Visit to Cockroach Key, April, 2022

In April, 2022, I brought my kayak up to Cockroach Bay and paddled across the channel to Cockroach Key, a/k/a Indian Hill, the shell mound island my great-grandfather Walker purchased from the state of Florida in 1895 and the primary scene in my novel, Walker's Key.  I had been to the island once before, in 2015, but this time, having learned that the island was not, contrary to a report I had read (and reimagined in my head), overrun with huge, deadly spiders and other dangerous creatures, I ventured to the top of the shell mounds.  I captured these videos for your viewing enjoyment.  I did not find any buried treasure, though I certainly wouldn't publicize it if I had.

Part 3:  I later learned that I had not, in fact, reached all of the three summits on Cockroach Key.  I had only gotten as far as "Mound B" in the 2021 USF study.  The third mound, a bit to the southeast, is roughly the same height.  I'm guessing that there is no view there either.  The vegetation has gone wild since 1900.  For More information and photos.