I moved around to the eastern side of the Okefenokee Swamp to Traders Hill Recreation Area & Campground in Folkston. My seven day park pass was still good when I pulled up to the gate this morning at 8:30am. The temperature was pretty chilly in the high 60's as a cold front moved into the area last night. A 10-15 knot wind came along with it but at least the skies were nice and blue.
Launching from the park boat ramp I was faced with a 1.75 mile long section of the Suwannee Canal. This section is very straight, 40-50 feet wide bordered mostly with black gum and bay trees, long needle pine trees and a few moss draped cypress trees. One section of water was completely covered with dead needles.
The swamp seems to have road signs for everything. I passed one saying I was leaving Charlton County and entering Ware County. I had only passed one 6-8 foot gator when 30 minutes later I got to the main junction. The Suwannee Canal proper goes off to the right while the left branch leads to the prairie lakes area. This is supposed to be the more scenic route and have more wildlife so I took the left branch.
As soon as I turned up this branch everything opened up. A prairie, at least these, are at least a few acres of short grass with clumps of trees here and there. Lily pads and some kind of water plant, exposed because of the lower water, had been grazed down to the ground, I would assume by deer. Here and there, lily pad flowers still in the water were in full early or late bloom. These were a bright white with a bright yellow interior and about the size of a 40 watt light bulb.
I soon saw three tall birds ahead. These were sand hill cranes. Almost four feet tall, they are a lighter brown with part of their head a bright red. These guys weren't too concerned by my presence. One stood watch while the other two fed. As I tried to take a picture, all I got was butt from the feeding pair. I waited and waited and finally clunked the paddle on the foredeck. That got their attention for a second and I squeezed off a quick shot before the butts went up in the air again.
The canal had narrowed down to 20 feet or so with lily pads taking up about half of that, leaving me a 10 foot channel to paddle in. Being out in the open on the prairie I got the full brunt of the 10-15 knot wind for a while as four Ibises flew overhead.
I soon came upon two more sand hill cranes. These guys proved a little spookier and took flight as soon as they saw me. They landed 100 yards upstream so I was able to watch them as I paddled forward. From a distance they looked like ostriches or emus moving through the short prairie grass.
I came across a branch that said 'Day use canoe trail'. It was overgrown with lily pads and had large gobs of peat floating near the surface. I thought about it for a few seconds and decided to continue along the main channel even though I didn't know where it led.
While I sat there making that momentous decision, another pair of sand hill cranes joined the first. They didn't stay long though and soon flew off. The first pair took flight too and flew directly overhead. I had to struggle to get the camera out and then I had trouble finding them in the view finder. Eventually I got a shot off and I think I got them both.
A little farther on I spotted an 8 foot alligator resting on the right hand bank. I got a good picture of him and then had to make up my mind what to do. He didn't seem to be too interested in moving and the channel was only four feet wide, flowing right past him. My concern was him panicking, hitting the water and panicking again when he felt trapped by my closeness.
So like a wimp, I decided to leave him be and go back the way I'd come. I'd no sooner turned around when I saw a canoe that had launched right behind me had caught up. These two guys had no hesitation in moving forward so I tucked in behind them. The gator simply slipped into the water and under their canoe. A few bubbles was all I saw of him.
They led the way for a while and another 6-8 foot alligator slid into the water at their approach. We stopped and chatted a while and then I went on ahead while they had lunch. It was more of the same through the little tiny channel so I turned back.
The first gator was back up on the bank but slid in the water as I neared. I had switched to the 220 spare paddle when the channel narrowed to four feet because the 230 was hitting the banks more than the water. When I got back to the wider channel I switched back again. I hadn't planned on doing that but it worked out well.
Traffic was picking up. I soon passed three single kayaks and a double. That's more than I usually see in a month. 50 or so Ibises could be seen roosting in the trees across the prairie. Back on the main channel canoes, john boats and a tour boat passed, going the other way.
I was still thinking about the encounter with the gator in such close quarters. Off to the right I saw a narrow inlet with some water behind so went over to investigate. I passed a clump of grass and was kind of coasting along when I saw the tail, then the body and finally the head of a 5-6 foot alligator. He was lying on the bank parallel to the water with his head facing me. The kayak came to a stop with us facing each other less than 5 feet apart. Fortunately (for me) at least three of those feet were water and he slid into it and under the kayak trailing bubbles behind. The channel was only 4-5 feet wide and that was the only place either of us could go.
It might have only been 5-6 feet long but it seemed a lot larger. Such a close encounter with one of the oldest predators on earth in such narrow confines is certainly a unique experience.> All last year there was a fair distance, usually 50 feet or more, between me and the alligators I paddled with. 10-15 feet is as close as I really want to be to those big bad boys. Here I was paddling over top of them in four foot wide channels that were only a few feet deep and I could see air bubbles rising to the surface reminding me what was down there. Shudder! I won't do that again.
But of course I did. I went right into the next little hidey hole I found, but I went in much slower and peeked around the corner before venturing forward. I saw a three footer later on. Then, I turned into a larger inlet at normal speed. Another three footer was perched on a stump right at the entrance. I got a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye as it leaped into the water. If I hadn't I might well have gone into cardiac arrest when it hit the water right beside me.