Everglades Diary - Canoeing The Everglades Wilderness Waterway

Hurricane Wilma Update

On the morning of Monday, October 24, Hurricane Wilma crossed the south Florida peninsula as a category 3 storm with 125 mph winds. The eye of the storm passed over Cape Romano, close enough to bring Everglades City and Chokoloskee Island within the hurricane's eye wall. In it's wake, it left a trail of devastation that was mitigated only by the storm's rapid passage across the state. The Everglades National Park was hit hard by Wilma, which brought storm surges of up to 9 feet along the Gulf coast and Florida Bay.

Update - Friday, Feb. 3: Great news! The Flamingo campground and the Florida Bay boat ramp are both scheduled to open on Saturday, Feb. 4. It also appears that they've opened most of the Waterway south of the Broad River to camping again. The National Park Service has posted an ENP facilities update on their website, and most of the southern campsites have been designated as OPEN. There are two possible discrepancies that I noted in this list: they are saying that the Broad River "chickee" has been closed and will be relocated, and they show the Harney River site as open. First of all, the Broad River site is not a chickee, and the word I had on my New Year's visit was that it only needed a new toilet. Secondly, the Harney River Chickee has been closed for the past couple of years with the intent of eventually relocating it elsewhere. It may very well be that they've finally rebuilt and relocated Harney River Chickee, and it's possible that the Broad River site will be converted into a chickee, but I think it may be safe to say that the person who compiled this list might have gotten the two mixed up. I'll try to confirm this. They are still showing the Flamingo Marina store and gas station as closed, so I would come with a full tank and all the supplies you will need for your camping and paddling trips.

Another piece of good news is that Kingston Key Chickee will be rebuilt, and will be relocated to a more sheltered spot. I have it from a reliable source that they will build the new chickee in the cove at Jack Daniels Key, just to the east of Kingston Key. This is a beautiful spot, but we will miss the wonderful Gulf sunsets over Indian Key. This same source also says that they will be outfitting all chickees with floating docks that will facilitate the loading and unloading of kayaks, which was always a dicey proposition, especially on a low tide. Even as a canoeist, I found it tricky to raise a heavy load of gear over my head to a chickee platform on a low tide and still keep my balance while standing in my canoe. If this turns out to be true, it will be one of the most welcome improvements to Everglades backcountry camping since they built the first chickees.

So folks, grab those paddles and start planning your through trips - it looks like we're back in business! It also wouldn't hurt to send a note of appreciation to the staff at ENP for all of their hard work toward bringing the Park back up to speed in such a short time, given the damage caused by two major hurricanes, and for making the joy of backcountry camping in the Everglades a reality again. Good work! I'll be heading south for a visit on Feb. 10, and I'll post any new info I gather on that trip upon my return.

Update - Monday, Jan. 2: Some good news, and some not-so-good. First, the good news - the main Park road is now open as far as Flamingo. The Buttonwood Canal boat ramps are now available for put-in. In fact, this is the only facility in Flamingo that has been opened to visitors. The bad news is that nothing else has changed. The Florida Bay side of the Marina is still closed and there is no direct access to or from Florida Bay. The Flamingo Visitor's Center, Marina, Lodge, and campgrounds are still closed, and they are not issuing backcountry camping permits south of Broad River at this time. There is no gas available yet to visitors, so come with a full tank.

The Noble's Hammock and Hell's Bay canoe trails appear to be open for day-trippers, despite the warnings to the contrary posted on the NPS ENP website. At least, I saw several vehicles with empty canoe and kayak racks parked at the put-ins for both trails. The West Lake boat ramp and Nine Mile Pond are also open. All boat ramps and put-ins haved been posted with warning signs reminding visitors that there is no backcountry camping available. I was unable to get much more information regarding the extent of the hurricane damage to chickees, but this appears to be the main reason for keeping the south Waterway shut down for camping.

At the north end of the Waterway, the Gulf Coast Visitor's Center was doing a booming business at the end of the holiday week, as paddlers and boaters lined up to compete for scarce campsites. Sunday Bay and Sweetwater Chickees are still closed for repairs, adding to the pressure. On Saturday morning, Dec. 31, I was unable to book any campsites within a day's paddle of EC, and I had to content myself with day trips for the weekend. Now that the holidays are over, the competition should abate somewhat and you may have an easier time reserving campsites for your loop trips.

Update - Monday, Nov. 28: As of Thanksgiving morning, backcountry camping is now permitted for most sites north of the Broad River. Exceptions to this are the Sunday Bay and Sweetwater chickees, both of which lost their roofs in the storm, and the Broad River ground site, which still needs a new toilet. The Broad River site is expected to open soon, but I have no information on when the repairs will be completed at the two chickee sites. Everything south of the Broad River is still closed for camping.

On Thanksgiving morning I put in at Everglades City and paddled north to Tiger Key via Chokoloskee Bay and West Pass for two nights of camping. While paddling through the islands, it was hard to tell that the area was in the eye of a hurricane. Apart from some downed trees and broken branches, there was little evidence of the storm. Once I made it through the pass and was out on the Gulf coast shorelines, it was a different story. The predominant color changed from green to brown, as most of the mangroves fronting the Gulf were severely beaten up by the high winds. All of the mangroves that line the shores of Tiger Key were stripped of much of their foliage, and the remaining leaves were mostly dead. The same goes for the rest of the Gulf coast islands between the Park's northern boundaries and Sandfly Pass. Only time will tell if these trees survive. The good news is that erosion appears to be very minimal, and the islands still have plenty of beach to camp on.

On my way back down the coast I passed by the remains of Kingston Key Chickee. The platform is completely gone, and the remaining pilings and supports are broken and twisted beyond repair. The sense I get regarding the future of Kingston Key Chickee is that it is a matter of "if", and not "when", the chickee will be repaired. I would not expect any new developments in the near future.

Update - Wednesday, Nov. 16: Shark Valley was reopened to the public on Saturday Nov. 12. In the south, the main Park road is open as far as Mahogany Hammock, but Flamingo is still closed to visitors. The Long Pine Key campground cleanup has been completed, but they are still waiting for water test results before reopening the area to the public. At the time Wilma struck, Flamingo was still recovering from a brush with Katrina, and all efforts toward that end have suffered major setbacks. The entire area was covered by a 6 foot storm surge, which left a blanket of mud covering the campground and buildings. Despite the extensive damage, repairs to electrical and other utilities have progressed, and it was expected that Flamingo staff would be allowed to return very soon. Everglades City suffered considerably less damage, which is surprising given that the eye of the storm passed very close. The Gulf Coast Visitor Center is open, and despite reports to the contrary, the canoe launch survived and is available for use. The Gulf Coast tour boats are operating on schedule, and the local canoe and kayak outfitters are open for business.

Many of the Park's canoe trails were blocked by debris and downed tress. The more open trails have been cleared, and crews have been dispatched to other areas to begin the cleanup using chainsaws operated from skiffs and canoes. I was able to paddle the full length of the Turner River trail on Sunday, Nov. 13, but the Left Hand Turner River was still blocked by fallen trees about a half-mile from it's confluence with Halfway Creek. On the south end of the Park, Nine Mile Pond has been cleared, and crews are now working to clear the Bear Lake and the Coastal Prairie trails. The remainder of the Flamingo area water trails are scheduled for clearing.

Not surprisingly, many backcoutry campsites suffered significant damage, especially the Gulf Coast sites. At least one chickee, Kingston Key, has been reported as completely destoyed, and I imagine that others have suffered the same fate. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a count of damaged or destroyed chickees from the rangers on duty, as they are still trying to get a handle on the extent of the damage, and what it will take to bring the damaged sites back into service. Because of this, you should consider any information that you find here regarding specific campsites as historical in nature at this time. I will post updates for each campsite as soon as I can confirm it's status. My thanks goes out to those who have contacted me with Park information since the storm.