Nestled back on Joe River, which runs along Whitewater Bay in
Everglades National Park is a beautiful camping chickee. The name really says
it all… South Joe River Chickee was my destination for this past weekend as it
was the closest from Flamingo into Whitewater Bay and could be made into a two
day one night paddle / camping trip. Like my Hells Bay canoe trip, you need a
permit for going into the backcountry and I had picked mine up at the Flamingo
Visitor Center the day before while I was there for work. This is about a 9 –
12 mile trip (one way) depending on the route you take and can be strenuous if
windy. It isn’t recommended for beginners which made it all the more exciting
for me as I usually don’t paddle on huge bodies of water, which Whitewater Bay
and parts of Joe River are.
I took along all the standards: tent, sleeping bag and pad,
cooking stuff, change of clothes, a deck of cards of course, lots of food, lots
of water… by the way its recommended for all paddlers to take one gallon of
water per person per day. Also it really isn’t smart to get out on this
wilderness waterway without charts, which can be bought at the Flamingo Marina.
The chart for this trip just happens to be the same as Hells Bay – Number 11433
in case your planning for this same trip. South Joe is a double chickee with
toilet, combine that with proximity of Flamingo and you can probably reason out
that it is a popular spot. Luckily though we had the chickee all to ourselves
Saturday night, I was puzzled at first but understood why on Sunday as we
paddled back towards Flamingo… but I’m getting ahead of myself… back up.
My friend Amanda and I left late morning with our
canoe packed and sunscreen on. Our launch point was at Coot Bay Pond along the
Main Park Road, right up the road from the Flamingo Visitor Center. While
crossing Coot Bay we got to see some huge flock of birds that decided we were
too close and took off in a thunderous roar of wings. It was really neat seeing
the effect of that many birds flying off all at once.
After Coot Bay and through the Buttonwood Canal, we entered into
Whitewater Bay… it was truly impressive. This body of water is huge and in a
canoe, it feels like you are crawling across the water at a snails pace but it
was a beautiful sight. We had the wind at our backs and the paddle was no
problem at all up to this point and beyond as we traveled northwest up Joe
River towards the chickee. We made it in about 3 or 4 hours… I’m not sure,
neither of us took a watch or wanted to know the time while away from
civilization.
If you make this trip, keep your eyes open for the many types
birds in South Florida. We ran across this huge osprey nest with a juvenile
still in it who was making a fuss because we were floating by.
The wind kept up all night and into the next day but a breeze is
nice at night because when the sun goes down, that’s when the no-see-ums and
mosquitoes come out but with the breeze, it kept them away for the most part.
Here is what camp looked like:
We did some fishing from camp and caught a speckled sea trout and a couple other small fish we couldn’t identify. Had dinner and played some cards, its just a very peaceful, calm and quite place in the backcountry that you don’t get anywhere else. We were also kept amused by the hundreds of jellyfish floating around the chickee. These little guys seemed to like it around the area and we captured a couple to take a closer look.
Sunset wasn't too impressive but it was still better to
experience it away from all lights and in a quiet setting. We had some neat
clouds and pink coloring that made it nice.
Here is another view from our chickee, you can see with the
water that there was a bit of wind making some waves, the second day (Sunday)
was much worse.
After a good nights sleep and an awesome breakfast, we set off
for home pretty early. The wind had picked up as the sun got higher in the sky
and we struggled just to get out of our bay. For those of you who are
contemplating this journey, heed my words… check the weather forecast before
setting out! Amanda and I fought for 7 or 8 hours against waves that were occasionally
tall enough to get into our canoe. We took breaks every mile and a half or so
but boy was it a tough paddle at what I figure was a little over half mile an
hour. The canals were of course calm and protected by trees but all parts of
the open water had waves that constantly wanted to take us back to the chickee
as we paddled southeast. We wouldn't have made it back before dark had a nice
couple in a Carolina Skiff with 40hp motor not stopped to ask for directions.
They had got turned around in the massive bay and I was happy to trade
directions for a 2 mile tow towards home. They were very nice and had no
problem towing the canoe for a bit back into Coot Bay. We carried on from there
and made it back a lot earlier than I had expected, and it was a good thing too
because after so much hard paddling and trying to keep the canoe straight in
that mix of wind and waves, my shoulders were about dead. Looking back on it
now I still had a great time in a beautiful place, but I would make sure wind
conditions were better next time I venture into Whitewater Bay or the areas
around it.
