Journal Entry 8
Today was perhaps the most transformative day of my life. I have decided that my first time in Everglades National Park will NOT be my last. I am far too enamored with the landscape to never return. I feel like I have so much to say about this magical place that I will need to separate it into several journal entries. I fear that if I don’t, my thoughts will run rampant and my sentences will be incomprehensible.
We were fortunate enough to have a park ranger guide us on our journey through the national park. On our way into the park, we saw evidence of humanity attempting to overtake the river of grass. For a few miles before entering the park, nothing but agricultural fields with vegetable plants that stood still as soldiers. It makes me wonder what The Glades looked like before we came along.
Upon entering the park, we saw fields of yellow sawgrass first, which I found out later are officially labeled “sawgrass prairies”. Their long blades seemed to graze against the sky as you gazed farther and farther out onto the horizon. Pines speckled the landscape like lonely sentries guiding travelers deeper into the park. Vultures swooped overhead, somehow able to navigate through the sea of green and yellow below and the expanse of blue and white above. The next thing I noticed was the air. It felt fresher than the city, my lungs felt fuller, more nourished with each breath.
Our first stop in the national park was a spot named the “Hole in the Donut”. This region was farmland as well, until the 1970s. It lies right in the middle of the park, hence the name “hole in the donut”. Unfortunately, this area will never be Pine Rockland (pine forest with rocky grounds) like the areas that surround it. At one point, Brazilian Pepper ran rampant in this area of the park. NOTHING could destroy the plant, not fire nor poison. What was done instead as part of a restoration project in the 1980s, was that all the dirt that the pepper grew from was collected and piled into 6 mounds scattered throughout the park. One such mound was visible to us far off in the distance (shown in image below) from where we stood near the paved road, the Pine Rocklands just a few steps behind us.
(Image taken by Viviana Moreno in Everglades National Park)
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Our guide mentioned all the invasives I had done previous research on, but she also stated one that I had not heard of: Shoebutton Ardisia. I will need to explore this plant further at a later date, but for now I have included an image of it here.
(Image taken from University of Florida’s Plant Directory)
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From there we took a short drive to Long Pine Key, named a key due to the water that surrounds the area. We hiked one of the winding trails nearby and learned about the various ecotones found within the forested areas of Everglade National Park. The Pine Rocklands, as discussed before, are areas of pine forest that have much rockier substrates to graft roots onto. The Hard Hammock areas also have pines, but the canopies are much more diverse and fuller than that of the Rocklands. The ground in the Hard Hammock is much richer in soil, thus facilitating more species to thrive in the areas. Our guide explained to us the significance of fire in these areas. The fires are required to ensure these areas thrive and work in a cycle. When the Pine Rocklands are set aflame, they will return as Hard Hammock. When the Hard Hammock is burned, they will return as Pine Rocklands.
We learned about some significant species in these areas too, a very welcome change from the invasive plant research rabbit hole I dove into before departing. I will list them in a similar way here.
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Gumbo Limbo Tree
- Also nicknamed “the tourist tree” due to its red peeling bark (like a sunburnt tourist)
- The red peeling bark is an adaptation to keep the vines off → the vines graft onto the bark, and they fall right off!
- It can photosynthesize without leaves thanks to the chlorophyll that grows right under the bark (slightly visible in the image below)
- I wondered what the origin of the name “Gumbo Limbo” came from, but came up with nothing. I came up with my own reasoning that my travel companions seemed to thoroughly enjoy: gumbo for the red bark (like the southern stew) and limbo for the dance you have to do while ducking under the low hanging branches
(Image taken by Viviana Moreno in Everglades National Park)
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Poisonwood
- This dangerous tree produces dark black sap that slides down the trunk of the tree (seen VERY clearly in the image below)
- The ominous black stripe is often the best indicator of its toxicity
- The toxins in this tree are the same ones found in poison ivy and oak
(Image taken by Viviana Moreno in Everglades National Park)
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Liguus Tree Snail
- Sadly, I did not see any of these snails on our venture
- Often called the jewels of The Everglades
- A native species of snail that DOES NOT do well with salt, so you will mainly find them in the forested areas of the national park
- They have slowly spread to different areas of the park, and have developed unique colors and patterns depending on the areas they live
- Threatened by ANOTHER invasive species: the New Guinea flatworm
- The flatworm was introduced through the plant trade
- They follow the slime trails the snails leave behind and eat them
- These worms can climb trees to hunt the snails!
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Halfway through our hike we came to a clearing in the forest. As we moved past the pine trees we were faced with another sawgrass prairie with the Pine Rocklands surrounding it, making it seem like we were in a pit of some kind and the tops of the trees acted as the ground above us. Our guide suggested we make our way as far into the field of grass as we wanted and take a moment to listen and reflect in silence. I was so moved by this exercise, I wrote a poem about it. It seems as though I discovered how to unleash my creativity and open my mind: with nature and silence.
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The field was a sea of green and yellow
The only sound, the occasional bird above or insect below
The most prominent sound, that of the wind
When it was energized, the grass spoke too
Brushing this way and that
When the wind was calm, nearest to complete silence
That’s the closest I’ve felt to utter peace and surrender
I’ve never felt so free yet so beautifully out of control
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For a moment, I was not myself
I was part of The Everglades
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I was the wind
I was a blade of grass
I was birds above and crickets below
I was the soil and sand
I was a pine
I was disconnected from the world, but connected to the planet
