The slow, bumpy climb continues to 1000 feet, where the macho guy levels her off.
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After lining up his aircraft, he revs the engine, gains speed, and lifts off the ground. The pilot taxis the Cessna 172 to the runway while speaking to the control tower in techno-babble. The engine roars to life as the propeller spins to an invisible blur. Two people barely fit side by side in the tiny cockpit. For a more adventurous and soggy experience, continue west for five more miles in your automobile (or on the bicycle you hauled out) and find the southern end of the Florida National Scenic Trail, which heads north into the stately saw grass and magnificent muck of the Roberts Lakes Strand. For a little structure, hikers can start out with a walk on the very short Tree Snail Hammock Nature Trail, which offers an educational overview of plants and animals in Big Cypress. It is possible, but less likely, to spot deer, otter, and wild boars. Alligators great and small like to lounge in the pools, while egrets and herons hang out nearby. So peaceful is this zone you can hear the trickling of water as it flows through culverts beneath the road, er, trail. Follow the pavement until it ends, then park your vehicle and lace up your walking shoes. If you are traveling west from the Magic City, take a left (south) here on to State Road 94, the Loop Road Scenic Drive. About a half-hour west of Miami, the Tamiami Trail swerves northwest, a curve known as 40-Mile Bend at the eastern frontier of the Big Cypress preserve. It is one of the only consistently dry pathways for hoofing available in the preserve.
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Think of this potholed byway as a very wide hiking trail through an expansive swamp.