Day Two in the Okefenokee, Part 1

Yep, I'm still breaking the days up, there are just too many pictures to do it any other way, ;-).  I should probably warn you up front that this day will likely be broken into at least three posts.

The morning dawned cool and clear.  I tossed and turned a bit the night before (and no, not due to the snoring) because my sleeping bag was designed for much cooler weather.  I brought it because it was smaller than the bag my parents had just given me--next time the weather is warm I'll bring the bigger but cooler bag.

We decided that we would get an earlier start than we had the day before.  Of course we started out closer to the swamp...  Buddy and Kay were anxious to get going.

Several people cooked breakfast.  I had decided to just bring cereal bars since I don't usually spend too much time on breakfast.  In the future I might bring just a bit more--fried eggs are good.  One day Deb fried me up an extra egg and pancake and it was delicious!

Marty and Deb didn't really care for the MRE option, so they cooked "real" breakfasts.

This container is pretty cool.  Since I borrowed it from my brother my name was already on it, ;-).  According to my brother it used to contain pharmaceuticals.  It has an o-ring in the lid, so the seal is watertight--and it can hold quite a bit.  I did make the mistake of putting water containers in their the first day.  They either leaked or water condensed and collected in the bottom.  I put the water containers out in the canoe the second and third days without any further problems.

See, I'll be fair and include a shot of myself.  I didn't even bother to try and bring my razor--it only works when plugged in.  My mustache was trying to grow back by the end of the trip, but I got rid of it once I got back to my parent's place.

Notice the progression of Mark's hair.  It got worse over the next couple days...

We all snapped pictures of the platform.  It happened that standing next to the outhouse was the best way to get all of the shelter area of the platform in your camera's field of view.

Buddy and Kay looked like they were in trouble as I snapped this shot--but they were just sitting in their canoe.

This gives you an idea of the size of the platform and how thoroughly we cleaned it up in a short time.  It was amazing how empty it seemed without the tents and other equipment set up.  I'm still amazed at how much equipment the canoes would hold.

As I said before the lake was beautiful.  We set off through the lily pads as the second day's paddling began.

We pointed our canoe into the passage and started paddling.  We didn't realize at the time how much easier than the previous day this leg of the trip would be.

I remember stopping right next to the bushes to grab a shot of these flowers.  I don't know what they are, but I thought they were beautiful and the color is a nice contrast against the rich green leaves.

This was the first gator photograph of the day for me.  But we saw many more gators before the day was over!

We must have seen a dozen young alligators lined up along the channel we paddled through after leaving Maul Hammock lake.  It almost felt as though we were riding on the Jungle Cruise and they were on display for us.

The mile markers came much quicker on day two.  Often I would still call out a measurement less than the marker I'd just passed, and Denise would just as quickly shout "shut up!"

After the scorching sun from which we'd found no respite on the first day this sight seemed a veritable forest.  Except for Perry and Stephanie we had no idea how much better it would get (even though this does look pretty cool).

I'm not sure what happened in this area, but the sign didn't look brand new.  I'm not sure why, but I enjoy taking pictures of signs.  Perhaps it is because I'm involved in making signs--but I think I took these pictures well before I was making signs at the museum.

Mile marker 14 doesn't look so great.  I didn't get a picture of it, but the sign announcing Maul Hammock lake was partially destroyed also.  Later on during the third day we saw marker posts made of PVC pipe instead of wood.

This ends part 1 of Day 2.  Never fear, the trip report will continue, I just don't want individual entries to be too long, and I want to give anybody reading this a reason to come back tomorrow.

~Matt