Save Old Seven

From our winter "base camp" at Knight's Key campground in Marathon, we can walk or bike the Old Seven Mile bridge span that leads 2 miles out to historic Pigeon Key. The other night on a sunset bike ride I saw people of all ages and abilities: walkers, joggers, bikers, skateboarders, and a woman in a wheelchair. Dogs are welcome too (just please, pick up after them).

It's really become an important means of recreation for many people on an island where the highway, US 1, is pretty dangerous for pedestrians and bikers. From it height you can watch for dolphins, sea turtles and sharks in the water below.

It's also historic, one of the original bridges Henry Flagler had built back in 1912 as part of the railroad from Miami to Key West, thus connecting that island nation to the mainland for the first time in history.

Long story short, it's falling apart, and the DOT, which owns it, really isn't in the business of fixing bridges that don't carry vehicles anymore. They would rather close it for safety reasons.

Enter the Friends of Old Seven, a volunteer group that is raising funds (DOT will match them), to fix the bridge. The volunteers are out there everyday, with an information table set up at the entrance to the bridge. For a donation you can get a T-shirt, tote bag or a bumper sticker for you bike like I did!

Days 5-6 Key Largo to Key West

No, we haven't fallen off the edge of the world, and yes, we've finished the 100-mile paddle to Key West! Just got too busy (and tired!) to post each night. Sooooo, here's the 'rest of the story!'

On Day 5 we were joined by an adventurous family of four for the Seven Mile Bridge crossing and a night of primitive camping and a pasta dinner on Molasses Key.

From Knight's Key in Marathon, we paralleled Henry Flagler's 100-year-old bridge span and made our way to the tiny island the boys nicknamed "Survivor Island." They gathered firewood, adopted a couple of hermit crabs, and picked up what little trash we found washed up on shore.

Next morning we completed the crossing, accompanied by pelicans diving for schools of shimmering, jumping fish. The boys were really wishing they'd had their fishing poles!

Here's a video I took of sunrise while everyone was asleep in their tents!

Paddling under the 7-Mile Bridge

I shot this video while paddling underneath the old span of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys. I'm passing beneath the 100-year-old railroad bridge built by Henry Flagler from Miami to Key West. It's held up pretty well over the past century! (Read Last Train to Paradise for a terrific history on the railroad.)

We launched from Knight's Key campground, located at the tip of Marathon, oceanside, and passed beneath the bridges. While looking for rays or sharks along a shallow sandbar, we saw some dolphins arcing in the deeper water close to the bridge.

We made a rest stop on historic Pigeon Key a tiny island museum preserving the community that housed bridge construction workers and their families in the last century. ($11 admission charged per person for a tour.)

From there we passed again beneath the bridges, being carefuly of some pretty stiff current between the arches (whatever you do, keep paddling!). We rode the swells between the spans, and one in our group saw a manatee, before we popped back out into the ocean.

We could see our destination: Molasses Key, a private island where camping permitted for paddlers on the Florida Keys Overseas Paddling Trail Since we are trail volunteers, we'd brought some trash bags for a quick beach clean-up.

This island is a tranquil place to set up camp, watching the headlights on the far-off bridge and birds feeding in the flats.

Read more about our overnight kayak tour along the Seven Mile Bridge and here's a new photo slide show: