[Paddlewise] Fwd: FLA/GA/NC trip (LONG)

There was paddling on the Santa Fe River and tubing on the Ichetucknee River 
but, except for a dip in the lake at High Falls State Park in Georgia, I 
spent the rest of the time dragging my boat in and out of the van.

I provide contact info and costs of different camgrounds.  Caveat: this is 
recreational reading.

sandy kramer
miami

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From: Sandykayak_at_aol.com
Full-name: Sandykayak
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Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 16:11:36 EDT
Subject: The Lure of Moutains - FLA/GA/NC trip
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THE  LURE  OF  MOUNTAINS





By Sandy Kramer





As Miami's summer heat cranks up I start thinking of mountains and cool 


mountain air soooooooo……..since I was joining a group of Paradise Paddlers

on the Santa Fe River in north central Florida for the 2000 Labor Day 


Weekend, I thought I might head north as we were so close to the Georgia 


border.





I left Miami on Friday afternoon and spent the first night at Lake Kissimmee 



State Park (863-696-1112) near Lake Wales, Florida.  I discovered that 


although the ProRac System rack with Thule saddles were great for 


transporting my kayak, it was too heavy for me to pop the top (for the upper 



berth) on my 1995 VW EuroVan camper.  To make matters worse, the van was full

of other stuff, including a folding bike, and it was too much of a hassle to 



move the stuff so I could convert the couch to a lower bed.  So it looks as 


if the racks will be most useful when I need to transport two people and two 



boats but we'll have to unload the boats to provide two beds.  Why do things 



always have a big "it's great, BUT…" attached to them?





Taking the path of least resistance, I slept curled up on the floor of the 


living area.  To stretch out, I had to rest my legs on the couch but the 


weather was quite pleasant and at $11/night I wasn't complaining.  The next 


morning I explored the area by bike and got info on paddling the lake.  The 


ranger recommended a route that would take about 6 hours.  That will be for 


another trip.





The next two nights were spent at Ginnie Springs Resort (800-874-8571 or 


904-454-2202) in High Springs, Fla. (ginniesprings.com) The price to camp is 



$12 per person.  They take reservations for the sites with water and 


electricity, but the first come/first served waterfront sites are much 


prettier.  Ginnie Springs itself is awesome.  Mask and snorkel are definite 


musts and SCUBA diving is a big thing.  Personally I think you have to be 


absolutely crazy to dive into that dark hole and explore the caves, but then 



I'm not noted for my bravery.  I'm definitely a warm water, wimp paddler.





The downside of our stay at the resort was the loud noise of the holiday 


campers, especially teenagers who whooped and hollered and revved their cars 



and ATVs through most of the night and early hours.  Oh, well, nothing is 


perfect.





The Santa Fe River paddle was delightful and club members Kim Hunt and Dave 


Williams invited us to their property and provided delicious grub.  The 


highlight of the day paddle was a stop at Lilly Springs where we chatted with

Nekkid Ed (see August 13, 2000, article in the Floridian section of the St. 


Petersburg Times - www.floridian_at_sptimes.com.  (I couldn't find the article 


and they haven't replied).





This guy lives in a "grass" shack on stilts.  The front was adorned with a 


stuffed baboon's head and Ed was dressed in a faux skin loincloth.  We 


visited for a while and then headed on down the river where we took out at 


Dave and Kim's place for a BBQ.  They have a fabulous "cocktails" deck 


overlooking the river.





On Monday, I headed north and stopped at Georgia's High Falls State Park 


(912-993-3053), between Atlanta and Macon, Georgia.  It's closer to Macon. 


www.gastateparks.org   Hmmmmm $20 a night, a big jump from the previous three

nights' rates but at least I was able to put my boat in the lake that evening

and again the next day for a morning paddle.  Just moseyed around looking at 



the houses and ducks.





One of the advantages of solo travel is that you don't have to plan or make 


any decisions in advance.  I'm very partial to "loops" and decided to cross 


through Atlanta on I-75 and head for Knoxville, Tennessee, and drop down into

North Carolina via Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  Pigeon Forge has to be one 


of the worst tourist traps around, but two years ago I had found some great 


travel books at the book outlet on the main drag.  I wanted to return.  





Sho' nuf, found a bunch of great books at bargain prices and consoled myself 



because some (at least 2 or 3!) of them will be Christmas presents.  Sandy's 



lending library increased by several volumes.  I found Kayaking the Vermilion

Sea for $4.99.  This is an account of paddling the Sea of Cortes in Baja 


California.





It poured as I drove through southern Tennessee.  I wasn't relishing dragging

the kayak and bike out of the van (after the first night, I traveled with the

kayak inside the "cockpit" which involves lowering the front passenger seat 


back with its very slow-turning knob) so I pulled into a Scottish Inn.  It 


was $24 plus tax (about $28) for a very nice, non-smoking room.  This enabled

me to set off early the next morning.





I crossed the North Carolina state border and really began to satisfy my 


craving for mountains.  I had planned to go to Fontana Village, but decided 


to just spend the whole day driving through the hills, hit part of the Blue 


Ridge Parkway, drive through Cherokee as quickly as possible, and then wend 


my way back to Georgia.  





I'd heard that Unicoi State Park (800-573-9659) near the alpine village of 


Helen in Georgia had a lovely campground in addition to a fancy lodge.  Since

it had a lake, I thought that would be pretty good.  It cost $21 to camp 


there but they do not allow personal boats on the lake so that was a real 


bummer.  It rained through the night, but I was certainly getting my fill of 



cool weather.  I stayed snuggled and didn't get up until 9 a.m., a 


quasi-miraculous feat for this early riser.  By the time I putzed around and 



prepared brunch and started reading the kayaking book, I didn't leave until 2

p.m.  





I made the mandatory stop in Helen and had the German sausage platter at the 



Troll Tavern overlooking the Chatahoochie River, visited the Museum of the 


Hills ($5), and checked out a couple of Christmas shoppes.  It was 4 p.m. by 



the time I hit the road again. 





 I had hoped to be back in Florida that night, but the late start forced a 


change of plans and another motel stop was in order.  The $19.88 rate ended 


up at about $24 with tax -- only $3.00 more than the previous night at a 


campground!  What is wrong with this picture?  Camping is supposed to be 


cheap!  





There are so many places on my Florida wish list that I decided to exit I-75 



at Lake City and meander down to Fort White and satisfy the urge to tube the 



Ichetucknee River.  My guidebook said that they do not rent tubes at 


Ichetucknee State Park (904-497-2511), so I rented a tube from one of the 


many locales on the road for $5.00 (no deposit and "just leave it at the take

out").





Following advice, I entered via the southern entrance to the Park, left my 


car in the parking lot and hiked ¾ mile up to the midway point.  I took the 



plunge and had gone about 100 feet when I realized my hat was sitting on the 



dock.  Fortunately, I'd tethered myself to the tube so I flipped and started 



'walking" back.  This was not easy.  The current was quite strong and the 


river floor was soft and silty.  The occasional submerged tree trunk/branch 


enabled me to get a footing and make it back to retrieve the hat.





Of all times on the trip, this is when I most wished to have company.  The 


two-hour float was absolutely fabulous, but I was a wee bit scared about 


alligators.  That was MY butt hanging out there.  The brown snake on a branch

didn't help.  Luckily some people put in behind me and every now and again I 



caught a glimpse of them.  At least I knew that if something happened I 


wouldn't be alone for long.  Just drifting along was so relaxing.  I saw a 


belted kingfisher dive for lunch and three pileated woodpeckers flew in front

of me.  Most of the sunbathing turtles totally ignored me as a coasted by 


just a few feet from them.  The white egret didn't pay much attention either.






As I approached Dampier's Landing, where my car was parked, and read the sign

that said, "Next exit is one hour away," I remember thinking, "I guess I 


should pull out" as I floated past the sign.  This was way too nice.  An hour

later I came ashore and was soon joined by two other couples and we all 


walked another ¾ mile back to the car park.





Another late start as it was 4 p.m. when I headed south.  I was hoping to 


reach Oscar Scherer Park, also on my "list," but I took route 27 south to 41 



because I wanted to "check out" Brooksville where my cousin Martha Dinter 


wants to retire.  This town is south of Inverness (a nice looking city) and 


north of Tampa (a dreadful area to drive through).  My initial thoughts were 



that it was in the boonies, but it's about 20 minutes south of Inverness, has

easy access to I-75, and if you were desperate you could always drive to the 



big city - Tampa and its environs.





My "check engine" light went on and I started to worry a bit.  A local 


mechanic checked the essential fluids while I called Earl Kipka and Zora 


Reese.  They had just returned from a two-month trip to Labrador, Canada, in 



their EuroVan and invited me to stay the night.  What a nightmare it is to 


drive through these densely populated areas to the lovely town of Dunedin, 


north of Clearwater.  Their apartment has a million-dollar view over the 


water and we chatted and caught up with all the news.  





The final leg of the trip included a BBQ lunch stop (so I would have "guilt" 



bones for the doggies), a visit to Camping World, and a few rain showers 


before arriving safely home on the Saturday evening.  The whole trip was nine

days and a hair over 2,000 miles.  I got the mountain yen out of my system 


and had plenty of time for reflection.  





The negatives were that I missed my doggies and was constantly reminded that 



the world is made up of couples!  The increased gasoline costs are quite a 


burden for a single traveler.  I was spending about $20 a day on gas, $20-25 



a night on campground fees/motels, and about $10 a day on one meal out - I 


had taken plenty of food and drink with me.  That adds up to about $50 a day 



without going to any special places or paying theme park admissions.  From 


now on, I'll be doing mostly shorter trips.  We are lucky to have so many 


neat spots in Florida.


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