Okefenokee Rainbow over Mixons Hammock

Okefenokee Photography by William Wise. A nature photo journal exploration of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, the Land of Trembling Earth, one of the largest blackwater swamps in North America. The alligators, birds, snakes and wildlife of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Stephen C Foster State Park. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message

DAY 1 - THE BROWN TRAIL

Leg 3 - the strong currents on Mixon's Hammock

Bright rainbow in cloudy blue sky over Mixon`s Hammock canoe trail and cypress trees in swamp prairie. Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, USA.

​If you are successful in your navigation and make it through the treachery of the narrows, the scene opens wide as you enter Mixon’s Hammock. Thick, tall maidencane grasses line each side of the canoe run and patches of slender, young cypress ornament the horizon. The scars of yearly fires that keep this an open landscape remain upon many of the darkened stumps and trees. About midway, the remnants of the extensive logging railroads of the early 1900’s still remain as a series of pylons that cross the path.

Old logging timber railroad pylons in Mixon`s Hammock canoe trail. Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, USA. The Okefenokee was vastly logged for cypress timber in the early 1900`s.

Old logging timber railroad pylons in Mixon`s Hammock canoe trail. Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, USA. The Okefenokee was vastly logged for cypress timber in the early 1900`s.

My last trip down this section of the brown-trail several years ago had us fighting strong currents with weakened rowing muscles and a dying trolling motor. This day was no different. As the strong current pulled us quickly westward toward The Sill, I knew the return trip would be toiling, even with the motor. The Suwannee is typically slow moving throughout the Okefenokee, but not here on the brown trail. Perhaps it is the open sluicegates of The Sill that cause these extreme currents.
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Travelling westward with the current is a joy – lazily allowing the stream to carry the canoe onward as I take in the scenery. But the eastward journey requires digging the oars deep and hard into the waters. Even then, the forward movement is quite slow. Right as I am about to give up and let the canoe drift back to the Sill Recreation Area with thoughts of hitchhiking back to Stephen C Foster State Park, a rainbow appears over the thickening trees ahead. We are nearing The Narrows, and just beyond that will be easy paddling Billy’s Lake back toward camp. ​

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. The brown trail - Mixon's Hammock
​Thursday, October 22, 2020
​​Partly cloudy, high 84F, low 71F.
Sunrise 7:37 AM; sunset 6:50 PM
Day length: 11 hours, 12 minutes (-1 min 43 sec)

"Ogeechee limes" from the White Tupelo tree (Nyssa ogeche) swept together in the currents of the Suwannee River along Mixon's Hammock; brown kayal trail, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia.

Burned cypress tree buttress along Mixon`s Hammock kayak trail. Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, USA. The Okefenokee was vastly logged for cypress timber in the early 1900`s. Seasonal lightning wildfire maintains open prairies in the Okefenokee.