#dry tortugas

[emilybeemartin]

Inktober Days 10-12

Day 10: "Fortune"

On the farthest-flung spit of the Florida Keys are a handful of islands bearing the second-oldest surviving European name in the US, recorded by Ponce de León for the abundance of sea turtles and the lack of fresh water (Florida’s name is considered the oldest). Shallow straits create a ship trap that has claimed hundreds of vessels from the age of sail, including loaded Spanish treasure galleons. Old lighthouses stand as memories to the effort to guide ships through lucrative but risky channels. Rising from Garden Key is a hexagonal fortress—Fort Jefferson, the largest all-brick fort in the US, which housed Union prisoners during the Civil War. Under the turquoise water are some of the most intact coral reefs in the continental US. The water teems with sea life, and in addition to several year-round seabird species, the islands serve as stopovers for migrating birds. It’s a treasure trove lousy with natural and historical abundance. A vast fortune of biodiversity and human history.

This message is not brought to you by Visit Dry Tortugas LLC—it’s brought to you by a too-romantic ranger who’s a sucker for lonely maritime outposts and would desperately like to visit this unusual little member of the National Park Service.

Day 11: "Wander"

Some parks more than others seem to invite visitors to wander. It’s the twists of a path, dipping in and out of the rises in a landscape. It’s the light filtering through dark forests, promising something new beyond the branches. It’s the shoulders of a massive mountain standing like a beacon, or its invisible summit covered in clouds. Mount Rainier, like so many other protected places, seems to beckon—come. Explore. Take it in.

But stay on the path—alpine habitats are fragile.

Day 12: "Spicy"

Olympic was the first park I fell in love with, and it was a twenty-year long-distance relationship. A National Geographic article I read in high school painted a picture of verdant rainforests dripping with moss, wild windy coastlines, and high snowy peaks. I desperately wanted to see these places myself, stand under the towering cedars and breathe in their spicy scent. My desire to visit was so strong that the summers I worked in Glacier and Yellowstone, I would constantly plot the drive west, hoping the travel time would somehow get shorter. It was eleven hours. I could do that in a long weekend, couldn’t I? Take one of my precious few days off and just blitz to the coast?

The plans never worked out, which is probably for the best. Instead, after two years of Covid-cancelled plans, my husband and I decided to make the trip together from the east coast. It was infinitely better than a snatched day and a half all alone. For a week, we explored the glaciated mountains, rocky beaches, and primordial rainforests. After two-thirds of my life spent pining after this park, it was everything I’d dreamed it would be and more.

#31 days of national parks #inktober #dry tortugas #mount rainier #olympic #inktober 2023

[dakotapuma]

While we know we cannot save every coral; we are focusing on individual corals that represent unique genetic lines that are thought only to exist in certain National Parks. —Ilsa Kuffner, a USGS research marine biologist

#coral bleaching #biodiversity #dry tortugas #biscayne national park #dry tortugas national park #corals

[kramlabs]

#fort jefferson #star fort #antiquitech #gulfstream #dry tortugas #wagon people #old world #shit just keeps getting older #1850’s reset

[herestonow]

Where the sky and the sea are the same

Dylan Mirales | IG: @dmirales

#dry tortugas #national park #photographers on tumblr #infrared photography #aerochrome

[palmstopines]

How amazing is Dry Tortugas National Park?! One of my favorites

#dry tortugas #national parks #national park #travel #scenery #nature #snorkeling

[lensandpenpress]

Clipper ship Berlin, north from the Dry Tortugas

A brick lighthouse replaced the original in 1858 – about the time Hogan was making land claims in the Ozarks. The Dry Tortugas lighthouse, along with the Garden Key lighthouse at Fort Jefferson, were the only lights on the Gulf coast that stayed in full operation throughout the American Civil War. It was decommissioned in December 2015. Having passed Key West, the next landmark was the Tortugas.…

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#Dry Tortugas #Fort Jefferson #Garden Key lighthouse #John Joseph Hogan #Key West #nautical distances

[zairacarrerabg]

Bunny disfrutando su tarde

#tortuga #naturaleza #verde #sulcata #cafe aesthetic #fondos de pantalla #fondos para celular #dry tortugas #pasto #paisaje

[circuitmouse]

#Florida #tavernier #dry tortugas #bahia honda #duck key #islamorada #saddlebunch keys #key largo #key west #florida keys #overseas highway

[simply-irritable]

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park

#nps #national park #national park service #fort #caribbean #florida #dry tortugas

[paraparaparadigm]

#lighthouse #dry tortugas

[musingsofadragon]

(via Fort Jefferson)

Pictures taken in the Dry Tortugas Circa 2021

#travel #dry tortugas #nature

[kramlabs]

This tarpon broke me off along with 3 bonefish. At least I landed an aquarium fish:

#fort jefferson #dry tortugas #this is fly #scott fly rods #starfort #antiquitech

[xinerose]

My real life sample of Triangle of Sadness. Part 2

In a real life sample of Triangle of Sadness, my mother and I tackle Miami, 'gaters, and a deserted island 120 miles off the Florida keys.

RECAP of the last blog: It’s late April, I know something is up. I know my friend is behaving strangely, and my subconscious knows chunks are about to fly. That’s why I don’t write, and that’s why I have to catch you up on the missing weeks. (Jesus H & M Christ, how is already June?) So May 3rd has arrived. My mother picks me up from my home to start the two hour journey to the airport for…

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#birding #cuban sandwich #dry tortugas #florida #key west #miami #sea sickness #triangle of sadness

[takenoteornot]

Garden Key, Ft. Jefferson, Dry Tortugas NP

May 10, 2023

#florida #photography #national parks #dry tortugas #united states

[welshit]

Dry Tortugas my ass, look at all this fucking wet.

#National park jokes #tis but watah #dry tortugas #Florida #I just think it’s funny how

[bookrat]

Went on a camping trip down to south Florida, starting in the everglades

We were looking for snakes and American crocodiles, but we did find this day moth and tree snail

Plus a couple nocturnal critters settling down for a nice days sleep

Lots of high quality birds in the swamp

Saw frigate birds in the Dry Tortugas, but they mostly hung motionless and effortlessly high in the air like low poly videogame background birds

Had to flee back north early ahead of Nikole. Managed to catch a glimpse of this bark anole when we stopped for breakfast, but all the iguanas were hiding.

Tons of introduced rock agamas calling this gas station home, and a nearby rooster hung out with a flock of grackles. Was hoping to see more exotic reptiles around Miami, but perhaps another time.

#long post #travel log #now I'm sick #gonna be so mad if I dodged Covid for 2 years and finally lost because of a trip centered around outdoor activities #The Dry Tortugas was great but not really full of photography opportunities unless you like ruins #Previous hurricane destroyed a lot of plants so he was just like #pls don't step on any of my plants I don't have many left #There was a full moon so we couldn't see the stars except surprise there was a lunar eclipse actually #no light pollution so we saw the milky way and a shooting star that shattered into fragments as it burned up on entry #also #apparently a lot of Cuban refugees land there so the head ranger guy didn't know much about the wildlife so one got the impression #that tourists were an unfortunate inconvenience for him personally when he had a lot of other stuff more important to be worrying about #I don't think many would want to come here if America lifted the embargo strangling their country #so we just invent a crisis for another independent country because Communism Bad #and then treat the poor folks fleeing the conditions we created like criminals #all because if a country was doing even moderately okay without capitalism it'd be bad for the shareholders I guess #anyway the fort was cool but I don't know how to photograph ruins well