| Navigating can be challenging in this seemingly endless profusion of bays, ponds, creeks, inlets, lakes, rivers, undulating shorelines and keys. The horizon is unbroken by elevated features, such as mountain peaks or river valleys, and mangroves form a green coast that can appear to be the same at different locations. Add distance to the mix, and groups of mangrove islands look like a contiguous shoreline. Coastal configurations lose their curves. Water, cloud and sky merge into distorted mirages. The horizon is lost: Boats appear to float in the air, birds seemingly fly underwater, and islands seem to shift imperceptibly. Now, throw in tidal variation. | |
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When the tide is out, what should be a separate group of keys, according to a nautical chart, is connected by land. (The Everglades are shallow, averaging two to four feet, often less, and rarely deeper than six feet, with the exception of major tidal rivers.) *Channels, and the Wilderness Waterway-a 100-mile route that runs the north-south length of the park-are well marked by beacons. In some places, like Chokoloskee Pass, it is a matter of simply following the channel markers and boat traffic. In other places, like Hells Half Acre, tarot cards and a rabbit's foot are needed in addition to a GPS, nautical charts, USGS quadrangle maps and a compass. Paddlers often start out on a marked trail, then branch off to unmarked routes. Overall, however, there are enough fixed positions such as campsites, channel markers and other signs to periodically confirm your position, without so many markers that the backcountry becomes a sign-posted highway in the watery wilderness. |
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