Thank You from Everglades National Park

This is a thank you letter from the park ranger we worked with on our service project day. Nice work everyone!

Dear Yellow Breeches Volunteers,

On behalf of Everglades National Park staff and visitors, thank you very much for helping to clear viewpoints around Eco Pond! Within a matter of hours, your hardworking staff and students cut back through years of overgrown vegetation. Your efforts with this project were recognized by members of Everglades management, who are truly grateful for your work.

As the two long-term visitors who complimented your group while we were at work had said, by clearing vistas around Eco Pond, your group is enabling park visitors to better view wading birds and other wildlife. Through your efforts as volunteers with the National Park Service, you are helping to preserve America's Best Idea.

We sincerely appreciate your work to clear Eco Pond, allowing park visitors to continue to enjoy their experiences at Everglades National Park!

Park Service and Coming Back Home

We spent our last day in the park by giving back to the Everglades National Park. Working with Cerisa Swanberg, the ranger in charge of volunteer services, we helped clear brush from the area surrounding Eco Pond. It was a very warm day and the work was difficult but it was extremely rewarding as several visiting bird watchers commented on how well the pond looked after the clean-up.

After out service to the park, it was time to pack-up camp and start the long journey home. As we drove north, the air became cooler and cooler until we had all traded our sandals and shorts for fleeces and pants. It's almost 1am, the guys are asleep and it time for me to do the same.

Signing off from Lumberton, SC

Lane

YBEC Everglades: No snow delays down here : )

The temps have been in the 80s and just a mild breeze. It's been perfect weather for paddling, fishing and snorkeling.

The Frankford and Park Drive guys paddled over 10 miles on Thursday and Friday. We stayed at East Clubhouse. It sounds much more fancy than what it actually is. It's a great beach campsite that is covered in thousands of beautiful shells. We camped just a few feet from the high tide line and had mash potato burritos for dinner. Some fishing after dinner led to some really cool looking catfish. Devin caught quite a few of them, ending what had been a very dry fishing streak for him. Congrats Devin!

The paddle back to camp was a tough one. The wind and tide were working against us, which made for one tough pull across Florida Bay. The guys kept their wits about them and paddled through the waves. We made it back to camp by early afternoon.

Today was our trip to Pennekamp State Park. We snorkeled on Grecian Rock. As we rode out on the 45 foot dive boat the captain warned that the water was filled with Portugese Man-of-Wars. They're giant blue jelly fish that have a balloon-like body that they puff up with gas to help them sail across the ocean. Problem is, they have a wicked sting that can really put a person down. No one was stung by the big jelly fish but their smaller less painful cousins did sting a couple of us as we swam through the coral.

We saw tons of fish, from 6 foot long sharks and barracudas to every possible variety of reef fish. We also came across two very large cannons at the bottom of the reef. They were once the armament of a Spanish galleon that crashed on the reef in the 1600s.

We had dinner out this evening and most of the guys then went fishing at the marina for snook and tarpon. I think I'll sign off now and grab my fly rod and join them

-Lane

Half way through our adventure!

We are roughly half way through the trip and we have had some awesome adventures! After leaving Savannah we headed south to Homosassa Springs, Florida. We were all very excited to finally cross over the state line. Homosassa Springs is a rehabilitation center for injured manatees and other animals. The guys had a great time checking out the alligators, flamingos, manatees and all kinds of other wildlife. After packing up camp in Homosassa it was on to Lake Okeechobee and then finally the Florida Everglades. Lake Okeechobee was a little disappointing as it was fairly dry, but Greg taught us all about the watershed and the effects that man has had on the ecosystem.

The next day we arrived at camp in the mid-afternoon and quickly set up our home for the next 8 days. We took a day to recoup from our long drive and explore the park a bit. We went to the fruit stand strangely named, Robert is Here, and bought fresh oranges and mangos to bring back for the week. This stand has definitely become an annual stop on our Everglades road trips.

On Tuesday, the Fair Oaks students, Travis, Lane and Christi headed out on the sea kayaks that our staff and students built during the last semester. Our destination was a small chickie, which is like a large wooden dock with a roof and port-a-potty, 13 miles away. It was a long and hard paddle. Following Lane's navigation, we made it through miles of open bays, cross winds, a maze of mangrove, and large waves. We got to the chickie with just enough time to unpack, set up camp for the night and get dinner going before it got too dark. We stayed up and watched the stars come out. They were unreal. The constellation Orion dominated the sky and students used a field guide to locate other constellations. After a long sleepless night sleeping on the wooden chickie we packed up and began paddling back. The guys did an amazing job paddling and were very excited to see the marina again. When we returned to camp we ate a big spaghetti dinner that Jim prepared and hit the sack.

It has been a pretty packed and exhausting time here so far. Lane, Christi, Greg, and the students from Park Drive and Frankford headed out around noon to paddle to a beach to camp for the night. Fair Oaks is enjoying a relaxing day and will tour some of the parks sights this afternoon.

The weather has been beautiful here. No rain, not as many mosquitos as last year, and temperatures in the mid 70's make it hard to want to return to cold and snowy PA. Lane will post about their trip when they return.

A few thoughts from Fair Oaks students.

"We stayed on a chickie two nights ago. It was crazy. we had to paddle about 14 miles there and 14 miles back, a total of roughly 27 miles. We stayed there over night. I got no sleep and a little sunburn. The next day we paddled home. That was the highlight of my everglades trip so far."

-Kasey

"This morning the weather has been amazing for February. At 72 degrees I cant complain. Yesterday our group traveled 27.3 miles through the Everglades. My arms are really tired. Today we will be touring the park."

-Brandon

"The morning we left for the paddling trip, I woke up around 7 am and got my things ready. We made our way from the campsite to the marina where we began our trip. We got our kayak packed and made sure everybody was ready to go for the trip. We headed off for the chickie and we paddled 13 miles the first day and 13 miles the next. It was a total of 27.3 miles and it was the best time of my life."

-Shane

"We woke up and got our stuff ready to leave for our paddling trip. We went kayaking and it was a lot of fun. We paddled 27.3 miles in two days. It was fun to paddle in the Everglades. It was great and I wish I could do it again!"

-Ben

"Hey its me, Layton. I went on an Everglades adventure to the outback of the Everglades. We stayed on a chickie overnight and spotted some alligators. It was fun and there will be more fun ahead!"

-Layton

"On tuesday I went to the Mahogany Hammock and learned about a lot of plants and the different habitats that exist in the marsh. We saw a barred owl, he was cute. Then we traveled to Royal Palm visitor center and took some great photos of different birds, plants and reptiles in that area. We had lots of fun. "

-Matt

Don't forget to check out the YBEC blog for photos from Staz, Greg, and my iPhones. The YBEC blog can be found here, www.yellowbreeches.org/blog

Check back later for more updates!

-Travis

Good Morning from Savannah!

We've arrived in Savannah! The drive started yesterday with winter jackets and snow and ended with short sleeves and palm trees. I noticed that not only did the scenery change but so did Christi's accent. As we passed over rivers and streams that she remembered as a child, her southern draw became more and more apparent.

We did not make it to the hotel until nearly midnight, a late start and the snow made sure of that arrival time. The guys handled the long drive well. The new DVD players that Stasz picked-up before he trip kept the guy's attention with several documentary films on the Everglades and Florida.

We're headed to Homosassa Springs today. We'll visit the manatee rehabilitation center and wildlife park.

All of the guys would like to say "hello." We'll be back in the van soon. I'll try to post some photos this evening.

-Lane

Just weeks away to another Everglades Trip!

On January 28th we'll be on our way to another YBEC Everglades Adventure! This year we'll be adding quite a few more students and staff to the trip. And we'll be bringing our just completed Chesapeake Light Craft kayaks. The guys at Frankford built two Chesapeake 17lt's while the guys at Fair Oaks and East Shore built three more tandems similar to the one built last year at Frankford.

This Friday, the 14th, the Everglades trip will actually begin in earnest with a much shorter trip to the Big Spring High School Pool. There we'll get the opportunity to test our new boats, makes sure we can safely exit and enter the boats and brush up on our snorkeling techniques. With our newly acquired sea kayaking and snorkeling skills, we'll pack up the boats and our gear and leave the snowy, cold North behind us.

Pics from Travis's camera

The guys completely buried DJ in the sand

















Working on tans












Paddling through the mangrove on the Buttonwood canal











Is that an alligator behind us?












This was the very friendly corn snake that wander into camp.














Our campsite under the stars. The night sky was amazing!












Manatees at the Homasassa State Park. Homasassa means "wild pepper" in the local native american dialect.