The Tickle Sticks Night Adventure By JAMES PARKER

Ever since we, the Tickle Sticks, arrived in Everglade City, we had wanted to do a night paddle through the Everglades. The topic was discussed a number of times but was never done. Finally the chance arose for us to do a night paddle. The only thing was it was depending on if we were well behaved. We all behaved, or so what we thought was behaving. We turned out to be right and later that day we were told that that night we were to wake up at 2 AM, pack our gear into canoes, and begin our 20 mile paddle. After dinner we moseyed on over to our tents and attempted to sleep. It was fairly early in the night so getting to sleep for some of us was a bit of a challenge. After our short sleep we awoke to find ourselves in the dark campsite in the early hours of the morning. We packed up and headed outwards down the river. Relying on starlight and our own vision we navigated the bays of the Everglades. Many of us questioned our decisions on turns because for a while we hadn’t seen a marker indicating it was the right direction. We soon came to a marker, as soon as it had appeared everyone cheered. We were heading the right direction and were making great time. It was an amazing feeling and something that most people in their lives will never experience. As we paddled through the morning the water was full of phosphorescence, which if you don’t know what phosphorescence is, it is the process in which energy absorbed by a substance is released relatively slowly in the form of light. As our paddles moved through the water and as our canoe created ripples it would glow a greenish light. As we moved on past the bays into Lopez River the current started to pick up and slowly start moving out into the bays pushing us back. The bay feeding into Lopez River hit us with high winds and a fast moving current. All of which were going in the opposite direction. Paddling through here was our biggest challenge, but eventually we all made it. Around the corner at about 9 AM we saw the ranger station. I don’t think anyone could describe the feeling they had when they saw it. We had just completed our biggest paddle ever, and our first night paddle through the Everglades. It was a great experience and those who believe they are up to the challenge of navigating the Everglades at night should give it a try. It was an awesome experience as a whole and I would recommend it to anyone willing to give something new a shot.