Students to share Everglades trip with PCPL travel series

Sunday, February 7, 2016

The Putnam County Public Library Passport Travel Series will present "Say Goodbye to Your Friends: DePauw Students Paddle Deep into The Everglades" on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m.

Tidal surges, tornadic storms, near-record cold temperatures, pythons, sharks and grumpy alligators will be invoked when the library presents its Passport Travel Series program, which is free and open to the public.

DePauw Assistant Dean of Students Jeannette Johnson-Licon and Professor Steve Timm led the Winter Term project, requiring students to navigate the 99-mile Wilderness Waterway from Everglades City to Flamingo.

The route included large bays and rivers, coastal waters and creeks too narrow to paddle where students pulled their canoes and kayaks through the mire by grabbing vines and mangrove shoots.

"This is what I imagined all of The Everglades was like," sophomore Mackenzie Jones said, "and it creeped me out."

Students will read selections from their journals and talk about personal and group challenges of long-distance paddling, including their preparation and training for the trip, cooking, camping and the rigors of close living for an extended period.

Students Elizabeth Wilson, Olivia Traynor, Edward Terry, Zachary Taylor, Lauren Stazinski, Samuel Short, Erika Killion, Mackenzie Jones, Kenneth Cruz Rivera and Clifford Chi participated in the Winter Term trip.

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