epic okefenokee adventure, part III

After I had crawled back into the tent and changed into dry clothes, I lay there listening to the raging storm.  I had left both my phone and iPod in the car, so I had no idea what time it was.  I now can look back at the times photos were taken and get a general sense.  I don't know how long the deluge lasted, but it was a while.  Finally, it eased up, and we could hear more than just the sound of the rain.  It got quieter, and I heard zippers from the other tent.  Marius called out to us that it was clear and the stars were out again.  Dan and I opened up the vents of our tent and were able to look out and see the stars.  It's incredible how quickly that storm hit and then passed completely by.

The rest of the night was spent with a lot of wakeful listening and a little bit of sleep.  Noises included steady dripping from the surrounding trees, frogs, crickets, as well as crazy monkey sounds that it turns out come from the Barred Owl, a common swamp denizen.  The creepiest sounds were splashes and especially the sounds of swimming.  There were definitely alligators swimming right next to our platform...  my ears were peeled for the sounds of steps with claws and the dragging of a tail, but thankfully those sounds never came.

When morning broke, we scrambled out of our tents.  I managed not to decapitate myself on the tent ropes, although I did trip over them.  We surveyed our surroundings, ascertaining that nothing had been lost, the canoes were still flipped over and in place, but the water level had risen noticeably.

dan checking out the aftermath

check out the ropes from that rainfly - tied anywhere and everywhere!

one of many new spider webs after the storm

When getting dressed, I put on a pair of water shoes I had picked up at Walmart Friday night simply because they were on clearance for $2 and looked like they might come in handy.  I was VERY glad to have them since my running shoes were sopping wet after the previous night's escapades.  After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and tea, we packed up all our gear.  While packing up the tents, I noticed a crazy looking bug and a cute tiny fuzzy caterpillar on the tent.

my first time seeing a stick bug - i even correctly identified it!

fir tussock moth caterpillar - cute little guy!

Once all the gear was packed, we went to flip over the canoes.  For some reason, Dan seemed to think it was a good idea to step out toward the canoe to grab it - his leg sunk into the swamp water, nearly to his hip!  Now he also had a wet shoe.  Thankfully, he had brought sandals, so he still had footwear for the day.  We stowed all the gear in the canoes.  Since Dan again chose the single canoe, I made a point of giving him less weight since it seemed we had given him too much on the way out to the camp.  As a result, he took off much more quickly, and we didn't see him again until we returned to Okefenokee Adventures where we had started.  I think I ended up putting more weight in the double canoe than we had started with the day before.  We paddled back over the same route, marveling at the higher water level and stopping every so often for photos.

swamp cricket frog

we were on the "pink trail" - the 4 on the sign meant we were 4 miles from the main canal, 6 miles from our destination, 1.5 miles away from our camp.  that's one of my awesome water shoes.  yep, my favorite color (NOT).

There were the same areas of "swamp doo-doo" although the rain had made them different than the day before.  Most were easier to push through, although one was significantly worse.  We actually got completely stuck for a little while.

one of the "swamp doo-doo" areas

water lily

We passed a ranger with a group she was guiding out to the spot we had just vacated.  I didn't envy her the task of getting 5 canoes and a total of 6-7 adults and 4-5 kids out through those piles of swamp doo-doo.  Once we got back onto the Suwannee Canal, we saw more boats.  I had a random kayaker take a photo for us since we had both gotten so many photos of Dan the previous day but had none of the canoe we used.  We spent some time just moving slowly along the shady side of the canal, enjoying the relative cool.

marius and me in the canoe

Tired but happy, Marius and I finally made it back.  We found Dan waiting there - he had been so eager to get up off the canoe seat that he had just kept paddling until he got all the way back.   We unloaded the canoes, packed the car, and took advantage of the flush toilets and running water to clean up and change clothes before the long drive back.

dan in the car.  he was ready to leave long before we were!

I got home around 8 PM after dropping both the guys at home, had just enough energy to start a load of laundry and partially unpack, and made the most of the chance to sleep in my bed again!

pretty awesome glove and sock tan lines...

So I did end up with a pretty severe sunburn on about 8 square inches of my left thigh - I suncreened decently but not high enough - my shorts apparently rode up a bit and allowed the burn.  My shoulders and upper back got a bit of burn as well, but not nearly as bad as the leg.  And despite using loads of DEET-laden insect repellent, I am still fighting the urge to scratch my 32+ (I think the final count might be 35) bug bites.

I survived this week of school, this coming week I have a couple days of exams and then I fly off to Hong Kong for a very short trip!