Paddle to Billy's Island

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

American Bittern; Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia. March 11, 2015.

Wednesday, 12:17 PM - Grabbing our life vests (but neglecting seat cushions, as we would later regret), we loaded our canoe and headed up the channel toward Billy’s Lake. As we floated by, a beautifully camouflaged American Bittern popped his head up from the grasses to spy out the intruders.

​Remembering the advice of a friend from years ago, we headed toward Billy’s Island for our first paddling excursion. My old friend had spent a good bit of time exploring the island and found several critters, including an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. On our trip, however, most of the island was off limits and hiking was restricted to a 1 mile loop in the immediate area of the dock. 

Our guide this morning had told us that a slightly deranged man had disappeared in Billy’s Island a couple of years ago, prompting an expensive search and rescue mission, and the closure of most of the island. Days later, the man was found walking barefoot on Interstate 75, nobody knowing how or when he left the swamp. 
​
The island was named after a Seminole Indian that was murdered there. In later history, following the Civil War, the island was settled by the Lee family; some of whom still inhabit the island in a small graveyard. On our short hike we saw the rusty machinery left from the last century’s efforts of logging the Okefenokee. Other than a deer wading knee-deep in the swamp, the seemingly ever-present Catbirds, and some carnivore scat, we weren’t as lucky as my friend who had related that he found a baby gator and a rattlesnake on the island years ago.