Shark Valley Loop
Not a single alligator reared its head during a bike ride through the Pahayokee last July. Much cooler now, they’re all over.
Ardea herodias
Alligator mississippiensis
Cirsium horridulum
Alligator mississippiens
Nuphar lutea
Shark Valley Bike Trail
The Shark Valley Bike Trail is a ~fifteen mile loop in the Florida Everglades. Pahayokee is the Seminole word for the region, which means “grassy waters.” (Marjory Stoneman Douglas had a similar thought.)
Ardea herodias
Among others, alligators, park rangers, Athenian expats, great blue herons, Germans, fish, French Canadians, pig frogs, turtles, and Midwesterners mingle in the summer heat.
Shark Valley Bike Trail
Cyclists meander to the midpoint of the trail, a forty-five foot observation tower providing panoramic views from the highest elevation in the Everglades.
Shark Valley Bike Trail
Before ascending the concrete loop, massive cocoplum bushes offer up trailside nibbles.
Shark Valley Bike Trail
Shark Valley Bike Trail
Shark Valley Observation Tower
Shark Valley Bike Trail
Macro vistas stun.
Ipomoea sagittata
So do the micro ones.
Pedagogy of the Plants 