Wet prairie

In some places the cypress are stacked tightly against one another. In other areas, as shown below, they are few and far in between. We call those areas our wet prairies.

11 Mile Road

This photo was taken in the eastern half of Big Cypress National Preserve looking north toward the Raccoon Point pinelands. You can see them in the background where the cloud shadow is.

Hat rack cypress

The dwarf cypress are sometimes referred to as hat racks because they resemble the size and shape of an old time hat rack. You don't see many hat racks any more. My grandparents had one at their front door. Maybe they are more common up north in "jacket and hat" country.

Cloud reflection

In the air, during late fall, when the cypress needles have fallen, and the swamps are still holding water, the reflections of sunny sky and clouds give the land a three dimensional feel.

Cloud shadow

As a hydrologist, I am always tracking the ecologic position of the wetting front. That's not what this photo shows. Rather, its a cloud shadow moving across the cypress plain. If you look closely you can see some egrets and even standing water at the feet of the cypress.

Pines and cypress

In this photo you can see the contrast between the "evergreens" of the pinelands from the needle-less expanse of cypress.

Deep in the swamp

View of a cypress dome, in winter, from the ground. November is the first official month of the dry season ... but November is also just on the other side of our peak water season, so water is still covering most of the preserve.

Annual needle drop

Up north the leaves have already started to fall from their branches. The same thing happens in the Big Cypress Swamp to our cypress in November. When it happens, the pine islands, which remain green, really jump out.

Bon voyage

Another happy customer, heading downstream from the lock.

Empty lock

This photo nicely shows how far the boat had to drop to get from one side of the lock to the other. That makes me wonder: what's the drop on other major locks in our nation's river system?

View from the lock

View of the S78 Dam from the edge of the lock, looking south. There was just the right dose of cloud cover for good photos on this day.

Gates

The lock gates are bigger than you'd think, and they have to be strong. Water is a mighty force.

S78 headwaters

Here's the upstream side of the S78 spillway. You can see the lock master's house in the background, on the right.

Closed lock

Here's a photo of the same lock, looking downstream, when it was closed. On that day there was a significant drop in river stage on the upstream and downstream side, on the order of around 10 ft. That made it fun to watch the boat pass into, and through the lock, as the lock keeper with the Army Corps of Engineers slowly let water out of the chamber through the downstream gate.

Ortona lock

Here's a boat entering the lock of the S78, also called the Ortona Lock and Dam, floating down the river.

S78

This photo was taken in November of last year, looking upstream along the Caloosahatchee.

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in North America. It covers 136 square miles and has an average depth of 140 ft. Lake Okeechobee is around 730 square miles and has an average depth of 9 feet in comparison.

Thanks for the great photos Alexis!

Lamar Valley

Lamar River as viewed from Specimen Ridge, also in Yellowstone National Park.

Winter "water" land

Firehole Falls ... in winter.

Photo submitted by Alexis Brooks.

At the brink

Photo was taken by Alexis Brooks at the brink of Yellowstone's Lower Falls earlier this summer.

Lower Yellowstone Falls

LeHardy Rapids

Another shot of the Yellowstone River. Isn't this the one that Lewis and Clark had to paddle up? It looks hard enough paddling down. I can almost hear the sound of the rapids.

Yellowstone River

I've never been to Yellowstone National Park myself, but I eagerly await the day when I do. In the meanwhile it's fun to look at the next couple photos, courtesy of Alexis Brooks, who spent time out there this past year.


Thanks for the great photos Alexis.

In between

Entering the lock at the S77, the transition zone from the lake to the river.

On the outside looking in

On the headwaters of the Caloosahatchee, looking upstream towards the S77.

Inside levee

On the inside of the Lake Okeechobee levee, looking towards the S77.

Same view, slightly different spot

Same view as previous photo, but taken a little to the side to include the S77 weather station. This is an especially fun station to keep track of because it is such a reliable site (the Army Corps of Engineers does a great job maintaining it) and because of the local "lake effect" which represses rainfall totals relative to areas away from Okeechobee .

Same spot, other way

Photo from the same spot as the previous photo, facing the other way, looking towards Lake Okeechobee last November.

Moore Haven Lock

Moore Haven Lock (S77) looking downstream into the Calooshatchee River.

S77

Headwaters of the Caloosahatchee, where it connects to Lake Okeechobee.