White flowers fill vast areas of wetlands.

After a 3-year drought we finally got some rain to fill the marsh again.

Judy and I packed a lunch for a long day on the river and went to explore a secluded little channel we had not visited in a while.

The area we went to tapers out to an airboat trail leading to the deep cypress and several camping areas for hunters.

This day the airboat trail was full of water and a wide open area full of shoulder-high white flowers beckoned to us. It can be dangerous to be in a small boat on an airboat trail, but we decided that with the field being so wide open we could spot any airboats in time to get out of their way. We tied a bandana to a stick and mounted it in the boat to help make us more visible, and off we went.

The airboat trail leading past the edge of the deep cypress.

We crossed the open area safely and got to the edge of the cypress forest.

On one side of the trail are large open fields of flowers, and on the other side are small, young cypress trees growing closely together.

It was so incredibly beautiful that we just had to continue down the trail, keeping a careful watch both in front and behind us for airboat traffic.

The edge of the cypress woods.

The cypress trees at the edge of the forest are young and small and growing thickly together. Deeper in the woods are enormous trees - some so big that it would take several men to encircle them.

Peb in the deep cypress. (click the image to see a larger version)

The above photo was taken in the deep cypress where the biggest trees are. I am actually standing in this photo, and the tree right behind me only has about 1/3 of it's width showing in the picture.

These woods are called the Jane Green Swamp and were the source of cypress timber logged by the Union Cypress Co. sawmill.

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