ride around Lake Okeechobee

up








not the typical ride for 30 miles of dirt roads - 42x16 (~2.7:1) fixed with 700x25 tires

typical scene early on in the ride























refueling the helicopter and reloading with herbicide of some sort























bikes on the Lake O trail

Florida National Scenic Trail



normally you'd see this when water needs to be slowed down.  Not sure what the point was here -- no evidence of a pipe anywhere.





taking lunch at a campsite







view down a canal



treatment notice (probably related to the aerial spraying)









the inside of one of the pumping stations being improved for protection against hurricane damage

Herbert Hoover Dike



fishing at the lock

the lock was completely open today

Friday night's campsite

Friday night's campsite

a typical view of the paved portion of the trail.  Pavement quality was excellent, although grass was starting to break things up in some areas.



















sunset

sunset



sunrise

sunrise

sunrise

misc construction equipment found along the trail

Jacob

a pumping station

taking a break at a pumping station / canal

Corps of Engineers survey marker

Pahokee was not the most impressive town

the map we used for the trip. Started at Kissimmee River and went SW, made it to the campsite 4.1 miles past Clewiston on Friday (50 miles.)  Finished the loop (60 miles) by 4:30pm on Saturday.

lazy gator

lazy gator (~6')

Jacob on the trail, as viewed from one of the manually operated floodgates

we ate  lunch at a campsite with this old towboat

Jacob vs. peanut butter sandwich with 15-20 miles of lake in the background







all done


All images copyright Peter Jensen.