An hour into my paddle, in an instant, almost as if someone had drawn back a curtain, the remaining morning fog vanishes. The cooler gray morning gives way to an endless blue sky, and warm sunshine settles across my shoulders. The current quickens noticeably as the Suwannee squeezes through another narrow stretch of cypress, requiring me to increase the power on my trolling motor by one notch simply to maintain a comfortable pace upstream.
No matter how many times I return to the Okefenokee, it is these unmistakable scenes that continue to call me back. The immense cypress trunks draped in emerald-green algae, broad fields of spatterdock with their occasional yellow blossoms, elegant stands of Golden Club, and the timeless curtains of Spanish moss create a landscape unlike anywhere else in Georgia. The swamp possesses an ancient quality that feels almost untouched by time. Every bend in the river seems capable of revealing a scene that has remained unchanged for centuries.
Okefenokee Swamp Journal, October 14, 2025
Okefenokee Photography Project by William Wise 