Last Tuesday I made a quick overnight run up to Fisheating Creek.  It is the last free-flowing tributary that feeds into Lake Okeechobee. When I got there, the water was quite high, at nearly 4 feet, which gave the appearance that the creek just faded into the surrounding swamp. I launched at Palmdale, the campground now managed by staff from Gatorama.  To back-country camp, you need to purchase a day use fee, which is $3 a day. You can camp along the river, wherever you find a suitable spot.

As I hit the water around 3, it was getting really hot, but about 30 minutes into the paddle, one of our summer thunderstorms hit and it poured for the next 2 hours. I paddled through it, figuring it was the best way to stay warm and was happy, because as it ended, the light started getting good and the humidity in the air really helped the mood of my images.

I ended up shooting a lot of back-lit images, one of my favorite ways to really showcase textures and light. They can be tougher to manage, but if you can expose as much for the shadows as possible or blend multiple exposures, it really helps.

I saw several Pileated Woodpeckers and their large nest cavities in dead cypress. We used to see them a lot more in Miami, but not in recent years.

One thing that worked out for me was going upstrem(mostly west) as the sun was setting. This is another reason for a lot of back-lit images. I did try to turn around and see the scenes I had passed in different light, but was usually more anxious to see what was around the next bend(usually gators dipping under the pitch black water).

About 4 or 5 miles upstream I found a nice sandbar island to set-up camp. One problem besides the low ground, was most of the shoreline has cypress knees jutting out everywhere. A hammock would work great, but I did not have a rainfly or insect shield for my hammock, so I stuck to the tent.

After setting up camp, I paddled around some more, as the light was really getting good.

As I said earlier, with the high water, the creek overflowed in areas that created “backwater bays” or rooms where the current was pretty much non-existant. This next image was one of those areas.

I fell asleep to an incredible amount of frogs calling and the barred owls were also out in force, probably hunting those frogs. Hopefully, my little Iphone recording will play for you. Frogs on Fisheating Creek

I woke up and paddled back, again with nice back-lighting, but was tired and the creative juices weren’t flowing as much I guess.

If you get the chance, I definitely recommend visiting Fisheating Creek,  a great escape from the city.