Swamp Part 2

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Today we traveled to Everglades City, which lies about 40 miles west of the campground.  This little town has some interesting history and a NPS concessionaire offers a variety of boat tours.  The one we chose carries six people and goes into some mangrove swamps.  The other is a larger boat and travels into the Ten Thousand Islands ending up in Everglades Bay.

We were not disappointed.  The boat was about an 18 ft Boston Whaler that we buzzed around islands, down narrow channels, then into a cluster of mangroves, through a very narrow channel that looked like another world.  Check out the pictures below.

 

We also saw some wildlife, like another of Florida’s big spiders.  This was one of many with webs spanning across the channel in the mangroves.  This guy was about a foot above our heads as we passed!  If you were standing he would have smacked you in the face.

The cute little guy is a Mangrove Crab.  Soft bodied, he’s more like a toad that looks like a crab.

And we saw birds,

White Ibis

Not sure of species on this one.  We also had dolphins chasing the boat, they like to play in the boat wake.  Pretty cool to watch.

As mentioned, Everglades City has quite a history.  In 1910 to 1920, Florida was getting going as a commercial interest and as a tourist destination.  Everybody loved the warmth in the winter and the recreational aspects.  Everglades City was a very desirable place to visit.  A river passes through town and it lies on the edge of the Everglades with its Ten Thousand Islands.  Fishing here is outstanding.

Big problem though, getting here was almost impossible.  In 1916 Florida began constructing a road to connect Tampa and Miami, called the Tamiami Trail (US41), but the lack of finances, WWI, and the impossible terrain of the Everglades, with it’s Mangrove Swamps, stopped them cold just south of Ft. Myers.  About this time, Barren Collier bought up 1.3 million acres of land that is now Everglades City, so it was in his interest that they get the Trail completed, thus he made a deal.  He would complete the road if they would create a new county encompassing his land. 

It pretty much bankrupted him, as the Trail was much more challenging than he figured.  Between the mangroves, the muck, and the limestone, he had his problems.  They built a rail and dredged a channel on one side of the planned road and dumped the dredging's onto the road bed to build it up. A slow and difficult process.  Eventually he got his county in 1923, but Florida had to complete the last 10 miles on the east and 13 miles to the south of Naples.  In 1929 the Tamiami Trail was completed, all 274 miles of it. 

Everglades City was a “planned city” meaning Collier laid out the roads and where important buildings were to be located; like City Hall, the Bank of the Everglades, a Community Church, Post Office, schools, and residential areas.  There is a traffic circle in the center of town. So as you drive through town, it has a very organized layout.  In addition, this was a “company town”. Collier owned everything and even paid workers with his own Everglades City script. The town served as housing and headquarters for work on the Trail.

The place was booming until Hurricane Donna in 1960.  It made a big mess and wiped out many of the homes and businesses.  It is still popular for vacationers and snowbirds.

City Hall

Bank of the Everglades

Community Church

It seems like it would be a very nice and quiet place to winter, but nothing to do but fishing (not all bad) and other water related recreation.  The nearest city of size is Naples, about 60 miles northwest.

The Tamiami Trail is Florida’s Route 66.  We have followed much of it in our travels the past few weeks. It connects a wide array of cities, landscapes, and things to see.  Considering it was built between 1915 and 1929, it is an amazing feat of road construction.  Today, I-75 has replaced it as the highway to Miami, but unlike Route 66, it is still active and vibrant.

Our last stop for the day is the Big Cypress Boardwalk in Fakahatchee Strand State Park.  The boardwalk is 0.6 miles, taking you right into a stand of really big cypress trees.  A cypress reminds you of cedar or arborvitae.  The needles are soft and they make cones that drop like a pine cone. Unlike an arborvitae or cedar, the cypress lose their needles in the winter.

    

Something we find interesting when looking at swamp plants is the survivor effect.  Banyan and Mangrove trees send out shoots and roots to continue their growth and multiply.  Cypress have knees to keep it stable in high water during the wet season here.  Epiphytes that  merely “sit” on other plants and live with water and air alone.  Then there are plants that end up killing the host as they grow.  This next picture shows this effect, where it actually strangled the tree it is attached to.

This is a Strangler Fig.  It starts out as an Epiphyte, but sends roots down to the ground.  Once the roots are established it begins to really grow.  To the point that it will encircle its host and strangle it.  This one was 50-60 feet tall, as tall as the tree it’s hooked to.

Well this concludes our visit to the northern half of the Everglades and Big Cypress.  We will be visiting the Everglades again, the southeastern half, when we get to Homestead.  Next we head for the Keys, our trip objective.  Stay tuned, got some neat stuff planned.