Wilma delaying my trip.

I just finished a big trip starting in Indiana and going up to Nova Scotia and back down to the Everglades. All of the rain in New England last week prompted a quicker than expected dash south. We were supposed to leave next week for a 2 week paddle through the glades. This Hurricane is going to postpone it, and on top of that it looks like another one is forming up. What a drag. We hope to leave on the 7th or 8th of November now. It will be a good experience to see how much damage this seasons Hurricanes did to the Everglades. This time last year we took off from the Middle Keys and went through the park up to Everglades City. Rustin

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Hey Rustin,

I see that you changed our website. Are there any new photos from Nova Scotia? I did not see any on your site.

Anyway, the weather has been horrible all over. I am kind of envious of your trip to the Everglades. I hope that you will post photos along the way.

-JM

No photos from Nova Scotia. I have some tide shots from the bay of Fundy and a little bit of sunrise and wildlife all around but I am not real happy with them. I hate to put up shots that I do not like. I do have a few dragonfly nymph changing into dragonflys that I will post later this week. This will be my first hurricane. I had no idea of the amount of work that goes into preparing for one. I live at a Hostel in Florida city in the winter. Awnings have to come down, orchids have to be moved inside, outdoor furniture turned upside down, all the torches moved, and all sorts of things that can fly around in the wind have to be stored. Luckily this place has storm shutters. That means no plywood has to be put up. I will post any damage shots as long as we have power. Take care, Rustin

We just got power back on yesterday. I got a temp job with the park service helping to put the Everglades back in order. What a mess this place is. We have crews from Glacier, Dinosaur, and Delaware Gap as well as the parks own fire fighters helping out. There is so much to do. I have well over a hundred hours in 9 days. The work is hard but pretty cool. I saw my first bear in the Park. Most of the Rangers do not believe it. Two other people saw it with me. My camera was stowed away in one of the holds on the truck. I started carrying it on my lap after that. Last week we were in Big Cypress cutting trees 30 meters from a panther and cubs on a kill. It was pretty exciting. We did not see it, but a research team got eyes on. All of the adults have radio collars. A few pythons have been shotgunned or captured this week too. The snakes are out in force. I have pictures of an Eastern Diamondback and Cottonmouth that I took on the same day. A Coral snake was taken out of employee housing earlier this week too. I did not get a chance to see that. It seems like the wildlife is liking this lack of traffic in the park. My big canoe trip is going to be on hold for a while. I may get lucky and be able to clear part of the wilderness waterway. That would definetly make up for it. It time for some rest now. I will try to post some pictures when I have more time. Take care everyone, Rustin

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