Everglades Trip Report
Just returned from an 11-day trip where we paddled 135 miles from Flamingo, Florida to Everglades City. An ocean voyage that split the heart of the Everglades. My partners on the journey were Fran Rulon-Miller and travel writer Larry Rice from Buena Vista, Colorado; veteran Minnesota paddler Darrel Foss and the legendary Cliff Jacobson. Fran and Larry paddled a 42-year-old Old Town Tripper, Darrel and Cliff were in a Dagger Venture and I paddled a solo Bell Yellowstone with a Cooke Custom Sewing cover. The January drive to south Florida is a never ending parade of strip malls and naked trees. We spent a night at a northern Florida state park where freestyle paddling rockstar Jim Mandle volunteers as a blacksmith. The state park rents out quaint cabins with massive wraparound screen porches, fireplaces and rocking chairs. But it was no time to be rocking, as the Suwannee River flowed … Continue reading
You may now reserve BWCAW permits for the 2014 summer season on a first come first served basis. Permits are required for all day and overnight visitors to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Permits do not reserve a campsite, but rather grant access to a particular entry point. Booking ahead and paying a fee is not necessary from October 1 – April 30th and is not subject to a quota. During this time you may pick up a day permit (non-quota) at designated issuing stations the day of or the day before entry. Similarly, during the summer season, day permits can be obtained in the same fashion. However, overnight permits are required for the summer months and quotas can fill early, possibly spoiling canoeing opportunities if paddlers have not planned ahead. … 
Just completed an 11-day 135 mile trip by solo canoe in the Everglades wilderness. My route was from south to north so I was buffeted by 4 salvos of cold fronts for very unFlorida like weather. But the bracing winds were preferred to the sultry days that I had anticipated.
yesterday on the Suwanne River