O.C. fotoguy
My Morning Trail in the American Jungle
Limpkin in the American Jungle
Big Cypress Snowy Egret in Mating Display
Everglades Lounging friends
Family, High School Senior, Wedding Photos on the Beach and more!
I knew these guys would know. I used to resent all those other people who showed up at Bear Island (
www.nps.gov/bicy) in Big Cypress National Preserve in southwest Florida to invade my sanctuary each February. I nearly had it all to myself on weekdays years ago. I had hoped to be able to camp deeper in Big Cypress, where they are not because a special permit is needed, but the Park Rangers threw a monkey wrench into that with what I think was misapplication of their rules pertaining to tire tread. They said I was a 1⁄2 inch short and said the same thing on my second try. Since two different rangers measured the tread and said the same thing, “too short,” I didn’t argue; so much for that till next year, I thought as I drove away the second time. I went to where I usually camp and selected the spot where I began these Adventures in 1999, knowing it wouldn’t be the same as then, and hoping the boom boxes and dog barking would be restrained at least at night.
One of my grand ideas for this trip was to use solar power for my computer to download, view and edit my photographs and charge my batteries. There are no electrical outlets at Bear Island and many of the places that I go. To do this I went online back in November and searched, found and purchased a Solar Panel, a controller, and an inverter. It arrived a day or so before I was leaving to drive to Ft. Worth, Tex. to get my Capri Rodeo slide-in camper. When I was at my first camp site in Big Bend N.P., Tex., I opened the box, and thought I’d plug the solar panel, controller and deep cell battery together and start collecting Reddy Kilowatts of electricity. Yeah, another fine idea. In the box that contained the panel and controller was also about 15 feet of thick insulated wire, which was not connected to either. I had only basic tools. About all I understood in the instructions was the phrase that was repeated over and over and read, “installation should only be done by a qualified person.” Was that me? Hardly, but amongst these guys, the same ones I described as putterers, who invade my piece of the American Jungle, was a whole team of qualified people. I’m not sure of their backgrounds, but two of them replaced a wheel bearing in a car last year, here, twenty miles deep in the Everglades, fixed my car battery cable and one has more tools and gadgets than most machine shops. What a person does, not what they say is how I appraise people. I probably wouldn’t remember their history if they told me anyhow!
So, the first day after my sunrise walk, I saw the guy with all the gadgets and told him about my hope for the solar panel. He said, bring it over. By the time I brought the panel, controller, wire, and other pieces, two others were there. Piece of cake, and no challenge to them. They had the tools, knowledge needed to wire the controller and panel, a voltage meter to assure the solar panel and controller were functioning, electricity was being collected, and the installation was done right. Like it was an everyday occurrence. The panel spent the day collecting the suns rays and sending electricity to the battery that powered my lap top that night! Amazing stuff! If the truck’s battery gets run down and won’t start the engine, I can plug it into the panel, leave it there all day, then put it under the hood and it starts the engine. It’s a miracle! Wow, electricity directly from the sun!
All I needed to do then was go out and photograph all those things that most people never see in a lifetime, but Mother Nature shows me every day in places like this and the sun gave me the power. Wow! So being turned down for a permit to be able to sleep amongst the alligators, panthers and bears ten miles deeper in the American Jungle facilitated a miracle. It all worked out. Another reason for not making detailed plans, but just let things happen and make them work. The putterers were good neighbors and Bear Island was like a village.
As I was leaving Big Cypress and passing the visitor center, where the permits are given, I decided to try again. A different ranger did the measuring by measuring the rounded and flat tread, not just the flat tread, and lo and behold she said, I have 11 1⁄2 inches of tread, well over the 9-inch requirement! I just stood back and laughed, but next year I’ll get a permit or there’ll be a war!
