Biking Okefenokee Swamp!

 We're back at the Okefenokee Swamp!  We were first here in 2013 (see our blog entry titled, "Okefenokee is Okey-Dokey") and then again in 2022 (see our blog entry titled, "Paddling Okefenokee Swamp - Or, So Many Reptiles, So Little Time").  This may be our last visit, so we mean to make it count.  We're camped across the road from the entrance to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, one of three state and federal units administering the Okefenokee Swamp, so it was easy to get a photo of the entrance sign:

We normally don't put maps and such in the blog, but this photo helps you understand how big the Okefenokee is, where the different administrative units are, and what we have done here.  This time, we are literally at the "You Are Here" location on the east side of Okefenokee.  In 2013, we spent most of our time in the Okefenokee Swamp Park, at the north end; and, in 2022, we camped in the RV and spent all of our time in Stephen C. Foster State Park, on the west side of Okefenokee.

We started at the Visitor Center, which sits at the east end of a long canal that allows paddlers to access the interior of Okefenokee:

As we walked the boardwalk outside the Visitor Center, we spotted a ranger in a patrol boat as he observed one of the tour boats returning to the dock after introducing visitors to the swamp:

We took a walk out Cane Pole Trail, which was in part a boardwalk along the canal and into the swamp's prairie.  On the way, we spotted this local resident, looking very satisfied with his vantage point:

At the end of the trail was an observation platform that let us get up close and personal with the prairie flora and fauna:

Finishing that walk, we started our bike ride along the Refuge's Swamp Island Drive, which would take us out to Chesser Island, which boasts a boardwalk and the original homestead of the Chessers, who owned much of this land.  It wasn't long before we reached a panne, or sinkhole --

-- which boasted a resident alligator who kept to his side of the pond and suggested very strongly that we keep to ours:

Further on the Swamp Drive, we came across sections that have been subjected to prescribed burns to help protect the Refuge from rampant wildfire.  This burn was quite recent, because we could still smell smoky residue, and the only new green life was small shoots of grass:

We eventually reached Chesser Island, where we hiked out along the 3/4 mile Chesser Island Boardwalk.  Every quarter mile, the Refuge has constructed shady observation decks:

We eventually reached the observation tower at the end of the boardwalk --

-- where we got a grand panoramic view of the wet prairie that is characteristic of the east side of the Okefenokee:

Everywhere we looked in the water, we could see turtles sunning themselves in the early afternoon sun.  This fellow was just one of them:

Having finished lunch and the boardwalk, we rode our bikes further on the historic Chesser Homestead, which still stands, and is furnished with the original furnishings of the Chesser family.  It was easy to visualize them living in this modest swamp home:

The living room was fully furnished and provided an interesting window into the Chessers' lifestyle --

As was the open-air bathtub, pump and basin on the back porch, which appear to provide a natural setting for a pleasant soak:

After touring the Chesser Homestead, we continued our bike ride back along Swamp Island Drive toward the Visitor Center.  Along the way, we spotted a tourist dragging his camera out of his car near a roadside pond, and we pointed him toward some turtles he might like to photograph.  In rejoinder, he told us we should take a look at the alligator whose portrait he was already planning to make:

We thought that was the last of our wildlife viewing, but as we got closer to the Visitor Center, Kathy spotted this little snake sunning herself on the asphalt.  We stopped, protected the snake with our bike, and Kathy found a long stick with which to tickle the snake and encourage it back to the protection of the roadside vegetation.  No one wants a roadkill snake.

Once we finished our snaky project, we still had 4.5 miles to pedal back to our campground, but energized by all the discoveries, we found the time passed very quickly.  We got back to our campground just in time to let Ruby cat out to further explore her new campground home.