Sanibel

 

Friday, I thought, this may be a good weekend to go to Sanibel. Checked the weather forecast. 40%chance of rain, Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Not bad for late summer.  Marine forecast, light chop.   One night at Anchor Inn, $76.00.  $84 and change with tax.  So, here I am.

On Wildlife Drive in the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge at 8:20.

On the water at my usual spot, the second designated launch area, at 8:44.

 

Through the "lake" and into Pine Island Sound.

 

Problem "solved"  As long as I leave my room and sit outside the office.
 

It seemed like more than a light chop to me. Pretty strong south breeze, pushing me north. To get out of the worst of it, I went into an inlet just past the power line.

 

Lots of osprey, but I paddled for a while with no photos.

I had never seen the bridge, at least from the water.

 

This is Wildlife Drive, so the bridge had to be on the road that intersects with the Drive just before Sanibel Captiva Road.

I wish I got a better picture of this bird.

I think it is a mangrove cuckoo

It did fly into the mangroves and disappear.

 

A better view of the bridge and its ornamentation.

 In the past, I've seen manatees in theses inlets and canals west of the power lines. Kept my eyes and ears open. Saw one come up for air. Waited for it to resurface. It did not. At least, not near me.

Back in the “lake”, more paddlers than I have ever seen in the Refuge. Outside of Tarpon Bay, that is. About 10. Headed toward the Sound. “How is it out there?” “Moderate chop.” A complete answer would have been, “you may want to paddle into the wind and waves first, its hard work” But, I did want to discourage them. Nor have the come back and paddle where I was going.

 

Back to the launch site at 10:42. The group’s cars lined up along Wildlife Drive. I kept going.

 

 

I wanted to confirm that the sign was “No Motorized” not “No Internal Combustion” as I saw two guys in a jon boat with an electric motor launching near the observation tower. Inside the No Motor Zone.

The illiterate criminals were still there.

 

I paddled in and around the islands across from the observation tower. Often a good spoonbill spot. But, as at my other spoonbill spot, none today.

 

Found spoonbills.  If you were on the observation tower, they were to the right.

My battery ran out at the wrong time. By the time I reloaded, the spoonbills had moved deeper into the mangroves.

 

 

 

High water levels let me explore areas too shallow in the winter, when the dike system issued to reduce the water level in parts of the Refuge to provide feeding area for migrant waterfowl.

I landed near observation tower to take a break.

The sign "No Motorized Boating Area"   The motorized boaters were parked 20 yards away.

I had a sandwich, told a couple they were looking at belted kingfishers and a juvenile tri colored heron.  Not sure if they looked at this to verify my knowledge.

It is from this that I got the mangrove cuckoo picture posted above.  If what I saw was a mangrove cuckoo, I have seen every bird on the display.

 Back in the kayak, I paddled east, where the route soon becomes too narrow and mangrove blocked to continue. I turned around.

 

 

I paddled into the "lakes". What I call the open areas inside the Refuge.

Back to the launch site at 1:30.

 

One car, other than mine.  The group had left.  Not very sharp in the navigation department.  Just after my lunch break, 3 cars, kayaks on top, going the wrong way.  Someone must have told them, as I later saw them traveling in the correct direction.  Sad that kayakers can be as dumb as motor boaters.

Driving the correct way, a yellow crowned night heron.

Juvenile black crowned night heron.

 I got out of the car at the Shell Mound Trail.  New signage.  I like the core sample. Geological history of Sanibel.

 

 

A short trail, a third of a mile.

The sign tells of Calusa trade goods being found in Oklahoma, Ohio, and my favorite place, Wisconsin.

The bridge I paddled under.  Entry to the Caloosa Shores subdivision.  You'd think they could spell Calusa, correctly

I went back to the Refuge parking lot, got the bike off the car and rode on the Indigo Trail.

 

 

 

The trail is two miles long. The Cross Dike Trail, above, connects to Wildlife Drive near the observation tower. I looked for alligators, then biked back the way I can.  Unlike the Drive, Indigo Trail is 2 way for bikers and walkers.

 

 

 

The trail begins at the pay station.  Back on Wildlife Drive, so you can't bike against traffic, so you walk a short boardwalk back to the parking lot.

To the Anchor Inn.

My third time here since last September.  I've got a better unit each time.  Not by knowing, just what was assigned.  Unit 15 has an oven and full refrigerator freezer.

Tasteful decor.

Waterfront

 

Or back. A pond.

 

15 is a corner unit, so you don't get the walk by traffic from other guests. 

I now know for better Internet reception, sit outside.  After being inside for a while, I got on the bike.

It had rained.

Cardinal using an osprey platform.

I left the bike at a condo whose owners I know, and headed to the beach.

Welcomed by a rainbow.

 

 

 

Few people on the beach.

Maybe folks left when it rained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I walked out on the pier, a manatee surfaced.  First one I've seen here.  It headed west.

Barely visible, a bump on the water.

 

 

 

 

 

Snowy egrets looking for handouts.  Must be Democrats, says Mitt.

 

 

The angler who caught this snook had to put it back in the water. No keeping of snook caught in the Gulf to help rebuild the fishery after the die off from the 2010 cold snap.

More jellyfish then I have ever seen. They lined the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

I've been told this building is closest to the beach at the Shell Island Beach Club.

It is.  Want to stay here? Click the "Sanibel Rental Condo" link on the right.  Mention you read about it on Dave's Yak Tales, and my brother Pat, and co-owner, Mike, will charge you double.

 

Just kidding. Don't know what they'd do, but you have a conversation starter.

 

 

 

 

I've been walking this path since 1988, thanks to the generosity of my brother. 

 

No one at the pool.

No cars at Building 5.  I did not checkout number 12.

Bike back to the Anchor Inn.

Got in the car, and drove towards Captiva.  I've never launched the kayak there.

 

I launched from Turner Beach, on the Captiva side o Blind Pass, at 7:15.  The usual Sanibel $2 an hour parking fee. About half the spaces available this mid September evening.

 

Blind Pass bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Clouds obscured the sun, but they made for some interesting views.

 

 

 

 

 

Last photo from the kayak. Six weeks ago, taking sunset photos off Bowman Beach on Sanibel, I tipped in the rough surf.  No such problem tonight.  But I got wet anyway.  Sharp drop off on the beach. Kayaking sliding back as I got out, and fell in.  "Only happens in front of an audience" I told the couple in their beach chairs.

 

Last photo of the day, 7:51 PM. First, on  Wildlife Drive, was way back at 8:20 AM.  Considering I woke up 225 away, that's a complete day.