The Florida Everglades was once viewed as a damp, marshy wasteland that needed man's help to truly be useful.
With just a fraction of it left in anything at all resembling its original form, it's now seen for what it truly is: a unique ecosystem that is home to everything from alligators to tens of thousands of wintering birds.
It's also an area where a couple feet of elevation change is as different as a valley and a mountaintop.
The Everglades is known as the "river of grass," and it really is a river.
It's a very slow-moving river that is 50 miles wide and only a couple of inches deep.
To hike along the Observation Trail from the main road at the south end of the National Park reveals a landscape that looks more like grass than river.
A closer inspection, however, reveals that all the grass is submerged.
Look even closer, and you may see fish swimming around the blades in nature's great obstacle course.
The area immediately below the observation tower is a great place to watch great egrets hunt.
The grass is a little higher there and the egrets hide, waiting for their prey to swim by.
Back on the main park road, this is also a great place to see what a difference one foot in elevation can make.
The Everglades may look flat, but some parts are actually a couple feet higher than others.
That may not sound like much, but that little elevation gain is all the boost the South Florida slash pine trees need.
The pine trees cannot survive for long when they are submerged, and an extra couple feet is all they need to stay dry even during the Everglades' wet season.
The Everglades are wetter at some times than others.
During the wet season, which includes late summer and fall, it's more difficult to see wildlife.
Everything needs water to survive, and when water is abundant, the wildlife scatters throughout the park.
During the especially dry months of January and February, however, the largest quantities of water are concentrated in a few pockets.
During the dry season, you may see more than a hundred alligators along a trail where there may have been only one or two just a few months earlier.
The best place to see alligators is along the Anhinga Trail, located at the southwest corner of the park.
In the true wild, alligators dig large holes to trap enough water to last through the dry season.
The Anhinga Trail borders a large man-made pond, sparing the alligators from the effort.
The Anhinga Trail is also the best place to see the anhinga, a goose-sized bird.
When it swims, only its snake-shaped neck appears above water.
You can frequently see anhinga fish from the trail.
The Shark Valley, located on the north side of the Everglades, may be out of your way, but it's the most threatened.
Water diversion projects threaten to run it dry, endangering the Florida apple snail, and the snail kite, which will eat nothing else.
The Everglades is the subject of a restoration effort, but it's not slated for completion until 2036.
Some question whether that is soon enough.
With just a fraction of it left in anything at all resembling its original form, it's now seen for what it truly is: a unique ecosystem that is home to everything from alligators to tens of thousands of wintering birds.
It's also an area where a couple feet of elevation change is as different as a valley and a mountaintop.
The Everglades is known as the "river of grass," and it really is a river.
It's a very slow-moving river that is 50 miles wide and only a couple of inches deep.
To hike along the Observation Trail from the main road at the south end of the National Park reveals a landscape that looks more like grass than river.
A closer inspection, however, reveals that all the grass is submerged.
Look even closer, and you may see fish swimming around the blades in nature's great obstacle course.
The area immediately below the observation tower is a great place to watch great egrets hunt.
The grass is a little higher there and the egrets hide, waiting for their prey to swim by.
Back on the main park road, this is also a great place to see what a difference one foot in elevation can make.
The Everglades may look flat, but some parts are actually a couple feet higher than others.
That may not sound like much, but that little elevation gain is all the boost the South Florida slash pine trees need.
The pine trees cannot survive for long when they are submerged, and an extra couple feet is all they need to stay dry even during the Everglades' wet season.
The Everglades are wetter at some times than others.
During the wet season, which includes late summer and fall, it's more difficult to see wildlife.
Everything needs water to survive, and when water is abundant, the wildlife scatters throughout the park.
During the especially dry months of January and February, however, the largest quantities of water are concentrated in a few pockets.
During the dry season, you may see more than a hundred alligators along a trail where there may have been only one or two just a few months earlier.
The best place to see alligators is along the Anhinga Trail, located at the southwest corner of the park.
In the true wild, alligators dig large holes to trap enough water to last through the dry season.
The Anhinga Trail borders a large man-made pond, sparing the alligators from the effort.
The Anhinga Trail is also the best place to see the anhinga, a goose-sized bird.
When it swims, only its snake-shaped neck appears above water.
You can frequently see anhinga fish from the trail.
The Shark Valley, located on the north side of the Everglades, may be out of your way, but it's the most threatened.
Water diversion projects threaten to run it dry, endangering the Florida apple snail, and the snail kite, which will eat nothing else.
The Everglades is the subject of a restoration effort, but it's not slated for completion until 2036.
Some question whether that is soon enough.
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