Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, Day 99
A water lilly catches evening twilight as dusk settles over the Okefenokee. Transitioning sunset to new moon darkness while paddling through Chase Prairie, a sea of grass reminiscent of the Everglades, provided perfect passage toward our final campsite in 100 days.
Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, Day 97
The rain soaked team treks from the Mixon’s Hammock campsite in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge toward their boat launch. After a short paddle, they will be greeted by family, friends and colleagues gathered at Georgia’s Stephen Foster State Park for an Earth Day celebration and their final event. Photo by Mac Stone.
An update from the team: “We are in the sawgrass in the middle of our route through the Everglades. We are on schedule and food is holding up well. At night the insects drive us into our tents, and we end up sleeping for 8 or more hours, a nice departure from the weeks of no sleep we had leading up to the start of the expedition. Poor cell service makes blogging difficult, but the signal seems to be improving, so bear with us. The scenery is unreal. Poling a kayak through the sawgrass is a true Everglades experience.”
A view from the kayak as the team crosses the heart of the Everglades…
Stopping to have lunch in the sawgrass.
Joe adjusts his gear, preparing to make the trek across the open sawgrass.
Sunrise over the Sawgrass Prairie…
Paddling along the upper headwaters of the Shark River on Friday, January 20.
Carlton loads his kayak from the dock at the Canepatch campsite in Everglades National Park.
The sun rises at the camp at South Joe River Chickee in Everglades National Park. Today will be the team’s first full day in the Everglades.
View from the kayak…
Leaving the marina at Flamingo, the team paddles up Buttonwood Canal toward Coot Bay.
The team paddles into Florida Bay.
Carlton and Superintendent Kimball send a live update of the launch to The Everglades Foundation Water Supply Summit in Tallahassee on Tuesday. The Tallahassee audience included Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, Florida Governor Rick Scott and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
The expedition team presents a limited edition Florida Wildlife Corridor map to Everglades National Park Superintendent, Dan Kimball.
Joe Guthrie, Superintendent Dan Kimball, Elam Stoltzfus, Mallory Lykes Dimmitt and Carlton Ward Jr.
Carlton is interviewed by Miami’s CBS news channel 4.
The team prepares their kayaks at the edge of Florida Bay.
The sun rises over Florida Bay in Everglades National Park.
A fisherman looks out over Florida Bay at the edge of the Flamingo campground.
A glimpse of the wildlife at the Flamingo campground in Everglades National Park at the dawn of expedition day one.
Carlton and Joe begin to unload the kayaks from the expedition trailer.
The expedition support trailer sits at the edge of Florida Bay.
Carlton does some last minute wiring of equipment at the Flamingo campground on Monday night.
