Dan Horowitz asked about the Suwannee River in a recent post. My son and I spent two nights on the Withlacoochee River at the end of October. We started at the Georgia state line, and paddled our old fiberglass canoe to the Suwannee River State Park. The trip was roughly 30 miles. It was the first cold weekend in North Florida, with temps in the low 40's at night, and 70's during the day. It was perfect weather, and no bugs! The water was very low, but made for a great trip. The low water created lots of rapids, and it kept the powerboat traffic at virtually zero. We never did have to portage, and had lots of fun navigating the rocks and other obstacles. We had not been on the river for over ten years. It was basically the same, except for a great reduction in the number of springs emptying into the river. I think that we counted only three or four springs on this trip. On previous trips, we lost count at well over twenty. Campsites with beautiful white sand are plentiful (like on the Suwannee). The second night was spent just a mile below Blue Springs (very uncommon name for a spring). We had a small spring just across the river, that provided background music for the night. Some deer came down for a bath that morning after breakfast. The first night was terrible! We had picked a spot that ended up across the river from a fraternity initiation. They continued until 6 AM with their asinine activities, little chants and songs, and occasionally coming over to throw rocks at our tent across the river. What a bunch of jerks. Can't decide if I would have rather had a gun or a cell phone. Probably best that I had neither. When we met up with the Suwannee, the water seemed plenty deep at the park. Lots of large powerboats present. I would guess that it is very low, but still passable from about as far north as you would want to go (like the Withlacoochee was). Either river would make a great trip this time of year. If you want more info, just let me know. Al Parker Tallahassee, FL jalparker_at_email.msn.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Dec 06 1999 - 14:09:40 PST
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