When I hung up the phone, I could not help but do a little dance. I had just secured a 3 night
back country camping permit for my favorite place on earth: the Okefenokee Swamp. My friend
Robert Grigg, his son Jacob and I would be paddling nearly 40 miles and camping on islands and
raised platforms called “chickees.” Everything we would need or want would have to be packed
on our kayaks, so planning was paramount. We had done overnight trips in the swamp before,
but none were this long or far. As a gear hog, I tend to over pack on nearly every trip; but when
you are the one having to paddle all the gear it makes you step back and think.

I whittled down the gear to my most essential fishing equipment and camera stuff then
gathered what I would need for camping. For food, I figured I would take the Orion 35 cooler
which fits perfectly in the tank well of my Jackson Take Two Kayak. The only issue with that is
that is where I usually placed my YakAttack BlackPak that also is used for vertical rod storage. I
was able to rig my Orion 35 with a set of rod tubes on the side using the gear tracks, so part of
my dilemma was solved. I put the fishing gear in a soft sided bag that sat nicely on the cooler lid
so while it wasn’t my normal setup, it worked even better than I hoped.

The next test was a dry run of packing gear so every piece can find its place. After a little bit of
tweaking, I had room and could reach essential things from the water as needed. The week
before the trip I spent meal prepping by making foil packets of eggs and Conecuh sausage for
my morning meals and chicken or steak, potatoes and either green beans or collards for dinner.
For midday meals, I like it to be as easy as possible and figure I don’t really want to stop fishing
or paddling to eat and If I do, I don’t want to get gear out for cooking, so it needs to be simple.
My favorite simple meal for a trip is raw oats, peanut butter and molasses mixed up together
and maybe a cheese stick and a slab of beef jerky. I could live a fine life on that meal alone. The
foil packets I stacked flat and frozen. That is one trick I have learned through the years that
greatly cuts down on the amount of ice needed for a trip. That simple trick and precooling your
Orion 35 will make sure you have ice for the duration of your adventure.

Robert and Jacob opted to drive down and camp the night before while I made the crazy
decision to hit the road at about 3 AM and head their way. Once the gear was loaded and I was
floating on that black water, everything was fine. There are very few places on earth as
beautiful to me as the Okefenokee. We fished a bit on the way to the camping site and as the
fishing got better and better, we got caught up in the fun and totally lost track of time. We all
realized we had our work cut out for us when we knew half our day was gone but 75 percent of
the miles were still in front of us. Getting 9 miles in, going up current, before dark, was going to
be tough. As the light was fading so was my strength. I am not sure I have ever been so relieved
to hit the first camping spot on Floyd’s Island.  I quickly set up camp and had fired up my Kelly
Kettle just as they pulled up. Having the foil packs, already portioned, and seasoned makes
camp cooking just about effortless.

The next morning was started with the kettle as well, but this time for coffee and the eggs and
sausage pack. Sandhill cranes droned overhead while barred owls announced their territory and
I could have listened for hours. We broke camp and paddled to Big Water, our second camp for
the trip. This time we decided to paddle more than fish and made camp much earlier in the day.
That part was nice because I loaded the camera and fishing gear and was able to run further out
into the swamp and explore. That night we were treated to an incredible view of the stars
thanks to the area being a designated “dark sky” and we slept like logs.

The rising sun and barred owls woke us for the next leg and after our morning grub session we
pushed off into the current. Thankfully for this run we were paddling with it instead of against
it. Today’s leg would be 13 miles and end up at another island. After a day of fishing and
photographing I slid the bow of the Take Two onto the shore of Mixon’s Hammock. This would
be our last night and one of the most important reasons for bringing the Orion cooler. Right
beside the landing is a sign that reads “Caution, Bear Activity.”  It is one place where you need
to be bear aware so after eating, I made sure to put all edible stuff in the cooler and placed it
on the opposite end of the rise from where we were camping. Either nothing came by, or it
read the “grizzly proof” on the cooler and didn’t even try. I am going with the latter, just to
spice up my adventure.

As we paddled out that last morning I had to go by the “gate keeper”, an alligator nearly as long
as the kayak I was paddling. He didn’t move, and I am not a threat anyway. I tipped my hat and
thanked him for sharing his swamp with me once again. As that black water dripped off the
paddle blade and the kayak slipped through the lily pads, I thought how awesome this
adventure had been and immediately started planning the next.