Lovers Key, Mound Key

December 25, 2008, Christmas Day, I visited two Florida State Parks, Lovers Key and Mound Key. Lovers Key is located just southeast of Estero Island (Fort Myers Beach). Lovers is one of four islands that comprise the Park. 2.5 miles of Gulf beach, Estero Bay on the other side, natural and man made water trails in between make Lovers Key a prime paddling location. The main man made watercourse wends through Black Island. In the 1960's and 70's a canal was dredged to prepare the island for development. Fortunately for me, the islands were not developed, but were purchased by the State of Florida in 1983. The canal is now a 5 mile, 2.5 out and back, paddling trail.

I was in the water shortly before 9 am. Dirt parking area, canoes and kayaks stacked nearby. Kiosk with a large trail map and individual maps for the taking.

Snowy egrets and a long billed curlew fed. The latter makes its debut on Dave's Yak Tales. Two rosette spoonbills flew overhead. The trail map indicated an exit from the trail at the 0.75

mile point. This leads to a shallow cove. Cross the cove, paddle under Estero Blvd., and you are in Estero Bay. I had a second map, the Estero Bay section of the Lee County Paddling Trail, aka, The Great Calusa Blueway. Looking at the map, Mound Key, is north east of Lovers Key, with a group of islands in between. I paddled to what I thought was the largest of the islands. A dolphin hunted in Big Carlos Pass. I paddled on, to the left, condos, docks and hotels, on my right a green island oasis. Out of the channel I entered a wide bay, dotted with islands. This did not seem right. I unfolded the map, and figured I had gone the wrong way. My problem was assuming the bridge over Big Carlos Pass ran from north to south. Wrong. It orients east to west.







I was able to get back on track, or trail, and knew I was in the right place when I saw Blueway Marker 22, which on the map is at the start of a narrow channel between two islands. Marker 23 is not on the map, but served as a reference on the return.



Like the paddling trail through Black Island, Mound Key is mostly man made. It's a bit older- by a few thousand years. What began as oyster bar with a few mangroves turned into the capital city of the Calusa when the Spanish arrived. At 32 feet, the tallest midden is the highest point in southwest Florida. The first picture is from the summit. I landed at a small, shell strewn beach on the southeast corner, then traversed the island to a second landing on the northwest side.












Unlike the mounds left by the Timuncan people along the St Johns River basin, which are mostly snail shells, or the mounds along the Atlantic, comprised mainly of oyster shells, there are a lot of whelks on this Gulf mound. An old cistern shows the island was inhabited after the Calusa perished.








As I walked the up and down trail across the island, I was surprised to see bales of fencing wire and a "No Trespassing Sign". A bit of Internet searching revels 9 acres of Mound Key are owned by someone named McGhee from Fort Myers. He/she wants 15 million according to an article from 2006, That is supposedly the price the land would go for if developed. Excuse me? How do you develop land on an island that is an archelogial site ? I say offer the greedy swine twice what he/she paid for it and condemn it. Developers make me puke. As long as they can make a killing they don't care if every last gumbo limbo is chopped down for a highrise condo.

One other boat stopped at Mound Key while I was there. Hopefully it will stay that way. A natural, historic place accessible only by water, the entire site owned by the people of Florida.

I returned to Lovers Key, no detours, and paddled the entire in Park trail. Paddlers were out, 10 or so. A angler told me to keep an eye out for a manatee. I did not see it. Here are a variety of herons I did see.

I landed at 3:30

After loading the kayak, I drove to the main parking lot and walked to the beach. A tram service is available, but the walk is short and interesting, crossing a tidal lagoon through the mangroves. A lot like John MacArthur State Park near West Palm Beach.

Here are two beach views, looking north, and south.

Final beach picture, back on Sanibel.

Sunset, storm and Sanibel stoop.