2/6/23 Everglades

It was 67 and cloudy when we woke up this morning.  After breakfast we headed back to the park where it was a beautiful sunny day.  We decided we would take the trails each day up from Flamingo (the end of the road except for the campground and Eco Pond).  The village of Flamingo was named in 1895 for large flocks of flamingos that visited the area at that time.  The early pioneers here made their living by fishing, raising crops, and producing buttonwood  charcoal for fuel.  

Our hike for the day was Bear Lake.  We had to travel on an unpaved (very bumpy) road for two miles before reaching the trailhead.  The trail to the lake was through a dense hardwood hammock mixed with mangroves for 1.6 miles.  The trail follows the Old Homestead Canal built in 1922.  In the 1920's railroad tycoon Henry Flagler acquired much of the land in the Flamingo area.  His company dredged miles of canals in an ill-fated effort to drain the Everglades.  Along the way we saw many Gumbo Limbo trees.  They are also known as the tourist nose tree for their peeling reddish bark.  We also saw several air plants.  The picture below shows one over the trail that was 2-3 feet in height.  I took a pic of an interesting prickly seed pod on a tree that I cannot identify.  If anyone knows what it is I would be delighted to hear from you.  When we reached the end of the trail, we took pictures of beautiful Bear Lake.  We saw a few Great Blue herons flying overhead a some brown pelicans in the distance, but were disappointed (again) to see so few birds.  We also didn't see any alligators or crocodiles.  On the way back we could hear limpets and a pileated woodpecker, but the mangroves lining the trail were too dense to see through to spot them.  When we got back to the car, the temperature was 82 degrees and it was time to head back for lunch.  We both put our feet up for a bit and are now doing laundry.  Tonight's dinner will be leftovers.  We may head up to Shark Valley tomorrow at the northern part of the park to see the alligators for a change of pace.