The swamp is a beautiful place and being able to quietly float around amongst the trees and the moss seeing the beauty so closely was a serene experience. Well, we did chatter a bit and squeal a time or two but there were moments of awed silence and appreciation for the wonder of nature. I'd love to go back sometime.
This was sunset. We had finished our trip but we were sitting in the kayaks near the landing watching the sun set.
There is a lot of gray in the swamp this time of year. The moss and the trees can look rather dull. The cypress trees do have a reddish-pink tinge to them under the bark and there are a few trees that have the orange fall-colored leaves. I pumped up the color on this one. It might almost be over-done but there is some brilliance out there in the swamp.
This ominous abandoned houseboat was one of the first things we saw as we paddled away from the landing and headed toward the closed in nooks and crannies of the swamp.
Here is one of "cuts" through the swamp. We could have paddled to the end of this and we would have been in a more open area of the lake. We went on through though.
This is some of what we saw. This is not a road! The golden brown stuff is floating on top of the water. We were waiting here for the sun to peek out and light up the trees a bit. It never really came out. I had to help things out in my editing software. We sat here for several minutes waiting and taking in the beautiful peacefulness of the day. It was at this point in the trip that I started looking around and thinking, "I don't know where solid ground is."
The cypress trees and the moss is another beautiful part of the swamp. I love seeing their gnarled trunks.
These are two of the odder shaped trunks we saw yesterday. They were located side by side. One looks like a woman with a big rear end wearing an evening gown with a low cut back. The other one looks like a man wearing bell-bottomed disco pants!
We were coming around a bend and I shot this one rather quickly. I like the way it turned out.
This is one of the lily pads. This one is brown and rusted looking. There were plenty of green ones too. The water drops rolled around like mercury on the lily pads. I was fascinated with the water droplets but I didn't get many good shots of them. If I go again some day I might spend more time trying to get good shots.
This is a turtle we saw. He had a pyramid shaped shell. We don't know if this was some sort of deformation or if this is a certain type of turtle. He didn't stay too long on the branch letting us take his picture before he slipped off into the water.
Okay, probably this is enough for one post! Maybe tomorrow I'll post a few of the bird photos I got.
I'm sure not a water girl but I had fun yesterday. My friend did most of the paddling so I was able to concentrate on taking pictures and not "tumping" over the boat! Oh, and watching to make sure no alligators reared their heads to try and get us (I've watched too much "Swamp People" TV)! Toward the end she gave me the paddle so I could see how easy it was to paddle. Paddling was as much fun as being paddled around! I learned to back up and turn around. I struggled with keeping on a straight path and stopping. I hope to get the chance to practice some more sometime.
Your photos are beautiful. My favorite is the lily pad.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mindy!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Annie! You're one brave gal!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Miche! It was fun!
DeleteBeautiful pictures, Annie. Would have like to have been on that trip myself, but not in a kayak. Had an experience once at Myrtle Beach with one of those things. Never again!....
ReplyDeleteThis one was a fishing kayak, theoretically more stable than the thinner ones! It was comfortable. I would have DIED if I'd fallen over in that water!
DeleteLove love love these! Oh I miss the swamps. There is a beauty there like no where else. So much and sometimes hard to take it all in....
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing these...
Lori! Thank you!
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