Mangrove Tunnels of Lido Key

This is our final day in Sarasota and it is a lovely day of sunshine and warmth. The previous 3 days have been quite cool, chilly by Florida standards, and overcast. Today is bright, clear, and steadily warming towards a high around 71°F. Our only concern is that it is a bit windy and that could make kayaking the mangrove tunnels of Lido Key less fun. However, we decided to to drive over there and hope that by late-morning conditions would improve and be more than suitable for our self-guided paddle in the shallow waters that make up these bays dotted with islets and the tunnels of mangroves.

When we arrived at the kayak rental point it was still a bit blustery and not quite as warm as we wanted so Mom and I took a short walk while Dad waited at the car. Most of the trails in the Ted Sperling Nature Park are currently closed this short trail that follows a dandy path and crosses several bridges took us out to an overlook near tunnel number 2. A pleasant walk that used up enough time that by the time we returned it was clear that this was going to be a fine day for our paddle. We set off with Mom and Dad in two-person sit-on-top kayak and I had a single of the same style boat.

On busier, probably warmer, days there are several kayak companies that rent boats for self-guided paddles or guided tours. When we we getting our boat just one company was there. We wondered how they decide when to rent boats. We never did find out. However, we did learn that hurricane Milton did indeed thoroughly swamp the key with wanter and deposited sand all over the place where sand shouldn’t be. Considering the amount of damange done I think it is remarkable they’ve cleaned so much up in the 3 months since the storm. Perhaps that is why many trails are curretnly closed. However, for our purposes of paddling you would not know a major storm had wrought so much destruction.

I’ll let the photos tell the story of our paddle. This is an easy paddle of about 3 miles if you just choose to pass through most of the tunnels, pause for lunch on the beach, and return. You could extend the paddle by venturing out into Sarasota Bay as the guided tours do but it’s not what we wanted to do. I’ll just add that you should wear shoes, if you do, that you are willing to soak. You’ll get your feet wet entering and exiting your kayak at places you want to do so. And you could always find yourself unexpectedly stuck on a sandbar or shoal as the waters are frequently quite shallow. This happened to me after we made a wrong turn in tunnel 4 that took us to a bridge and then out into the bay where I hit a too-shallow spot as we paddled back to tunnel 3. I had to get out and walk my boat off the shoal, just a few yards, before getting back in. At least the water at that spot was quite a bit warmer, probably because it was so shallow and in full sunlight, than the water at the put-in point.

Photos

There are five mangrove tunnels. I think this was the first.

—January 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM.

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Exiting a mangrove tunnel. For some reason the tunnels are marked with much more visible buoys than at the boat launch site.

—January 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM.

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Ken. The water here is quite shallow. In fact, there are places where it is possible to run aground. That would happen later on to Ken after exiting tunnel 4 route to the beach lunch spot. Photo by Jonathan.

—January 10, 2025 at 11:06 AM.

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Mom and Dad lead the way into one of the mangrove tunnels. There is a current in them so if you’re going with the flow you really need only steer. This time we had to actively paddle. The tunnels can be quite narrow and it’s unlikely you can get through without bumping foliage with your paddle or boat: at least I find it so.

—January 10, 2025 at 11:24 AM.

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It’s time to get back in the kayaks and paddle back to the boat launch point. The water feels warmer here.

--January 10, 2025 at 2:59 PM.

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Deep Hole - Myakka River State Park

Our week here in Sarasota is coming to a close. A couple of the days have been decidedly cool, even chilly by Florida standards, and cloudy. Those days were certainly less than welcomed by us. We have taken a few walks along the beach and done some other little exploration. However, today was our first foray into new territory: The Deep Hole of Myakka River State Park.

This is just above a 5-mile roundtrip hike thorough prairie in a 7,500 acre nature preserve that includes Lower Myakka Lake. It’s certainly a different kind of area than anything I have seen before in Florida. It isn’t beach, urban sidewalks or parks, certainly not wetlands. The greatest amount of sound was probably, sadly, the rumble of traffic which grew fainter as we traveled farther from the trailhead. Now and then I heard birds but they were few and far between. Perhaps that’s because trees were few and far between too. At the shore of Lower Myakka Lake I certainly heard more. If the alligators made any sound it went unnoticed.

There were certainly quite a few alligators soaking up warmth from the sun as it rose through a clear blue sky and the air temperature steadily increased throughout the upper 50s. People have counted upwards of 200 alligators but the number we saw was considerably less. If you hope to capture photos of them bring a good really long zoom lens. I count myself lucky my snapshots are as good as they are with the 5x zoom on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Viewing them with my 10x monocular was certainly more impressive.

This is a hike I recommend taking. But you should arrive at the park as early as you can manage because they limit access to 30 people per day. You are provided with a permit and instructions on how to enter the nature preserve. They appear to be serious about this and do require you return your permit so they can be sure everyone that goes in comes out again. I was a bit surprised they didn’t have a ranger checking out permits along the way but perhaps they do just not all the time.

I hope you enjoy the photos and 3D “fly over” you will find below.

A 3D flyover of our hike through the prairie which lead us to Lower Myakka Lake and its Deep Hole.

Photos

I think there have been on average 7 alligator attacks per year on humans throughout Florida since records have been kept by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission since 1948. Over that time 26 fatalities were counted. Here in Myakka River State Park has had none and only a small number of incidents.

--January 9, 2025 at 10:21 AM.

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The trail to Deep Hole travels through prairie. It’s a dry prairie that I think they burn every couple years. The park limits access to Deep Hole to 30 people per day on a first-come-first-served basis.

--January 9, 2025 at 10:27 AM.

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We have walked about a half mile. The trail is generally made of packed sand though soft spots like incomplete beach sand pop up now and then. Now and then a tree pops up too.

--January 9, 2025 at 10:33 AM.

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We were all expecting a deep hole with some water at the bottom. If I had looked at a map perhaps I would not have been misled. The deep hole is a 130 feet deep section of Lower Myakka Lake. Here, looking south, we see alligators.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM.

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Looking to the east a couple hundred feet away are numerous alligators warming up in the sun.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM.

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Look closely for the white bird standing at the water’s edge in front of all those alligators.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM.

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A close-up view.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:22 AM.

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Alligators aren’t the only critters here. These vultures aren’t moving much. In fact, until one did we did not notice them.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:33 AM.

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Vultures might not be as exciting as the alligators but they’re important too.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:33 AM.

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No idea what this bird in the tree next to the vultures is.

--January 9, 2025 at 11:34 AM.

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Winter Solstice 2024 Hike

Not quite a “death match” hike

It has been several years since I did a winter solstice hike of any length. I wasn’t going to tackle the much longer, tougher trail, version that Andy and his companions would take on. I couldn’t, I suspected, keep up the required speed throughout the day. I would be left to sally forth, solo, along the Waterloo-Pinckney Trail to find my way to the endpoint about 14.5 miles east of my starting point.

I was dropped off at Loveland Road at 7:30AM. Perhaps I could have started walking right away. It was alreay beginning to lighten as we moved towards sunrise. However, I elected to wait a little while - getting colder - for more light. At this time of day it is pretty quiet. The snow absorbs some sound but when it is 16°F not much is moving to quickly at this pre-dawn hour. At least not much that I heard. When I began my hike at 7:47AM I am confident I was making the most noise in the immediate vicinity. Over the next 10 hours I would work my way along trail, making mistakes here and there, towards Goodband Road. The video and photos will give you a glimpse of what my journey was like.

This visualization of my route will give you an idea where I was.

▶️ Play Winter Solstice 2024 (not quite) Death March

Photos

Starting my version of the Winter Solstice 2024 death march. My version starts at Loveland Road. The planned hike is about 14.5 miles long. Sunrise will be in a few minutes but there is enough light to start my hike.

--December 21, 2024 at 7:47 AM.

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Passing through the area of the Waterloo Recreation Area headquarters. The sun has been brightening the sky making it feel warmer. I’m actually a bit overdressed.

--December 21, 2024 at 9:31 AM.

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I’ve made a few mistakes along the way. I think I’ve trod about 9 miles by this point along the bike path that leads to the underpass below M-52. This would be an easy fast walk except for the black ice.

--December 21, 2024 at 1:07 PM.

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It’s been a lovely day so far. Temperature has been in the mid 20s with on and off sunshine. Now and then the honking of Canadian geese flying overhead can be heard, now and again sandhill cranes cut loose with their slightly unnerving calls, other things chitter about, and the ever present sound of my feet crunching against the snow.

--December 21, 2024 at 1:23 PM.

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Sunset is just a few minutes away. I believe I have hiked just over 15 miles and have a bit over a mile to go. I wonder if I will have to use my headlamp before I reach the end at Goodband Road.

--December 21, 2024 at 4:56 PM.

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The end. 16.5 miles of hiking, including 2 miles of detours, to complete my hike. Hurray. Now I have to wait for the others, doing a 25-mile hike, to arrive. I figure they will arrive in 45 to 60 minutes.

--December 21, 2024 at 5:36 PM.

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