Tate's Hell

In 1875, Cebe Tate entered the swamp between Carabelle and Apalachicola with his dogs in search of a panther that had been killing his livestock.  When deep inside the swamp, Cebe became lost in the swamp for seven days and nights.  On the last stay, he stumbled into a clearing near Carabelle.  He lived long enough to mutter the words: "My name is Cebe Tate and I just came from Hell!"

Wednesday, Pam and I entered that same swamp now known as Tate's Hell State Forest in search of a stand of dwarf Cypress trees.  The trees are documented to be over 150 years old.  However, their height at maturity is only 15 feet.  We too became mostly lost.  That is because I followed our GPS!  It tried to take us on a "short cut."  Once we came to a dead end, I jumped out for a short recon.  A large field, covered in heavy undergrowth was between us and the dwarf Cypress.  Meanwhile the noseeums and yellow flies were eating me alive.  So we backtracked until we were back on the tried and true route.  We now understand why Cebe Tate called this place Hell!

Here we are back on the tried and true route through Tate's Hell.

Water Lilly in Bloom

Dwarf Cypress

Boardwalk through the treetops.

You can see more of my photos of Tate's Hell here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldiming/sets/72157630811300000/