After
a 3-year drought we finally got some rain to
fill the marsh again.
Judy
and I packed a lunch for a long day on the river
and went to explore a secluded little channel we
had not visited in a while.
The
area we went to tapers out to an airboat trail
leading to the deep cypress and several camping
areas for hunters.
This
day the airboat trail was full of water and a wide
open area full of shoulder-high white flowers beckoned
to us. It can be dangerous to be in a small boat
on an airboat trail, but we decided that with the
field being so wide open we could spot any airboats
in time to get out of their way. We tied a bandana
to a stick and mounted it in the boat to help make
us more visible, and off we went.
The
airboat trail leading past the edge of the
deep cypress.
We crossed
the open area safely and got to the edge of the
cypress forest.
On one side
of the trail are large open fields of flowers,
and on the other side are small, young cypress
trees growing closely together.
It was so
incredibly beautiful that we just had to continue
down the trail, keeping a careful watch both in
front and behind us for airboat traffic.
The
edge of the cypress woods.
The
cypress trees at the edge of the forest are
young and small and growing thickly together. Deeper
in the woods are enormous trees - some so
big that it would take several men to encircle
them.
Peb in the deep cypress. (click the image to see a larger version)
The
above photo was taken in the deep cypress where
the biggest trees are. I am actually standing
in this photo, and the tree
right behind me only
has about 1/3
of it's width showing in the picture.
These
woods are called the Jane Green Swamp and
were the source of cypress timber logged by the Union
Cypress Co. sawmill.
