. It would be good to get to Brunswick, GA since I have lost a day at the end of this trip and have to speed things up a bit. (I have to return to work on Tuesday 4 January).

On a Personal Note: "...out of hopeful green stuff woven."

Pondering in Congaree NP

While stuck in 12" of snow, I got to wondering "why am I doing this?". I put this trip together on a whim, out of necessity without much thought. As I look at it now, I realize that in one week I will integrate 90% of what is important to me.

First I am traveling, and I love to travel; to find new roads, to simply explore -- a vehicular walkabout. New places are new beginnings, new perspectives, a way of breaking out of our hardened casks, being vulnerable and ignorant, forcing us to be creative and durable.

Second, I am spending significant chunks of time in natural places. My relationship with the natural world goes back to my early childhood where I found refuge and stability, security and silence, peace and confidence. Today I feel more at home in a forest than anywhere else. And so this trip returns me to my roots and refreshes my need for balance and unity. It gives me the space I need to reflect on what is important, who I am and who I want to be.

I also love researching things that interest me and throughout my life curiosity about the natural world has been a constant focus. So by concentrating my trip on wetlands, I am in a constant state of research and learning.

And last, as an educator, by writing and sharing this journal I am contributing to a job I love and which I believe is vitally imporant.

In a nutshell, while there are some significant things missing in my life, on this trip, I have, this week, woven a colorful textile that incorporates my love of travel, my emotional well-being, my need to be close to nature, to learn and to share my life through my work.

An integrated life. Gotta love it. It feeds the soul.

Congaree National Park

I spent most of the day at Congaree National Park -- it was very cool and very big! Too much to do in too short a time.

Congaree NP was created to protect the largest remaining area of old growth, bottomland hardwood swamp left in the United States. Bottomland swamps would have been remarkably common throughout the southern coastal plain, where slow moving rivers meander towards the sea, overflow their banks and flood the surrounding land. Remnants of these swamps can be found everywhere. However hundreds of years of logging and clearing for farming and development  have reduced these areas to forgotten island wastelands. (Though they are still productive wetlands, if isolated.) So what makes Congaree special?

Big Trees: There are many champion trees and champion trees in the making in this forest. The national champion Loblolly Pine can be found here. (Loblollies are commonly found around St. Mary's County as well. Our largest is 76 years old and 86 feet tall.) This champion tree stands 168' tall, is nearly 5' in diameter and has a crown spread of 71'. This is a BIG tree!

Open Space

Open Spaces: Another characteristic of an old growth forest is open space on the ground. Young forests will have lots of understory and mid-story trees and shrubs fighting for sunlight. With older forests the fight is over, the large trees have spread their branches and it is their leaves that collect the sunlight far above the forest floor. This, of course,leaves little sun left for other plants.

Seep

Seeps: If you looked at the "wetland types" post a couple of days ago you would have seen the word "seep". Seeps are places where water seeps out onto the surface through peat or soil and spreads out across the ground. Congaree was full of such seeps.

Hydrology: One really can't talk about wetlands without thinking like water. Wetlands are wet, after all, and the water has to come from somewhere, go somewhere (or not) and do so either quickly or slowly, in large quantities or small. Bottomland wetlands are basically the floodplain of a river or creek. Here, the main influence on water levels in the swamp is the flooding of the Congaree River.


Other Interesting bits ... and photos:

Love Trees

Eastern Grey Squirrel

Love Trees: While canoeing (yes, I finally got the canoe wet!) cedar creek I came across these "Love Trees." Ok ... that's what I call them. Like a mother embracing a child the tree in the center is a water tupelo and the larger tree surrounding it is a bald cypress. Tolerance lives, even in nature - red in tooth and claw!

Switch Cane

Canebrakes: Switch cane (Arundinaria gigantea), a bamboo like grass native to the southeast, was once so abundant that it was described as a miniature forest spreading as far as the eye could see. Today, switch cane habitat is dwindling and finding a miniature forest is rare indeed. Switch cane is valuable as livestock fodder and is called "mutton grass" in places where it is grazed heavily by sheep. Interestingly, switch cane does not go to seed anually. It will produce seed once every 14 years or so, they die off. Certainly a great way to rejuvenate a plant! (This comes from "Greg" the ranger who I drilled with questions until he was absolutely sick of me!)

Spanish Moss

Spanish Moss: Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a flowering plant that, to my mind at least, is THE typical plant of the southeast. It is an epiphyte, or air plant, receiving all its nutrients from the air. It reproduces from seed, by bits of plant blown by the wind to other trees, even by birds carrying it around as nesting material. Our area is about as far north as you will find it. Look for it at Sotterley Plantation near the canoe launch area.

Dorovan Muck

Dorovan Muck: Dorovan  is a wetland soil type found in the southeast from Alabama to South Carolina. It was famous, briefly, in the 1980's, for its unparalled ability to break down pollutants. If it ain't biodegradable in dorovan muck, it ain't biodegradable!

Flared Tupelo

A typical wetland tree adaptation is flared trunks as can be seen on these Water Tupelo trees. If the flared trunk is deeply creased it is called a buttress. Other adaptations include long surface spreading roots, adventitious roots and knees.

Bald Cypress