Florida Trail: Loop Road to Mystery Dome and an Alligator Encounter

This morning I went on a very memorable hike that I will not be forgetting anytime soon.

My dad and I met up with the Florida Trail Association Big Cypress group to go on a short hike led by Christopher.  The plan was to hike 1.7 miles on the FL Trail then veer off and explore a cypress dome he saw on Google Earth.  For those of you not familiar with the term 'cypress dome' it is essentially a group of larger cypress trees that grow in a circular cluster with the tallest being in the middle, therefore shaping it like a dome.  It also looks this way from an aerial perspective.

Group with Cypress Dome behind us to the Right

We met up with the group at the Eastern Loop Road junction with Tamiami Trail to carpool to the trail head.  As we were leaving, Chris said something about not getting our hopes up with ideas of seeing bears or panthers.  Not 5 minutes into the drive, we spot a huge Florida black bear in the middle of the road.  These sightings are usually brief but the brush on either side of the road was so thick that the bear had no choice but to run away from our cars in the opposite direction until he found a trail to get into the woods.  This allowed us a clear view of him for at least one minute.

Florida Black Bear on Loop Road

We regrouped at the trail head and started hiking in ankle to knee deep water covering the Florida Trail.  When my dad and I hiked this section in February it was the dry season so the trail didn't have nearly as much water as it does now.

Florida Trail at Loop Road Trailhead

Butterfly Orchids on Trail

About 1/3 of a mile in, someone just ahead of my dad noticed an alligator's tail on the side of the trail.  The gator was about 6 feet long.  My dad wanted to get a picture of it but got a little too close and the gator jumped causing us to all jump.  This made the water on the trail completely murky and we assumed the gator had gone off the trail to get away from us.  I picked up my foot to keep walking and just as it brushed up against something bumpy that was not a log, Chris started screaming, "It's between your legs! It's between your legs!"  Somehow I had ended up straddling the alligator when we all jumped!!  I leapt far off the trail as the gator took off.  After we calmed down and even laughed a little we kept going.  A minute later we ran into another gator on the trail, this one about 7-8 feet long.  This one was in no hurry to get out of our way so we went way around it.

Gator #2

Hiking on this section of the trail was difficult enough since you usually couldn't see where you were stepping and the ground was made up of limestone riddled with holes for your leg to fall into.  On top of stumbling through the water covered trail, we now had to keep a close eye out for gators and venomous snakes.  We finally reached the turnoff and then what Chris had labeled the "Mystery Dome".  The inside of the dome was filled with sawgrass (ouch), large cypress trees, and beautiful bromeliads.  Cypress Domes are magical!

Inside Mystery Dome

We made our way through the sawgrass to a clearing.  Here, the water got deeper inside and some group members decided a swim was in order.

Swimming in the Cypress Dome

By now it was starting to get very hot and buggy so we finished exploring the dome and headed back to the main trail to start the hike back to Loop Road.

Bromeliads just Outside the Dome

It was an incredible hike with a great trip leader.  Oh and my new trail name is Gator Rider.

Florida Trail: Oasis Visitor Center to Loop Road

This past weekend I finally convinced my dad to do a wet hike on the Florida Trail with me.  When I first presented the idea in the past he said no way because hiking miles and miles through water did not sound like his idea of a good time.  I chose the Southern terminus of the Florida Trail to start with.  Early Saturday morning we drove both of our cars down Tamiami Trail to Loop Road in the Everglades.  On the way down Tamiami we saw more birds than I could count along the canal.  We left my car down there and drove his up to the Oasis Visitor Center on Tamiami Trail.  On the drive back up we saw a few hunters participating in Florida Fish & Wildlife's Python Challenge.  As I'm sure you've heard, the Florida Everglades is having a bit of a problem with former pet Burmese Pythons that were let loose and have grown to mammoth proportions.  They have no predators of their own and have been eating all the wildlife, including deer and alligators!

We checked in with the ranger station and got a permit (they like to know who is out there in case you get lost/go missing).  The ranger warned us to look out for cottonmouths/water moccasins which are pretty prevalent on the trail.  On the way to the trail we saw a bunch of tourists photographing a small 8 foot gator, while on the other side of the road this huge mama sat unnoticed!

Unfortunately, there is almost no signage for Southbound hikers on the Florida Trail and we initially set off on a shorter trail designated for tour groups.  We turned around and had to ask a ranger to point us in the right way.  If you are doing this hike, head west on Tamiami Trail and keep an eye out for a very narrow path with an orange blaze on a skinny tree (we walked right by it a couple times).  Once we were on the trail the blazes were prevalent and we had no issues with getting lost.  Even though it is dry season, the trail is still very muddy and wet.

 Florida Trail near Oasis Visitor Center

You might ask, "What shoes do you wear on a wet hike?".  We pondered this ourselves for a few days before.  We figured that if we wore sneakers or hiking boots they would just turn into heavy bricks on our feet.  Crocs didn't seem like a good alternative either.  In the end, we settled on wearing water shoes (the ones with mesh uppers and rubber bottoms).  We knew it would be a gamble and weren't sure if they would hold up but they ended up being the perfect choice.

The first mile or so was through thick, shoe-sucking mud.  After that it was almost a relief to get into the shin deep, cold water.  I know this sounds like a terrible hiking idea, but it was really enjoyable.  The temprature was about 70-75 degrees and the water felt wonderful.  It was also crystal clear so you could easily see what you were stepping on.  This continued on for another few miles as the cypress trees thickened and we saw more and more Bromeliads on the trees.  Here is where we ran into 3 Cottonmouths all within a 1/2 mile distance.  They were prominently sitting on the trail, not easily missed.  We bushwhacked our way around them and gave them a wide berth.

Cottonmouth



Around mile marker 5 the trail heads east for a mile.  This East-West traverse was our favorite.  I can't describe it as anything else but magical.  The plants that grew here were different from what we had seen so far.

 EW Traverse section (Robert's Strand)

Around mile marker 4 the trail heads south again.  It eventually gets up onto dry land but I guess trail maintenance was due because we had to push ourselves through thick brush (and some sawgrass) to get through.  At one point we stopped for a quick lunch at the first bit of dry land we had seen all day.

Lunch Break

Just north of MM 3 there is a campsite called Frog Hammock Camp.  We explored it for a bit and realized people probably don't camp there often.  It was totally dry but the water pump seemed like it hadn't worked in years.





The last 3 miles were relatively dry and around 2 miles from Loop Road we saw a white-tailed doe.

2 Miles to Go



When we arrived back at the car, I went to rinse my muddy feet off in a creek and scared off a baby gator.  Overall, it took us almost 7 hours to hike 8 miles.  The mud and water resistance on your legs really slows you down!  We drove back up to the Visitors Center where we enjoyed a couple of beers my dad had brought in a cooler.  Great end to a long hike!

Baby Gator