The Time-release Dose – On the slough, somewhere between hiking and paddling!

From Pahayokee Overlook to “Main Street”

on the

Shark River Slough .. aka the

“River of Grass”.

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(tap or click to read)

Here’s looking at Euclid! 😉
Pahayokee Overlook to Main Street – Probing into the middle of Shark River Slough.

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“Too deep for walking and too shallow for boating”.

 There is a well known airboat trail known as “Main Street” which runs the length of the largest slough inside of Everglades National Park. This path is not open to the general public for airboating, however it does enable paddlers to transit the length of the famed “River of Grass”. The Shark River Slough runs from the Tamiami Trail down to Bottle Creek at the south end, where navigable water leads eventually connect to the Canepatch backcountry campsite. The purpose of this trip was to to try and connect to Main Street from the Pahayokee Overlook, as a shorter alternate route to get to Canepatch!

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Full story at:

Pahayokee to Main Street – Probing into the middle of Shark River Slough.

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! BLESS

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© 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

 

The Time-release Dose – How much love does it take to not trash the Everglades with balloons?

It’s the trash that flies! 😦

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(tap or click pic to read)

There’s no love lost here, mylar balloons and the Everglades do not mix.
All that trash – the ugly side of kayaking in Miami!

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What goes up must come down.

Helium filled mylar balloons are typically used only once to celebrate birthdays or mark other occasions. Sadly it’s the kind of trash that can be found even in the most pristine and remote parts of the Everglades.

There’s a lot of beauty left, and nature always regenerates itself.

If we can only keep from choking it!

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Full story at:

https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/reality-check/all-that-trash-the-ugly-side-of-kayaking-in-miami/

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! Bless UP – How much Love?

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© 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Time-release Dose – The serious Moonlight.

The first few minutes of a moon rise

are the most poetic!

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(tap or click pic to read)

Under the serious Moonlight in the Ten Thousand Islands.
ART of Darkness – Camping with the Stars! Part I

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The moon’s steady ascent above the horizon is clear evidence of an endless cosmic cycle. From day to night, month to month, epoch to epoch – as our little planet world moves through space and time.

Camping with the Stars means going outside to experience the night as all the wild creatures of the earth do, or as closely as modern western society humans can. It is to step away from, and to go outside the world of people. It means to look up at the vast infinity above full of billions and billions of stars and feel humbled. It means to connect with the power of the infinite and transcend our daily, busy modern lives. It also means to stay up close and connected to the rhythms of the heavens and of the earth!

Remote camping under the full moon is a beautiful

experience not easily forgotten!

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Full story at:

https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/kayakfari-art/art-of-darkness-camping-with-the-stars-part-i/

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! Bless UP

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© 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Time-release Dose – “Watch out for them airboaters, they’re all drunks!”

That’s what the good natured airboat operator

quipped as he pulled into the hammock camp.

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(tap or click pic to read)

Miami adventurer Leah stands up in her sea kayak and surveys the sea of grass.
Grass Paddling in the East Everglades Expansion Area – History, Gladesmen & more Grass!

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The airboater was quite surprised to see a bunch of canoeists and kayakers already there at the dock, including (then) Everglades National Park Superintendent Dan Kimball!

Out on this sea of grass, it’s important to be able to stand up and see over all the tall grass! This is easy in a canoe, but much harder in a narrow sea kayak. Fortunately, the shallow depth and extensive vegetation cradle the hull and make this easier. Using the paddle as a support pole also helps.

The biggest challenge to paddling a long sea kayak in the grass is that you have to pick your line exactly and stick with it! The long kayak acts a lot like a knife blade – easy to push through the vegetation, but nearly impossible to turn sideways from a dead stop. It really helps to keep constantly moving, and you need to edge the boat because the rudder or rudder strokes are useless and unworkable in the grass. The few times I got off track I had to back up like a semi truck (beep beep .. beep beep) and start my line up again!

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Full story at:

https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/trips-sea-stories-pics/grass-paddling-in-the-east-everglades-expansion-area/

Revised and updated for your reading pleasure!

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! Bless UP

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© 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Daily Dose – Wheels, paddles, a boat and the lunatics on the Grass!

Exploring the Slough and Sawgrass Prairies

of Shark Valley.

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(tap or click pic to read)

Pedal and Paddle at Shark Valley: The kayak and the wheel, a symbiotic relationship.
Kayaking at Shark Valley – A visit to Seagrape Hammock, aka Willoughby Key!

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The lunatics are on the Grass,

Got to keep those loonies off the trail!

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Everglades exploration and photography in the style of the classic 1898 book “Across the Everglades“, by Hugh L. Willoughby.

This is a story of a “pedal and paddle” visit to a small tree island hammock in the Everglades “River of Grass”. We used bicycles, a trailer and a tandem SOT kayak to ride down the tram road and paddle through the grass to the island. The Shark Valley tower happens to be only a short distance from this tree island called  “Seagrape Hammock” in the middle of the Shark River Slough. Hugh L. Willoughby wrote about the island in his classic 1898 book – “Across the Everglades” and dubbed it “Willoughby Key”. He kept excellent records and published the accurate coordinates in his book, so we know for a fact that it is Seagrape Hammock.

He actually liked this island so much that he camped there twice!

Why go to Seagrape Hammock? Well there’s the historical connection already mentioned that gives us a window into the Everglades of old circa 1898. At that time, the Everglades were largely still untouched and pristine. The Seminole Native Americans were still able to live a largely traditional subsistence way of life. The Everglades were clean, bountiful and unfettered. However within a generation afterwards, the irreversible system wide alterations and damage to the Everglades ecosystem would begin. So Willoughby’s descriptions are among the last of the real Everglades as they had existed for millennia prior!

I had been fascinated with this tree island ever since sighting it during a trip down the Shark River slough in 2012. But on that trip we passed close within a mile, although couldn’t take the time for the detour. On this trip we succeeded and I had plenty of time to explore and photograph the Seagrape Hammock tree island!

Geographically, Seagrape Hammock is situated roughly halfway in between the Cypress strands of Big Cypress to the west and the higher (now developed) Pineland ridge to the east.

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“Shark Valley with a Twist!”

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https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/trips-sea-stories-pics/random-gallery-2/florida-south-florida/everglades-national-park/sloughs/kayaking-at-shark-valley-a-visit-to-seagrape-hammock-aka-willoughby-key/

https://awakenthegrass.wordpress.com/trips/land/everglades-hiking-with-an-altitude-exploring-the-slough-and-sawgrass-prairies-of-shark-valley/

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! Bless UP

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© 2021 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

.

With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Daily Dose – You CAN take with you!

Correcting a genetic disorder in my sea kayak.

Read on at your own risk!

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(tap or click pic to read)

Large oval hatch rim positioned over the factory round hatch – moving things forward.
Open deck surgery on the front kayak hatch – the ultimate upgrade!

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Custom installation of a large front kayak hatch.

My main camping and cruising sea kayak, the ‘Banana Boat‘ is a 1992 model Seda Glider which originally came equipped with only a very small VCP style 8″ access hatch for the entire front compartment. This severely limited the kinds of items I could carry in the otherwise large space provided.

This one is not for the faint of heart!

Significant deck surgery, involving cutting

and fiberglass work required.

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https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/tech/open-deck-surgery-on-the-front-kayak-hatch-the-ultimate-upgrade/

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! Bless UP

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© 2021 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

.

With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Daily Dose – Modes of travel in the Everglades: Yesterday, today and tomorrow!

“I know that the airboat and the kayak

can coexist peacefully!”

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(tap or click pic to read)

The neon day-glo airboat Mothership of the Everglades with kayaks!
Grass paddling and poling in the Everglades Water Conservation Areas.

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In the permanently flooded Water Conservation Areas of the Glades, the airboat is the best way to get around and reach fishing and hunting grounds and private camps. Still there is something very pure and beautiful being out on the water where it’s just you, the boat and your pole or paddle.

Moving through the landscape at a human pace can be hard work,

but can also be immensely satisfying for body, mind and soul!

Times are changing again for the Everglades, this time for the better. Let’s face it, people care most about the things they know and love. Additional human powered access whether on foot, boat or even bicycle can raise awareness and help drive Everglades Restoration efforts for generations forward!

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https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/trips-sea-stories-pics/random-gallery-2/florida-south-florida/everglades-national-park/interior/grass-paddling-and-poling-in-the-everglades-water-conservation-areas/

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! Bless UP

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© 2021 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

.

With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Daily Dose – You can get there from here!

Connecting streams of the Everglades:

River – Slough – River!

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(tap or click pic to read)

My mud salvation in the Everglades.
The Lost Portage – connecting streams in the Everglades!

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The term “Lost Portage” is used to describe an

inland connection between two streams originating

from the the Shark River Slough aka the “River of Grass”.

The reason for going through this Lost Portage is to go directly between two of the most remote Everglades backcountry campsites – Canepatch and Camp Lonesome. Any paddler considering camping at these sites would think it obvious that there should be a direct inland connection between them, but officially there is not! So the typical Wilderness Waterway paddler is directed to either head out into the Gulf, or go through a mangrove creek called the “Nightmare”. Either option means a long paddle out and then back in, closer to the interior. A direct connection is much shorter though probably more challenging!

Before they become actual rivers of the Everglades:

connecting the Broad River and the Harney – Shark Rivers.

Due to the distances involved, logistics and time constraints during the winter Holiday break, I laid out a 4 day and 3 night weather balloon shaped route. It was the only realistic way to run this trip, as neither me nor my paddling partner were willing to take off a whole week.

This fairly ambitious schedule would have us close the gap in the

shortest amount of time with some long daily paddling miles!

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Full story:

https://kayakfari.wordpress.com/trips-sea-stories-pics/the-lost-portage-connecting-streams-in-the-everglades/

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! Bless UP

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© 2021 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

.

With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂

The Daily Dose – More aerial panoramas from Shark River slough of the Everglades.

Paddling adventures on the

“River of Grass”.

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(tap or click pic to read)

Sea Kayaking on the “River of Grass” at Shark Valley in the Everglades.
CLICK for interactive panoramas!

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“Harmlessly paddling the time in the grasslands away,

eyeing a certain viewpoint from the air*.

You’d better watch out, there may be Gators about!”

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https://roundme.com/@kayakfari

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(* – note that no drones were used. Things are not what they seem!)

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! Bless UP

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© 2021 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

All rights reserved!

…

DISCLAIMER:

The maps and images on this site are not intended for navigation, I am not a guide; use any and all information at your own risk! Your mileage may vary .. so use good judgement before venturing out!

…

I hereby disclaim any sponsorship, endorsement, nor association with any product or service described herein. The photographs, depictions, products, and ideas presented on this site are for informational purposes only. Your results may vary, and I do not imply nor guarantee the effectiveness, suitability, design or operation to adhere to any standard. I assume no legal responsibility for the implementation of anything herein presented! Use any and all information at your own risk! By using any and all information from this website, you accept the final liability for any use or possible associated misuse!

.

With that said..
Blessings friends!

🙂