I rode by with my bright pink shoes flashing past this fellow’s toothy snout. He never budged.  Whew!

The Shark Valley section of Everglades NP includes a 15 mile trail they tout as a great bike ride.  We were a bit skeptical about riding along a gator filled slough but decided to give it a try.  All went smoothly and we got to see many wading birds and the usual Florida fisher birds (anhinga and cormorants).  Baby gators made regular appearances as did a couple critters not expected here, a roseate spoonbill and glossy ibis.

We really need to work our way up to these longer rides. My fanny hurts!

The mosquito level is easily tolerable here in the Lone Pine Key area so off we go to check out the local developed foot trails (the kind where your feet actually stay dry).

First: a hammock with its own moat

Mahogany hammock trail makes a loop under the canopy of towering mahogany trees. At just a foot or so above the surrounding wetlands the soil is dry enough to support these hardwood trees and an entire self contained eco-system that develops beneath them.  We heard a barred owl out here.  Decaying plant material changes the pH of the water draining from this island which then dissolves Florida’s bedrock limestone all along the edge of the hammock.  The result?  A moat.

Pa-hay-okee overlook

It is very cool to pick out cypress domes and hardwood hammocks as we scan the seemingly endless miles of cordgrass. It is amazing how complex this ecosystem really is.  We saw a swallow tailed kite here today.

Pinelands

Just a bit higher in elevation and we get pinelands. The roots of slash pines cling to the thin layer of soil.  Gumbo limbo and Strangler Fig find footing too.  Tree snails find home among them.  The ground is pocked with solution holes (more of those dissolved areas in the limestone).  Palms of all types create an understory.

We explored the Anhinga trail after dark with only red filtered light. Looks pretty ominous doesn’t it?

Sea turtles, shark, rays, star fish, barracuda and sponges are among the sights as we cruise across shallow, magnificently clear, smooth, Biscayne Bay.   We are heading for Boca Chita Key where a climb to the top of the lighthouse provides an awesome vantage point with views of the Miami skyline one direction and a patchwork of greens and blues around us and a string of islands/keys for as far as one can see. Biscayne National park; the bay, the keys, patch coral reefs just beyond them and mangrove lined shores, it is a beautiful place.  It is going to take a lot of care and discipline to keep it that way for generations to come in the face of ever growing south Florida development.

There is something for everyone: the brilliant blue of Biscayne Bay, magnificent historic homes, lively 8^th Street in Little Havana, brilliant murals/graffiti covering dozens of buildings in Overtown.

In Bill Baggs State Park the Cape Florida Lighthouse towers 95 feet above the bay.  The view is beautiful.  The view from The Barnacle (shipbuilder Monroe’s 1930s home) in Coconut Grove is awesome too.  Maybe we should retire on the seashore?

We sampled Cuban food at Old’s Havana Cuban Bar and Cocina. Kent goes for the classic Cubano sandwich.  My choice is crispy shredded pork with lime and cilantro plus plantains and yucca sides.  The pork was delicious but I wouldn’t recommend the yucca.  It was tasty at first but as it cooled it got slimy and icky.  Overall it was a great meal.  We couldn’t leave the place without trying treats from one of the 8^th Street bakeries.  We were not disappointed.  It is a great place to people watch too.

On the way out of town we circled through Overtown and checked out the Wynwood Graffiti walls. Some make political/social statements and others seem to be more purely decoration.  It is impressive work.

Anhinga Nest

The anhinga trail is a ¾ mile boardwalk along pools and wetlands.

It is a tourist trap, I know. We just can’t resist a stop at Robert is Here Fruit Stand and Farm.  Despite the name, their biggest claim to fame is actually milkshakes.  Who would have guessed?  Anyway, our first purchase is two $7 milkshakes, one key lime and one key lime/strawberry.  Ok, they are really good.  We buy some real produce too; field ripened tomatoes and fresh arugula.  I am looking forward to salad for supper.

I have resisted many a time as we travel the south but today I can’t pass them up.   I lay out a few bucks for a cup if boiled peanuts dipped fresh out of a boiling Crockpot.  They smell a lot like dirt, the shell is soggy and tough to tear.  As for the taste, think very salty soup beans.  They don’t taste anything like dry roasted peanuts.  I can say it.  I have tried boiled peanuts.  Not terrible but I don’t think I will have any trouble passing them up the next time we come upon them.

It looks like a dome. The tree tops rise above the vast grasslands like a hill on the open prairie.  But guess what, it is really a depression/solution hole in the limestone.  The hole retains water and trees grow larger and faster in the wettest locations.  Further from the center is slightly drier and trees slightly shorter.  Further out…more dry..shorter trees.  The result?  A shape that looks like a rise or a dome on the horizon.  Cool huh?

Even cooler, we hiked into the center of the cypress dome.

They call it a slough slog. First steps are through the drier soil blanketed with sawgrass and scattered bald cypress.  Shoes get a bit muddy but nothing too severe.  We trek on and encounter mud to our shoe tops and occasional puddles.  A bit further and we reach the first pond cypress and step into standing water.  The pooled water is glass clear.  Fish dart.  Tapered trunks of the cypress are perfectly reflected in the mirror-like surface.  The air is still and quiet.   We walk on carefully placing footsteps in water sometimes nearly knee deep.  In some areas the water is strewn with snail shells.  Near the center of the dome we find the deepest pool…no we didn’t actually walk through to see how deep.   Gar break the surface setting concentric ripples into motion.  Warblers dart about in the tree tops.  We move on.  Air plants drape the cypress.  It is amazing how subtle differences in water level and humidity make big differences in plant life.  What a tangled web life weaves.   We step back out into the everyday world.

It is grey and rainy as we head out from Flamingo to Lone Pine Campgrounds. It is still Everglades National Park but amazingly different.  We trade the coastal prairie and mangrove lined shores (and the thick clouds of mosquitoes) for the quintessential everglades river of grass dotted with cypress domes and patchy pinelands.

It is not quite light when the alarm went off and we somewhat reluctantly roll out of bed. Low tide at Snake Bight bay is at 8:25AM and as “everyone” knows, the best birding here is on the mud flats at low tide.  So, here we go.  A pot of coffee and quick bowl of oatmeal and we are ready to head out.  It’s a short drive to the launch and we are on the water before 8AM.  Osprey chirp overhead.  Otherwise illusive night heron are perching in the open and actively hunting among the mangrove roots and in the shallows.  A Belted kingfisher moves along the shore.  Just ahead the entire shore of an island is bright white.  Hundreds of pelicans are wildly feeding where fish have concentrated in the shallows left by the tide.  It is an amazing dance as they both coordinate efforts and vie for the best spots.  Upon closer inspection the pink dots mixed in that white wall are roseate spoonbills methodically swinging those odd shaped bills in the shallow-water-soup to get their share of the feast.  Scattered across the flats standing high above all others are the white morph great blue herons.  Clouds of black skimmers with the wind whistling through the high speed wings cruise past us.  It is a busy place out here and we aren’t even out to Snake Bight yet.

We round the point and turn into the wind. There is a channel we know is deep enough even at low tide but maybe we can cut the corner to avoid quite so long a rough paddle?  Nope.  That path soon degrades into the grinding sound of kayak on bottom.  We manage to backtrack out with no one getting stranded on the mud flat but decide to call off the longer paddle in favor of relaxing watching the goings on at the nearby flat.  Birds are moving everywhere.  Long lines of pelicans glide just above the surface of the water lifting in a smooth rolling motion to miss obstacles and make course corrections.  A cluster of little blue herons move from one flat to another.  Egrets move from treetop perch to waters edge and back.  A solitary Great Blue claims its spot and squawks at any who dare to come near.  Fish roll in the shallow water all around us.

“Everyone” is right. This is indeed a great place and time to bird watch