Okefenokee Swamp Report - Day 1, Part 2

The weather was quite warm our first day in the swamp.  Setting out from lunch we weren't inclined to go very fast.  We ended up making several stops throughout the rest of the afternoon.

I quite honestly lost track of how many pitcher plants we saw this first day.  I took a couple pictures like the one above, but we saw dozens if not hundreds of these plants.  I was thinking of Ron when I saw these (and the next picture, ;-)).

This is sundew if I remember correctly.  We didn't see as many of these as we saw pitcher plants, but Perry did point out several.  I hadn't realized we'd see as many carnivorous plants as we observed.

In many spots the lily pads had many flowers.  These are the best shots I was able to manage--several shots were washed out because of the bright sunlight.

In the background you can see what I think is an egret.  I never got close enough to one to zoom in effectively--I think this shot is even at the end of my 12x zoom.  When we got into the forests later we heard more birds than we saw.

This plant is called golden something I think.  I can't remember the name.  It took me quite a while to get a good shot of this, and this picture isn't even as nice as I would like, but it is adequate.  By late afternoon I'd put my camera away as I was just concentrating on keeping my paddle moving through the water.  I was tired and quite ready to get to the platform.  We traveled a total of 12 miles that took us around seven hours to paddle.

And we made it!  Here we are relaxing on the camping platform.  We were definitely tired.  There wasn't too much shade as the sun was shining directly onto the platform.

Josh hung his poncho up from the overhang--partly to dry it out and partly to provide shade.  This night and the next we ended hanging this and other things up (sheets, rain flys, etc...) to block the sun until it had set.

All of the camping platforms (and one day-use platform we saw on the last day) had outhouses.  You had to bring your own TP and they didn't smell of roses--but I've seen much worse.  It really wasn't that bad when you think about what early swamp explorers had to put up with.

Mark and Denise had been ahead of us for a good part of the day, but they didn't object to some resting.  Notice Mark's hair?  It gradually got worse and worse as the days went on.  I did comb my hair each day as I like it to be comfortable under my hat--if I hadn't I'm sure I could have given him a run for his money in the "Swamp Head" contest.

Buddy found a great spot to relax under the table!  It was certainly in the shade.

I don't remember what Stephanie cooked, but I think it might have been spaghetti.  Even with the heat several of us ended up cooking hot meals.  Hot food still tasted good to me.

Mark and Denise had a filter that they used on some swamp water.  They first used it in this meal (gumbo I think it was).  Notice the plastic bottle?  That isn't cranberry juice--it is swamp water.  You can see my stove in the background--the tiny thing on top of the red fuel canister.

Josh never turns down food.  I think he partook from two or three meals each night, ;-).  I know I cooked too much and didn't have a way to store any extra--so I offered food to him and Rob each night.

Tom was an interesting guy (no not in a bad way).  He (and Mark's wife Denise) were the only people that I'd never met before--but it was good to get to know them.

Rob was helpful and polished off the extra food that I'd cooked.  In the future I'd like to cook together with other people or have a way to store food so that there is less waste (not that the food went to waste--but it could have if everybody had cooked more than they needed).

Denise and Doug didn't cook their food--they just ate their stew straight from the can.  I certainly can't blame them with the heat and after the long day.

Here you can see the sheet behind Stephanie that proved shade for the table area.  Later that night tents took up all of the space where people were sitting in this shot (except for the table--we didn't move that).

Much of Maul Hammock lake (where this first platform was located) was covered in lily pads.  It was beautiful--they they are definitely nature's speed bumps for canoes.  When you start sliding through lily pads in a laden canoe it is just like putting the brakes on...

I wish I could have taken pictures of the night sky (I guess I could have used a long exposure, but I didn't have a tripod to steady my camera), but the sunset was also beautiful.  After the sun actually set we spent quite a bit of time looking up at the stars, marveling at how clear things were and how many different constellations we could see.  I ended up getting a great view of the Orion Nebula through binoculars.  Denise and I thought that it would have been great to have had one of the museum's telescopes set up.  I'm sure we could have fit it in a dry bag!  ;-)

Soon I'll continue with days two and three.  I hope those reading this have enjoyed the trip so far.

~Matt