H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N

Happy Halloween! And even happier: we only have one more day until November. That's starting to sound like "solid dry season ground." We won't miss the hurricanes, but we will miss the "wet season" clouds. Photo was taken along Tamiami Trail near Big Cypress Bend.

Wetlands full too

A photo of the western Everglades, looking downstream from the Tamiami Trail a week or two ago.

Peace full

Photo of a very scenic stretch of the Peace River, near Wauchula, earlier this summer.

Photo was submitted by Mike Britt.

When water falls

Water + gravity - land = waterfall.

This water fall is located in Uganda, and which I assume is a tributary into the Nile, but I do not know its name.

If I had to to make an educated guess, I'd call it bridal falls.

Photo submitted by fellow hydrologist Gerald Eder of Hydrophil.

"Crystal" Lake

Wrong answer: A cypress dome, covered with snow, during a colder climactic period.

Right answer: A frozen Crystal Lake, in March of 2005 in Benzie County Michigan, showing a blow hole in the foreground.

Photo submitted by Paul Murphy.

Water up high

That's a water tower hiding behind a live oak, photographed in the Southwest Florida Water Management District, not too far from the Withlacoochee State Forest.

Bird of flight

" Tropical storm Fay dropped 25 inches of rain on Melbourne, and over the following month it flowed north up the St. Johns to my home on Lake Jesup giving us a 100 year flood. The flood waters opened up a huge area to airboat that was previously nearly inaccessible. Just a few miles down the lake from my home, I found this amazing and unusual dead pine, the top of which looks like a bird.

Without this photo, it’s doubtful that anyone will ever see this 'sculpture'. "

Photo and narrative submitted by Matt Hasty of Geneva Florida.

Optical airboat illusion

"The flood of Aug/Sept 2008 in the St. Johns River touched many people lives; and not in a good way. Yet, in the flood waters there was much beauty to be found. This is in “the brickyard slough” just east of Sanford Florida on the river between Lakes Jesup and Monroe. It was a sunrise ride, my wife (Laura) riding with our neighbor (Karen) as I followed in our airboat (taking photos). In case you’ve not figured it out yet, the photo is UP-SIDE DOWN."

Photo and narrative submitted by Matt Hasty of Geneva Florida.

Beach patrol

But don't get too lost in the grandeur of the beach, because if you don't have a Collier County beach sticker, or if the money meter expires, you could be subject to a parking fine.

The Naples Pier

Under the pier

Under the pier in Naples, Florida.  It's one of the few shady spots on the beach, and also apparently a good place to fish.

Scenic Colorado

Another view of a scenic Colorado watershed, also submitted by Claire Riegelman.

Natural dam

Some dams are natural, but these days you've really got to search for them. This photo was taken in Colorado by Claire Riegelman.

Tamiami Trail

It's hard to tell it's the wet season from this photo, let along a very high one. That's the irony of living in Florida, even during the wet season its sunny and blue sky for most of the day.

Tamiami tractor trailor

Always be safe while driving on the Tamiami Trail. It's scenic, but there are some big rigs out there ... moving fast.

Shark Valley entrance

If the water's high in the parking lot, you know its high out in the wetlands. This is a photo taken at Everglades National Park's entrance to Shark Valley, looking north towards Tamiami Trail.

Ghost farms

You can't see the old row crops from the ground, but up in the air, from a helicopter, they "pop out" clear as day. Here's one such example on Turner River Road, around 10 miles north of the Tamiami Trail, looking north.

Sea of cypress

One of the really distinctive vegetation types in Big Cypess National Preserve is our dwarf cypress, shown here in this photo from the air near Mullet Slough, also with some cypress domes. The domes look like the high points, but they are actually lower, ... its just the trees that are taller there.

Clouds in the canal

Turner River Canal is a popular spot in Big Cypress National Preserve for visitor to see alligators. All I see is clouds in the water. But that's because it's high water season ... the alligators have dispersed into the swamps.

Scenic Myakka

Scenic view of the Mayakka River, up in southwest Florida's Charlotte Harbor Basin.

Alligator alley

Bird's eye view of Alligator Alley, looking east, in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Bring dry socks

There's no escaping it: you can't walk the Florida Trail without getting your feet wet.

One of the many secrets to hiking in the swamps is to bring an extra pair of socks and shoes ... and yes, also bring water!

There's no better feeling than getting off the trail and into dry foot gear after a good days hike!

Alpine lake

Here's a shot of the Kissimmee River flowing into Lake Okeechobee.
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Wait a minute, that's not right!
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This is Ferry Basin Lake, also in Olympic National Park. It's appears to be similar to Lake Okeechobee in that it doesn't have a "natural" outflow channel ... unless it's obscured from view on the left-hand side of the photo.
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This photo was submitted by Steve Fradkin.

Olympic peak

Here's a photo of a "mountain peak" and a snow-melt fed alpine valley in Olympic National Park.

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The Olympic peninsula rivals, and exceeds, the Florida peninsula in terms of rainfall. But its a mixed bag: the mountains squeeze most of the water from the clouds on the western side of the range, leaving it considerably drier to the east.

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The photo was submitted by Steve Fradkin.

Dry boots

Any backcountry hiker doing any serious distance along the Appalachian Trail will tell you the same:

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Keep your boots dry.

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You can't do that on the Florida Trail, especially during the "wet season."

Florida's Trail

The Appalachian Mountains have their trail.

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(I'm proud to say that I hiked to its northern terminus in Maine's Baxter State Park, better known as Mount Khatadin.)

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Florida also has its own trail too, called the Florida Trail.

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Its southern twenty miles passes through the heart of Big Cypress Nat'l Preserve ... and its end point is Loop Road, at the sign shown in this photo.

Bill Williams

Here's another view of Sweetwater Strand, taken from a slightly different angle.

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Wait a minute, they aren't cypress trees ! And that isn't south Florida!

This is a scenic view of the Bill Williams River in southern Arizona, a tributary in the Gila River Basin, and home to cottonwood forest along its riparian fringe.

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The riparian corridors are the "jewels of the desert."

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This photo was taken by graduate student Scott Simpson and submitted by Professor Tom Meixner of the University of Arizona.

Big Cypress Bend

Fakahatchee's Big Cypress Bend boardwalk, with dramatic clouds in the background.

Another view of Sweetwater

Another view from Sweetwater Strand, in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Sweet water hurdle

Waters are deep and flow fast at Sweetwater, but it's not navigable from a traditional canoeing standpoint ... at least not without getting out and getting wet, and possibly looking an alligator in the eyes.  

Actually, there were no alligators to be found.  They tend to disperse into the swamps during high water.

Running the rapids

Always be safe and prepared when rafting: personal floating device (pfd), a helmet, and familiarity with the water are essential to a safe passage through waters of all shapes and sizes.

Photo was submitted by Gerald Eder of Austria.