Okefenokee to Okeechobee

January 25

Happy birthday to Kari (am writing on the 26th).

Whew. It sure felt great to hit the road again. Eric and Sharon, your comments are insightful. The 10 days in the RV campsite (holding pen) in Peace River were not fulfilling. I did finish two books, did maintenance work on the rig and the jeep, and did meet some delightful people.

Barb rested up from her trip and was up early with me, preparing for departure. It was just a short drive to Moore Haven near Lake Okeechobee. The drive was beautiful. When driving a big rig like the RV you appreciate flat smooth spacious highways. Florida has just that. The roads are excellent and the terrain is flat. In fact, the tallest hill we’ve seen was a garbage dump (yes, I know, sanitary land fill). Orlando and Sebring had some slight hills but not enough for the rig to shift down into third gear as we progressed. The highest elevation in Florida is 345 feet.

The landscape, as we have traveled from north, to central, and now southern Florida, has progressed from forest, to citrus orchards, to fruit and vegetable row crops mixed with large expanses of cattle pastures. Now the wetlands dominate. Sugar cane is raised here. The numerous lakes that we found in the north and central have now given way to marshes/swamps. Lake Okeechobee has an elevation of 20 feet.

After arriving at the RV site two hours before check in time (no problem) we drove to the towns of Moore Haven and Clewiston. We stopped at the locks that control the water flow out of the lake then drove on to the Clewiston marina. Here we stumbled on to a televised event.

Ronnie, my Lake Oconee fishing buddy, had mentioned that some fisherman “go pro”, find sponsors, and compete in derbies all over the U.S. As we neared the marina we saw that cars were parked well out into the surrounding neighborhood and large RV’s with sponsor decals were numerous. The lot for the parking of empty boat trailers was overflowing. Many people were mingling about. We walked into the final day of the FLW three day bass tournament which is nationally televised. We walked to the center and observed the televised process of weighing in each catch. The fisherman, dressed in sponsor decaled gear, much like rodeo hands and NASCAR drivers, approached an elevated stand with the day's catch. The fish, transported in containers of water, were inspected and placed into a plastic bag. The fisherman then climbed the stairs with their catch and was introduced by an announcer. The fish were weighed and the three day catch was calculated, giving the fisherman their current tournament status. The big fish, flopping energetically, were held high by the fisherman, for the cameras to record. After the brief ceremony, the fisherman (and there were maybe a hundred male, one female) left the stage, stopped at another station to have oxygenated water dumped into the bag, then walked another hundred yards or so back down to the water to dump the fish into a large container of water on a large pontoon boat. After the day’s events, the boat would transport the fish out to undisclosed places in the lake to be released. A sophisticated process of catch and release. The winner of the day received a check for $20,000. The winner of the 3 day tournament received a check of $100,000.

We left the marina and stopped at several places along the lake. We could not see much water from the day’s locations. Okeechobee is surrounded by dikes and a series of canals/waterways. When the storm surges from hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 devastated the area and killed over 2,000 people, large dikes were built around the lake. Now, as the lake is 4 feet below normal level due to the drought, the water cannot be seen from some of the dikes. It is huge. It is 150 miles to drive around the lake but it has only an average depth of ten feet.

Today we drive to investigate the north end of the lake.

The first picture is toward the lake from the highest point in Hendry county, a bridge crossing the intercoastal waterway. The second is the locks. The third, bass competitors trying for one more catch before the competition ends.