I decided this past Sunday morning that I needed to relax. So I headed down to the Everglades National Park (ENP) for an easy five hour hike/wade through the flooded prairie. A cold front had past by during the night and so early in the day it was both cloudy and rainy. Later on it became quite sunny and nice.
Being a native of the Florida lowlands, high elevations like this can give me nose bleeds but it is worth the risk...
Seeing the stunted cypress trees, many of which are centuries old despite their small stature, is never boring. But then finding ones that had been bent over from some long forgotten hurricane is especially neat for me...
This one had a native Encyclia tampensis orchid growing out of the old break in the trunk...
This photo from last spring shows the typical flower from these orchids...
There is some debate about this fantastic old cypress. Some say it is just random hurricane damage while others argue that it is a Native American sign tree, bent on purpose as a marker of some sort. The photo is deceptive as the trunk at the first break is easily as big as a man's waist. This photo was taken last summer and that tree was bare of needles on Sunday...
After about three hours I came upon this sight...
How cool! An adult female chicken turtle...
She didn't like me taking her photo at all...
Maybe it was because I snapped a photo of the striped pants her species is famous for...
The last interesting find of the day was this guy, a Florida cottonmouth...
Neat animal but a bite from them can land you in the hospital. I know, I spent four very boring days in one after getting nailed on my right hand when I was 18 years old.
Last photo. Some larger although still rather stunted cypress. This photo was taken early in the morning as the cold front was still dropping some light rain.
Cypress trees are beautiful even in their dormant state...
Being a native of the Florida lowlands, high elevations like this can give me nose bleeds but it is worth the risk...
Seeing the stunted cypress trees, many of which are centuries old despite their small stature, is never boring. But then finding ones that had been bent over from some long forgotten hurricane is especially neat for me...
This one had a native Encyclia tampensis orchid growing out of the old break in the trunk...
This photo from last spring shows the typical flower from these orchids...
There is some debate about this fantastic old cypress. Some say it is just random hurricane damage while others argue that it is a Native American sign tree, bent on purpose as a marker of some sort. The photo is deceptive as the trunk at the first break is easily as big as a man's waist. This photo was taken last summer and that tree was bare of needles on Sunday...
After about three hours I came upon this sight...
How cool! An adult female chicken turtle...
She didn't like me taking her photo at all...
Maybe it was because I snapped a photo of the striped pants her species is famous for...
The last interesting find of the day was this guy, a Florida cottonmouth...
Neat animal but a bite from them can land you in the hospital. I know, I spent four very boring days in one after getting nailed on my right hand when I was 18 years old.
Last photo. Some larger although still rather stunted cypress. This photo was taken early in the morning as the cold front was still dropping some light rain.
Cypress trees are beautiful even in their dormant state...