March 31, 2015
LaBelle to Belle Glade
North River Road (FL-78) is very different east of La Belle. Whereas approaching from the west it is a somewhat sleepy two-lane road, to the east it is much busier with lots of truck traffic. And it loses its name, known only as FL-78. Fortunately, there is a good shoulder, and we made our way without incident. In fact, most of the trucks gave us a wide berth and were well-behaved.
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FL-78 eventually dumped us onto FL-27, an even busier road that took us into Moore Haven, a depressed town with a closed IGA! At that point, we were to connect to the Herbert Hoover Dike Bike Trail, follow it to Lake Okeechobee, and then follow the lake trail to Belle Glade. Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) had other plans. After crossing the Caloosahatchee Canal, where we were treated to a spectacular view of the countryside, we circled around to the trailhead.
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Fortunately, before hitting the trailhead, a very loud pickup truck with two helpful occupants let us know the trail had been closed "for years" due to construction activity. They directed us down a few country roads and told us we could recover the trail at Joe's Crab Shack, seemingly a little ways away. They drove off, and I consulted Google Maps, which showed no crab shack anywhere nearby. Being brave souls, we rode eastward as I made the observation that "a little ways down the road" to country folk can mean 10 miles or more.
We were not disappointed, as we had long given up on finding Joe's Crab Shack, when, after many turns and far sightings of the lake levee (and more construction activity), it appeared out of nowhere, not far from a dirt road that led to a paved ramp up the levee to a very nice, and paved, trail!
So we figured we were home free. NOT! After about five miles we ran into another construction site, fenced with a locked gate across the trail. We were not happy, but one cannot let minor inconveniences like locked gates stop one, especially given the easy end run where the fence line met the water's edge and the lack of signage. Even Dorothy was told to turn back. So after a two-minute discussion, we proceeded forward.
As we biked further onto the site, we could see construction activity, but it seemed to be more like early mobilization than anything serious. When a tallish man with a white hard hat started at us, I advised Happy to remain quiet and let me do all the talking. Being an engineer, I quickly established a rapport with this agent of the ACOE, and he eventually agreed to let us pass through, advising us that the further we got, the shortest way to be kicked off the site was through the other side! This was very true, and we passed through the second gate without incident.
We were also told (again) that this was the last construction activity; however, that proved wrong. The local ACOE office was a short distance away, and as we passed it, Happy advised we check in. Good advice, as we learned the balance of the trail was essentially closed. A wonderful ranger/biologist recommended that we take Old Route 27/Corkscrew Boulevard which either had low traffic volumes or was closed off entirely. This proved true and also provided a sighting of an eagle's nest with a chick!
All in all, it was an adventurous day that tested our skill sets but got us to a restful night's sleep after an authentic (read hole-in-the-wall) Mexican dinner!
Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 331 miles (533 km)
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