Two Swamp Overnighters in October

Fargo, GA--It was not a very good year for the swamp! Wildfires raged for months destroying the overnight shelters at Big Water and Maul Hammock and the day-use shelter at Dinner Pond.  The extended drought forced the refuge to close all of the canoe trails and led to the closing of the Suwannee Canal Recreation Area, the Okefenokee Swamp Park, and Stephen Foster State Park. Rains brought some relief but the only regular canoe trials open by early October were the single night trips from Suwannee Canal Recreation Area to the Suwannee Canal shelter and the trail from Kingfisher Landing to Bluff Lake.  Mixon’s Hammock is normally not available except for groups like Boy Scouts, but the refuge did allow overnight trips from Stephen Foster to Mixon’s Hammock since almost everything else was closed.

In spite of the extensive fire there was very little deep burning of the peat. Ecologists contend that the swamp needs fire to prevent its return to dry land, but Alan Dozier of the Georgia Forestry Commission said he could not imagine a larger fire and this one seemed to do almost nothing to actually penetrate the peat.

Being unable to get the traditional three day permits, the King did manage to secure a permit from Kingfisher to Bluff Lake and return for October 4 and 5, and a permit from Stephen Foster to Mixon’s Hammock and return for October 6 and 7, 2007.

The Bluff Lake trip was for Thursday and Friday and only Roy Moye, Greg Baker, and Charlie Stines elected to make the paddle. All spent Wednesday night in Folkston at the Western Motel, ate supper and breakfast at the Family Restaurant, and set out for Kingfisher Landing on Thursday morning. A light rain was falling and weather forecasts indicated more on the way. The temperature was pleasant and the bugs at Kingfisher were less evident than usual. Each man loaded his own solo canoe and the paddle began just before nine.

The first couple of miles were easily paddled. Greg and Roy claimed to have spotted an alligator at least ten feet long about the two-mile marked.  Serious rain began around 10:30 but it did not last too long. 

After milepost three the paddlers began to understand the meaning of arduous paddling.  The peat blow-ups gave the swamp the consistency of oatmeal at times and the average speed of the journey no doubt plummeted. Water lilies and bladderwort clogged the trail. There was some evidence of the fires especially in some of the shrubbery and the hardwood trees.  Wildlife was surprisingly scarce except for frogs.  There were a few ducks, some herons, and even a few sandhill cranes. This might have been the only swamp trip where neither an ibis nor a vulture appeared in sight.

The green trail has no dry land between Kingfisher Landing and Bluff Lake. It does pass through Flag Lake and Durdin Lake before the trail reaches Bluff Lake.  Roy, Greg, and Charlie took a break about the seven-mile marker and then proceeded on to the shelter.  Bluff Lake is one of the larger and prettier lakes in the swamp, The shelter is reached by crossing the lake and heading down a narrow canal. The shelter was in good repair.

Once it was reached the downpour began.  The three men sat under the shelter eating lunches and hoping for a break in the rain before erecting tents. Finally it did come and the paddlers pitched the three tents.  The rains again came with a vengeance.  The company was so amusing that no one really minded being stuck under the shelter.  The rain finally did stop. Charlie once