Last night a buddy and I returned to a cold Michigan rain from six days of glorious paddling along the "hidden coast" of Florida; Steinhatchee to Suwannee and then on to Deer Island and Shell Mound, a bit over 64 miles. Half of the trip used the Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail, which is well laid out, remote, primitive and yet civilized enough to have sufficient access. The islands, salt marshes, bird sanctuary and "low energy" open ocean made for a really wonderful paddling experience. The other half of the trip took place south of the managed recreation area and was more traveled by the usual fisherman and air boaters. All along the way the people were warm and friendly. Apparently, the few outsiders who find their way to this coastline in the early spring aren't enough to cause local alarm. The Shell Mound area was archeologically interesting and the island beaches nearby were beautiful.<> We saw lots of birds; flocks of pelicans (white and brown), flocks of cormorants, great blue herons, a number of hawks and egrets and lots of smaller shore birds. We saw only one raccoon who preferred crab and oyster to our meager fare and lots of dolphins joined us along the way. The water wasn't warm enough for swimming, but then we had only one morning with a few noseeums and NO other bugs! Our weather was bright and sunny each day and temperatures were very pleasant all but the first day, which was quite brisk. We took neoprene shirts with us and it made the chilly day quite bearable. The entire route is virtually inaccessible to powerboats due to the extremely shallow waters. For us this meant paying attention to the tides, which was a bit novel for Midwesterners. Much like in the Everglades we had to carry sufficient drinking water with us because there is no other potable water. However, camping was on solid ground instead of the chickees in the Everglades. There were lots of creeks and islands we left unexplored, so there's a very good chance we'll return. Many thanks to mjamja for suggesting the Big Bend Trail last fall. Ray Buch *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 7:36 AM, Raymond Buch <raybuch_at_comcast.net> wrote: > Last night a buddy and I returned to a cold Michigan rain from six days > of glorious paddling along the "hidden coast" of Florida; Steinhatchee > to Suwannee and then on to Deer Island and Shell Mound, a bit over 64 > miles. Thanks for posting this, Raymond. It's 41F outside (today's high) and the lake - which had thawed last week - now has another think skein of ice on it. It's nice to know that there is warm weather and good paddling adventure. I wonder what has happened to our Texas contingent and their winter paddle stories. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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