Dateline: May 15, 2000 - Albany, Georgia As I sit down to begin this summary, an armadillo is digging for bugs about 30 feet from me. It's head and tail have an armored appearance as well as its body. Its striped tail makes it look like a convict. A rabbit went zooming through a while ago. All sorts of critters have showed up in my campsites during the past months. Deer, snakes, raccoons, wild horses, cardinals, humming birds, great blue herons, owls, Ibises, Wood Storks, Pelicans, Rosette Spoonbills, and of course chipmunks and red and gray squirrels, even white ones, and I'm sure, a bunch of other things I don't remember. I prefer state, county and local parks to private campgrounds. They're usually in a much more natural setting although harder to get into. I skipped the Florida Keys and the Everglades for this year and landed on the Florida West coast at the end of February. I started in Naples, just on the northern edge of 10,000 Islands. Since I didn't really penetrate the islands, I guess I missed them too. The major excitement of hitting the west coast was my first experience with the Gulf of Mexico. I was surprised at how green it is in shallower, sandy waters and how calm and flat it is. No breakers at all, although on one day things got kinda lumpy and on another there were 2+ foot wind waves. I have charts but haven't been using them. I would guess they'd show no steep inclines like on the east coast, on which waves can stack up to form breakers. I stopped off in the Tampa Bay area to visit 2 of Florida's official canoe trails; the Little and Upper Manatee Rivers. The Little Manatee River was pretty but had little water in it. I lost my Lotus Rio Grande PFD somewhere along the way and didn't find it on the way back. That, in itself, ensured I didn't have a good time that day. The Upper Manatee River had water but had to many houses plus a Christian Retreat and canoe rental places along the shores. I don't know why it was designated as an official canoe trail. The Suwannee River, yeah that one (way down upon the Suwannee River, far, far from home...), begins in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp and flows 230+ miles through Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. It's really touted as a good river to paddle the entire length. I did a couple of stretches near the state park that were good, but not great. Sturgeon thrive in these waters. Yeah, the guys you squeeze for caviar. While I was there a ranger caught a 7 foot, 200+ pound monster while using chicken liver and fishing for catfish. They (sturgeon) grow to 9 feet and 300+ pounds. The Chassahowitzka River is a gem I stumbled onto while checking out Homosassa Springs (a tourist trap). Exploring it and several feeder streams was like going into a tropical jungle with small, twisty, turny creeks. Dense growths of palms and oaks added to the background and calm waters reflected everything right back at you. I got my first real sightings of several families of river otters diving and twisting around gracefully in the water. Three young'uns came swimming out to me until they realized I wasn't mom and they weren't going to get fed. Then they high tailed it to shore. A couple of hours later I got my first sightings of manatees from the water too. Two moms each with a big kid fed and nursed right around me. They swam under the boat many times and it was great to see these little heads and flippers on these great big bodies. The moms probably were 8-9 feet long and somewhere in the 400 pound range. The 'kids' were about 6 feet long, maybe 250-300 pounds. Also a fair number of alligators but just a few birds rounded out the wildlife. And some bleepin' air boats. Two more days (10-12 hours) were spent just following the many creeks and tributaries wherever they might lead. This was some very pretty paddling with lush, jungle like settings along narrow streams. Up one tributary I found 3 different springs, one beyond the other. Another stream had river otter standing up in shallow water for a better view of me before scuttling off to safety on shore. The Aucilla River is another gem about 20 miles southwest of Tallahassee. Another of Florida's Canoe Trails, it is a narrow, tannin colored, fast moving river running from above Monticello to the Gulf of Mexico. Weather and time only permitted me to paddle this river twice. Both trips were thoroughly enjoyable, one of them even yielding a pair of beaver. This area also plays host to the Wacissa River and Springs and the Ecofina River. Paddling down the Wacissa River from the spring head, I found another spring up the second tributary on the left. Paddling along in a foot of water, the bottom of the stream just dropped away. One minute I was in shallow water, the next I'm looking waaay down into a deep spring head. How deep? My guess... around 40 feet or so.The whole deep part of the spring was 50 feet or so across with only a few feet of seaweed and algae circling it. Limestone walls went directly down to the bottom for part of the spring providing a deep chasm. A couple types of seaweed grew on the walls. This was really an inspiring sight. Many of the underwater films could have been shot right here. I could picture a submarine tumbling down those canyon walls into the darkness below. Or I could imagine a huge, monstrous, giant squid emerging from the unknown depths to wrap its tentacles around a passing ship before dragging it below. This spring was such a pleasant a surprise because it was totally unexpected. I had no advance warning and had no idea it was there. I spent 20 minutes just moving around the entire spring, watching the sunlight play on the seaweed and fish swimming around down there. I used little teeny, gentle strokes so as not to mar the water's surface and distort the view. Without doubt, this is the very best spring I've seen so far and one of the prettiest sites I've seen anywhere. And then I went sea kayaking in the Apalachicola National Forest. Huh? Sea kayaking in a national forest? What's wrong with that picture? Well, I have a sea kayak and I took it out on several creeks in a national forest, hence, sea kayaking in a national forest, see? The national forests in Florida are a rich source of paddling opportunities. I'll be checking out national forests in other states too. On Lake Seminole I saw an 8 foot alligator pulled up on a small sandbar, facing away from me with part of its tail still in the water. I cautiously paddled closer making as little noise as possible. Since I was coming up behind him, I was able to work my way to within 35 feet of it and snapped a picture. As expected, it panicked at the sound of the camera. What wasn't expected was it turned around and ran directly at me through the shallows for about 20 feet before veering to the right to hit water deep enough in which to submerge. The water was less than a foot deep and I can still see the water splashing as it high stepped its way towards me (kinda like that hooded Australian lizard you see running across the water on the Discovery Channel advertisements) and its big head and shoulders swaying back and forth with each step. It accelerated really quickly. One second it was motionless and 2-3 seconds later it was under the water out of sight. If it had been so inclined, it would have been on me in another 1-2 seconds. Notice I said it ran at me. There's no doubt in my mind that it did <not> charge at me or try to bluff me. I'm sure it turned and headed for deep water out of sheer instinct and that I just happened to be in its way. When it finally saw me it altered course. I didn't have the presence of mind to snap the last picture on the roll of film. I was just awe struck (terror stricken?) as it came towards me like a freight train. When an 8 foot alligator comes directly at you to less than 20 feet, that can be classified as a scary experience. Talk about up close and personal. It would have been a hell of a picture though. Clyde Sisler http://csisler.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/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 5/16/00 10:07:45 AM !!!First Boot!!!, clyde_sisler_at_email.msn.com writes: << I lost my Lotus Rio Grande PFD somewhere along the way and didn't find it on the way back. That, in itself, ensured I didn't have a good time that day. >> Well, Clyde, Just another reason to wear your PFD. Bruce McC WEO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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