11 miles – Janes Memorial Dr.

Some of the photo’s I’ll publish this month, or have already published, will come from along the W.J. Janes Memorial Scenic Dr in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, part of the Big Cypress National Preserve, just off Florida State Road 29. I thought a little recap of our experience might be appropriate.

It was morning and there had been a hard rain and thunderstorms the night before, the clouds were starting to clear with sunshine breaking through. Finding a sign for Janes Memorial Scenic Dr we turned onto a shell and crushed rock road, barely 2 lanes wide and on this particular day, a minefield of large and small potholes filled with water of various depths. Eleven miles, how bad could it be and how long could it take?

A large flock of vultures just off to the side of road watch as we begin our venture — a little unnerving. No other vehicle’s in sight as we slowly make our way through an open prairie with sparse Royal Palms and a distant Bald Cypress forest. It is only as we reached the edges of the Cypress forest we see another vehicle far ahead of us.

Recent rains have brought the water level to the edge of the roads drainage ditches giving a feeling of being very much in the midst of things.

In the prairie we saw various birds but as we enter the Cypress forest and wetlands larger wildlife becomes apparent. Egrets, deer and alligators as well as beautiful plants and blooms all require multiple photo stops — between Bonnie and I, we kept a Canon S90 and Nikon D300 busy.

Two deer were first seen far ahead but as we approached they faded off into the surround wetlands. Slowly inching by where they had been we looked to see signs of them but they seemed to have disappeared. It was only after we’d pass a short distance that I saw them in the rear view mirror drift back out onto the road behind us from the very spot we’d searched. It was while taking photos of them with a long zoom lens that another car first appeared far behind us.

Alligators were abundant in the densest part of the wetlands. The cold rains of the night before and the warm sun beating down had them seeking out warmth the hard packed road offered.

The smaller alligators most often quickly slipped back into the waters but the larger ones, feeling less threatened and rightly so, chose to keep their place and let us pass watchfully. Two in particularly stood out by sheer size and attitude. The largest was laying on the left shoulder of the road and had to be at least 9-10 feet long. As the car eased by him I was taking photos out the drivers window no more then 6 feet away. The other, probably 8-9 feet long, was laying across half the road. As we eased passed him I was again taking photos out the window while Bonnie reached over and guided the car. I could have touch his tail with a yard stick — amazing.

Almost 3.5 hours later we reached Picayune Strand, the end of the 11 mile Scenic Dr., but as it turned out not the end of an interesting day. Picayune Strand is a story unto itself. This area was once platted for development and to this day contains miles and miles of paved and named streets and canals — there’s no development, only the streets and canals. It’s a “swampland-for-sale in Florida” scheme which failed and an area which would be easy to get lost in — I was happy to have GPS. Thankfully this area is in the process of being restored to it’s natural state.

Oh…those vultures, no easy pickings this time.

Note: My dear wife, Bonnie, get credits for some of these S90 photos.