Okeefenokee Swamp Pics

My daughter, Linda, wanted to go to the mall today. I told her I had a better idea, go to the swamp! This was her first trip to Okeefenokee. We took the road to the old Chesser homestead, the last holdout when the gov't made it a National Wildlife Refuge. He was a swamper who lived off the game and fish in the swamp. Folks back then kept the yards raked and swept to offer a fire break and better see snakes.


Then we went on a long walk in 96 degree heat to the tower for a view of the swamp.




A bumble bee kept chasing her around the tower. Never wear perfume of after shave in the swamp!

Here is the old man catching my breath after the climb in the heat.

It was too hot to see the big gators out in the sun, but I spied this one from my Jeep on the way to the boat docks.


And we saw this one from the tour boat, but it was into the sun.
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The swamp is a beautiful place, to me.
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Here's a gator I spotted that the guide missed.
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Back to the visitor's center. Not a a terribly rugged outing, but in this heat, tough enough for the fat old man.
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Wow, that looks like a fun day, HD. I can almost feel the humidity. The gators looked like a pretty healthy size <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> It would be pretty neat to own a piece of property like the Chesser homestead in a (relatively) remote area like that, and live a little more off the land than off the grocery store. I bet the sounds of the swamp were all around you, too! Thanks for sharing the pictures with all of us.

Great pics Vic! I hear that there are some MONSTER Bass in that lake. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

There are over 40 species of fish in the Okeefenokee. Lots of perch, bass, crappie. 750 square miles of swamp. A guy could get lost there. They have fishing tournaments there. I live about 50 miles from the swamp.

Awesome pics HD, looks like a great place to spend time.

Funny and beautiful place Vic. You and your daughter seems to be very happy! Thanks for sharing, I like to see different country!!

Note about heat: here in Alpes, were I live, we still sleep with a wool blanket!

Hey HD...Next time bring the family alittle futher south to MouseTown...I show you some fun places along the Wekiva and lake Jessup....The Black Hammock is my usual airboat station. We give a Tour called SurVivalQuest. You guys would love it..come in the fall or spring....97degrees feels like 110 here.

Nice pics Vic...it sure is pretty out there in the swamp.

Always enjoy your outings and reviews Vic. Great Job! Keep it up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Nice pics HD <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Wow, I would love to see that swamp after your pics. I think that I might not leave though. The eat and humidity might be a little hard to get used to all the time but it would be worth it. BTW, the gators are big looking!

I usually think of swamps as being sticky, muddy, dirty, smelly places. For some reason, the photos made me think of a cleaner, fresher environment.

The Okeefenokee has a sand bottom with accumulations of peat which colors the water orangish. It looks like iced tea to me. While individual pools may become stagnant, the swamp flows out and it is the headwaters of the Suwannee River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, and the St. Marys River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the swamp is open prairies with some dense scrub brush and islands of solid ground in some places. It has lakes and gator holes, too. There are marked canoe trails and campsites throughout the swamp. The swamp is home to Black Bears, deer, cougars, bobcats, snapping turtles, alligators, and a bunch of birds, snakes, frogs and other wildlife. It is truly a wild and beautiful place. It is not my favorite swamp, though. My favorite is the Altamaha. It is really wild!

I love that last photo of you with the blade, HD! I am not familiar with the Altamaha. I will have to Google it.

Thanks for sharing. Thats a beautiful place, it would be nice to be left for a couple of days alone with a small boat, poles etc.

Nice pics Vic. I pictured swamps as being very much like CR described. I had no idea they could look so green and full of life. Thanks for the tour!

Every time I have ventured into a swamp, I have come out feeling pretty terrible, mud-caked and mosquito-bite ridden.

Altamaha River Swamp in Georgia. Season one of Survivorman featured an episode there.

Yeah I googled it to find it. I didn't know about the survivorman episode, though. I really like that show. I will check it out. Thanks for the tip!

That would be a good day in the Altamaha. You came out. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Very cool HD, I wouldn't say an "old man" catching his breath but rather a "smoker" catching his breath. Thats right, I'm griping over the internet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />.

That trip sure beats a trip to the mall in my books. Thanks for sharing Vic! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

That blade is my DFLE, and I needed it that day to even cross some of the creeks, hacking away limbs that had fallen across the cypress log bridges. In the pic I am slashing through some pigmy bamboo. It is a heck of a swamp knife.

Here you see my other daughter, Bonnie crossing one of those creeks.

I took some hog hunters back there years ago. As night approached the tide came in and cut us off from our way back on a cold winter day. One of the hunters who always kidded me about carrying big knives went into a panic, fearing he would spend the night there. He wasn't used to the Altamaha. I unsheathed my big bowie and chopped down a tree that served as a bridge across the creek. We made it back to the jeeps right at dark. He never complained about my big swamp knives again. If I'd had the DFLE then, he would have been even more impressed.

Wow, what a cool story! And more great pictures of my "most desired" blade! Awesome, HD. Thanks again!

You know, you write a little like Hemingway, in my opinion.

Vic is certainly a gifted storyteller. I can picture him writing a children's book.

"Tales of the Lizard King"
Chapter One: Never forget your Bussekin!

Great story Vic.

One of the many things I like about this forum.
Pictures of beautiful places I may never see in person.
I like these type of pictures better then the travel shows because it is real people doing real things.
Vic you truly are a rich man, living in beautiful country and sharing it with your family.
The gift of time is the most precious thing we can give

I just love seeing pictures of your neck of the woods, coyotebc. I would love to hike the trails in BC. But you are quite right, I am a rich man. Two of my girls are here tonight. I don't like to do amusement parks or malls, but my girls are getting to see things that many will never see. I am a bit old to have a 15 yr old and an 18 yr old, but that's the way it turned out. When they were little, their mother took them to all kinds of things that I would never go to. Next, I plan to get in some firing range time with them. Life is so short, really short for some, like their mother. I want my girls to gain survival skills and appreciate God's handiwork. I can't teach them much about pop culture. I despise it. Becoming simple and pure at heart is what I seek now.

Sounds like a Lynard Skynard song.
Classic.

Amen. I hope that I can meet you some day, HD. If I do, you can bet I'll have my challenge coin on me, but what the heck, I'll buy the round anyways just to hear a few stories.

Awesome pics HD! Thanks for sharing them. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My all time favorite picture of my daughters was taken when they were about 5 and 6. We were camping and in the picture they're standing there with big grins on their face and dirty as all get out.
I still have the picture on my desk at work and it is probably 13 or 14 years old now

really had to laugha that one....


really liked the pics... glad you are getting to share that with your family.

great stories.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Nice pics HD! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Need to give some love to my DFLE too...

vic...

you read "shadow country?"

might be of interest to you. it is billed as a new take on the watson murders. three books in one, so long, but engaging. you might get much more out of it than i given your experience there.

stew