Florida Day Two. A Close Encounter With An Alligator On My Last Hike On The Old Ingraham Highway Trail In The Everglades

It was nice to wake up in Florida again on Sunday morning.  Another year has passed since I was last here. I love my annual trip to south Florida, the Everglades and the Keys. As usual, I started my trip at the Best Western Hotel in Florida City. I was up early, and after a cup of coffee, I was on  my way to the Everglades National Park before the sunrise. It is about a 20 minute drive to  the Royal Palm Visitor Center. I stopped to watch the  sun rise on my drive. I love the desolation of the Everglades.  I was going to  hike on the Old Ingraham Highway. This was first highway to Flamingo built in the 1920’s and abandoned in the 1960’s. 

I  have been hiking on this trail for 10 years.  I just  learned, after my hike, that the trail was  decommissioned  in 2024 for safety reasons.  I  am disappointed but understand the reasons.  I had  another very close encounter with an alligator on this hike. So this will be  last blog post on this trail were I experienced  so much  of the wildlife and natural beauty of the Everglades.

I drove over  the rutted dirt road.to Gate 15.  As usual, I waste only one there.  The skies were clear but it was a cool start to my hike.  The temperature was 47 degrees. I heard the temperature was in the 30’s a few days before I arrived. It was also very dry in Florida this Winter. I began my hike through the saw grass prairie with leafless cypress trees growing along the trail.

I love these trees, both when they are leafless in the winter, and when they burst into light green leaves in the Spring. I often see wood storks perched in the cypress trees but not this year.   Most of the woods storks were   in the waters along the Anhinga Trail in the Royal Palm Visitor Center. They were  feeding on the fish in the shallow waters resulting from the dry  conditions in the Everglades this year. There was one great egret perched in a  cypress  tree.

 A few others flew over the trail,

as did a lot of turkey vultures,

and one wood stork.

I walked  through the posionwood trees  and coco plum shrubs that grow along the trail.  Here you can see the remains of the old highways long the trail.

 I heard and saw the first of dozens of boat-tailed grackles I would see on my hike.

I would see many of these birds throughout my stay in Florida.  I had never seen as many as I did this year. The are very noisy birds singing in the cypress trees.

I also saw a few palm warblers in the shrubs along the trail.  It always amazes me when  I see these birds here , then  in Pennsylvania in the Spring, as they migrate to breed in the boral forest of Canada.

In the waters along the trail I saw some American coots, which I also see in Pennsylvania in the Spring.

I  scared a flock of  ring-necked ducks also a bird that migrates here in the Winter.

After about 3/4 of a mile I came to a small hammock.  Hammocks are elevated  islands of hardwood trees found in the Everglades. 

 I am in Florida a little earlier this year.  Most years the hammock is covered with beautiful pink and blue morning glories. This year I only saw this one blooming on the hammock.

The sweet scent or shrubby camphor weed flowers also were not yet in bloom . These strong scented flowers attract many bees, butterflies another insects. I saw no insects on the hammock this year.

I did sees some of the usual birds, the palm warblers, common yellowthroats,  northern mockingbirds,

blue gray gnatcatchers,

a lot of eastern phobes,

and this uncommon  orange warbler.

I walked to the top of   the hammock,

and past the strangler figs, the largest trees on this hammock. I am guessing many of the native trees were timbered when the highway was built. There were a lot of invasive species of trees on the hammock.

I took in the views of the sea of grass of the Everglades from atop  the hammock  before continuing on my hike.

I now came to an area were large common reeds grew along the trail.,

and the coco-plums  and  poison wood grew on the other side.

I saw a few  wood storks wading in the reeds .

The water level in the marshes was very low this year.

I next came to the area  where the old canal still exists along the trail. The vegetation along the canal  is thick and lush.

Here I found this snake skin along the trail. It was a recent shed and was still moist.

I also encountered a very large alligator along the trail . We both saw each other at the same time and we both jumped back. The alligator crawled back toward the canal along the trail.  I cautiously walked past the large alligator. It was a cool night and they are not active in the morning. After walking past the alligator I realized that it probably wasn’t very safe out here. I had close encounter with an alligator last year. I have seen more alligators every year now. Unlike the alligators on the Anhinga  Thail and other busy trails these alligators are not used to humans and flee when they see us. However they are still wild animals and very dangerous, I am sure this was one of the reasons for decommissioning the trail, It maybe my last real close encounter with an alligator, and maybe not.

I was out about 2 1/2 miles so I decided to hike back. I enjoyed the peace and solitude of the Everglades.  I have rarely seen another person on my hikes on the old Ingraham Highway Trail.

I did see a few more birds   on my hike back mostly turkey vultures and great egrets flying overhead in the clear blue skies.

I also saw a bird I am very familiar with from my hikes Northeastern Pennsylvania,  a red bellied woodpecker. You  can see it’s red belly in this photo.

There were a few great egrets perched in the trees.

There were a few  wildflowers blooming alomg the trail, mainly bull thistles, and  flowers attrct insects, I finall saw a few, this honeybee,

and. I believe, this carpenter bee.

I also saw one butterfly, this common  buckeye butterfly.

I also saw another alligator looking at me as I was looking for birds in the sawgrass marsh .

I walked back to my Jeep,   and at Gate 15,   there is another trail.

  It  has been flooded every year I hike d here. This year it was dry, I decided to walk out the trail into the sawgrass marshes I had heard sandhill cranes here in the past. There were no cranes or other birds on this cool morning. ,

but I saw a lot of grassy paths that I know alligators make in the reeds. 

I finished my  5 mile  hike on the Old Ingraham Trail and  decided to drive over to the Aningha Trail.

You never know what type of wildlife you would find there. . The trail was crowded again and  there were many of the same critters I saw on my hike on Saturday but nothing new.

I took a few photos of the alligators enjoying the late morning sun,

the anhinga and her babies.  Here is a link to a gallery  on my blog web page with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hikes in the Everglades. Florida Day Two: Royal Palm trails birds February 8 2026.

I finsihed my 1 mile hike on the Anhinga trail and drove back to my hotel. Here is a link to a gallery  on my blog web page with some more photos  from  my hikes in the Everglades. Florida Day Two: Royal Palm trails birds February 8 2026.

I stopped  on the way at the  Everglades Gator Grill where I enjoyed a mahi mahi sandwich. I enjoy traveling  and sharing  the beauty of nature I find on my trips. I also enjoy eating and share  my meals on my travels.

It was Super Bowl Sunday and  I wouldn’t be back out hiking that afternoon. Instead, I edited photos and worked on my blog until I got hungry again. I tried a new restaurant, the Bangkok Cusine, and had a delicious sushi meal. After eating I returned to my room and watched the first half of the Super Bowl and the half time show which I enjoyed. I was tired and wanted  to  get an early start exploring  the Everglades, one of my favorite places on our planet.

“In a world and a life that moves so fast, photography just makes the sound go out and it makes you stop and take a pause. Photography calms me.” – Drew Barrymore

• “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” –John Muir