Anyone been 'Slogging' in the Glades?

[MM1]

I just returned home (Brooklyn) from our annual Christmas time visit to the in-laws in South Florida. In past visits, I have taken boats rides, walked trails, biked trails, and walked boardwalks in the Everglades. This time, I decided to get my feet really wet and actually walk around in there. The Park Service offers these 'slogs' during the drier (and less violent weather) winter months. I chickened out on bringing my camera (just my phone in a ziplock) out in thigh high water. It was actually really a lot of fun and very educational. We trudged with our walking sticks through the slough (sawgrass prairie) out towards a cypress strand. It was amazing in there. So quiet and at least 10 degrees cooler in there than out in the slough. You can see how wildlife (and people) could actually find shelter and make a living out there. There were 10 in our group, so I think we probably spooked any gators that may have been nearby ( would've been really cool to see even one from its own point of view). Lots of herons, vultures, and other birds, though. I did get to see a bunch of gators in another area from a path, though. Saw an anhinga trying to swallow a fish it had speared for about 10 minutes. Didn't see any snakes, but observing the gators was interesting at times. A big 10+ footer was zigzagging the pond by the visitor center for a good while but didn't seem interested in trying to eat anything (he had opportunities of both the fish and bird variety). Most interesting were a pair of gators I saw, for lack of a better phrase, 'hanging out' together. One, about 6-7 feet, swam around a bend of tall grass and sidled up in the water next to a slightly larger one and just parked him/herself next to the other. Then they actually cruised around the area under the boardwalk together for a few minutes, periodically making contact. I know mating season isn't until spring, so I thought that was unusual/interesting. Next time I'm down there I'm definitely getting my feet wet again and will look into getting some quality photo/video of the trek. Just figured I'd share and ask if anyone has done similar.