Sat, 3/10/12
Everglades National Park:  After our morning ablutions we got out the hose and filled up the water tank.  After we got that done we relaxed outside enjoying this pretty day. Watched a hawk circling overhead and heard an owl nearby. Love this place.  The smells are so different here.  In the Keys there’s a strong smell of the sea.  Here in the Everglades is the smell of the pines and other flora.  Both smells are good—just different.  After lunch we decided to drive down to Mahogany Hammock to see if there were any owl chicks this year.  Drove down through the dwarf cypress forest at the lofty height of 4 feet above sea level.  Didn’t see any chicks, but we’ll go back again.  Continued on down to Flamingo for the express purpose of discerning the demise of the 70-year-old man that went missing last year at this time.  They were still searching for him when we left here last year.  Well, they never found him—not any trace of him.  It’s like he disappeared into thin air.  They had just pulled into the campground in Flamingo, had set up, and he went off for a walk.  Never to be seen again.  They searched and searched.  Brought in dogs.  Used military helicopters with a heat-seeking apparatus.  Searched alligator dens.  Then his sons came down and they searched, proceeded to get lost, and then they had to be rescued.  Anyway, there was never any trace of him or his clothing.  What a mystery.  Maybe he wanted to go missing?  Upper 80s today.

Coming off Mahogany Hammock
Picture by Mike