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Paddling Journal December 2008 I end the year with a new ride. Trips this month: 11
Back to Journal Index
12/2/08
The latest addition to the McCharen Armada - the
Old Town Dirigo 120 This was my first real opportunity to try out my new boat - the Old Town Dirigo 120 that I bought on Sunday. I took off a couple of hours early and headed up to Pumpkin Hill about two hours before low tide. It was breezy and a brisk 55 degrees as I set out from the put-in but I knew that as soon as the sun set the temperatures were supposed to plunge toward the freezing mark.
Unlike the last time I purchased a boat, over three years ago, the transition was much easier. First of all - the seat is incredibly comfortable and easy to adjust to my back - a huge plus for me. The boat is very stable - perhaps a bit stodgy and as I was showing it my co-worker Mike the day before we could tell that it was a good three inches wider than my Montour. That makes it a little harder to get going but with the cockpit a good four inches longer and two inches wider it was quite comfortable and easy to get my legs in and out of. I brought all of my gear with me this time and everything stowed away nicely. As I set out, I began looking around for birds to shoot so that I could see if it would perform it's primary function as a photography platform. It tracks much better than the Montour although it does tend to turn very gradually when I stop paddling. The turn is slow and more predictable than the Montour and I was able to get some good shots of the many Herons and Egrets as I floated along with the current. I paddled around the first couple of bends and made my way toward my shrimping spot where I turned into the feeder stream that runs along Black Hammock island.
The stretch from there to Tiger Point was exposed to the NW breeze and small white caps were rolling toward me as I paddled in that direction. I noticed that the Dirigio doesn't cut through the waves quite as easily as the Montour which tended to plow under them. The Dirigio rode over the waves more but didn't "hop" them like the much lighter Poke Boats do. All in all I was happy with it's performance in rough water. I paddled to the point where I got out and took some shots of the boat and then continued on around to the cove on the east side of the flats. There was little to shoot, so I decided to head back as the sun approached the horizon. The tide was still heading out and I could tell that it required a little more effort to make headway although it is really hard to make a comparison. It also seemed to not track as well against the current as the Montour but it wasn't too noticeable. As in all boats - there is an adjustment to the way you paddle and no boat is perfect. As the sun disappeared behind the trees I noticed the temperature dropping rapidly and the breeze was biting through my fleece and stinging my exposed fingers. I made it back to the put-in and packed up and headed home. Well - all in all I think I made a good purchase for the price. As I mentioned before - there is not a perfect boat for all conditions and all purposes. For what I like to do - take pictures and camp out I think this boat is going to be a lot better than the Montour. I think I'll keep it. See the pictures from this trip
12/4/08
I broke a crown on a tooth last night so I called in and got a dentist appointment early this morning. I left work at 9 and headed up A1A to Fernandina Beach where my dentist is located. As I drove north along A1A I could see that the plumes from the stack and cooling towers at SJRPP were going straight up in the air and the water was glassy and of course I started to wish I was out there. The procedure at the dentist took less than an hour so I had to decide whether to go back to work or go back home and throw my new boat on my truck and hit the water. Ultimately, the lure of the water won out over the prospect of heading back to work and I decided to head to Hannah Mills so that I could go back up to the Pelican Pool and see what was happening there. I was on the water at 11:45 - about an hour before high tide - and gliding across the glassy waters of the big pool next to Heckscher Dr.
I could see that the sea daisy island was chocked full of Snowy Egrets and Tri-Colored Herons as well as many shorebirds so I paused to shoot them before heading on toward the old cedar. Nothing was happening there so I continued north and was soon out on the ICW. Part of the reason for coming back up to the Pelican pool was to check out potential campsites for a trip Hope and I are planning for this weekend. As I walked across the flats, I could see that there were at least as many Pelicans in the pool as there was on my last trip here which surprised me since my past experience has been that they leave the pool at mid-day to feed. They were grouped in three groups around the pool but as soon as they spotted me some of them started to move into the water. I took some time to explore around the edge of the woods seeking a clearing to camp in. I decided to cut some fresh palm fronds so that I could build a blind on the eastern edge of the pool. I walked toward the water holding the fronds in front of me thinking that it might fool the birds into staying put. Apparently the sight of a palm tree walking across the mudflat was no more welcome than the sight of a big, hairy, ugly guy and they soon had all scooted into the water. I stuck the fronds into the mud and sat down on my PFD to begin shooting.
I sat there for a few minutes before one of the birds began flapping it's wings and running along the surface of the water as he rose into the air. Three or four others soon followed and within a few seconds about a dozen of the big birds were circling the pool. Over the next 10 minutes or so this sight was repeated several times and I knew that I was witnessing what I had observed from afar in the past - the mid-day departure. When I had seen this from a distance before I had guessed that the reason they leave the pool in groups is because they are so large and so many that they can't all leave at once. I'm not sure how they determine the schedule but it was obvious that they were leaving in groups. Once they had risen into the air they would circle as they gradually gained altitude and then the groups would break off and head in different directions. After a while, there was only about six or seven Pelicans left in the pool and soon they joined the others above except for a lone bird who calmly swam around the pool in the company of the dozens of Egrets and Herons lining the banks. He seemed to content to stay put as if to say to the others - "hey bring me something back will ya?" I left the pool and continued my explore of the potential campsites and found a couple that might be suitable. It was obvious that on one has ever camped on the west side of the island as the clearings were covered with layers of palm fronds and other kindling. I spent some time clearing the areas with the help of the machete that I had found along Browns Creek years ago.
I departed the island and decided to head south to our usual campsite - the one we call "Bottle Island" and checked to see what condition it was in. It was obvious that we were the last ones to camp there and the clearing was very overgrown. A couple of large cedar trees had fallen which required me to use my machete to clear the area but after about 30 minutes of hard work I had it in a condition that would allow us to camp and I set out for home. Once back in the marsh on the west side of the ICW, I decided to try out the ultimate guy accessory of my new boat - the cup holder. I released the seat, pulled my legs out and leaned back and popped open a beer. I lay back and enjoyed the Smithwick Ale and the beautiful winter sky before heading on back home. See the pictures from this trip
12/5/08
After my unexpected trip yesterday I noticed that my body was starting to react to my new boat in a negative way. Nothing serious and not unexpected since it is quite different than I what I have been using but it made me reconsider my planned long trip to Kingfisher Landing in the Okefenokee. I decided to do a "veg-out" paddle on the FGR and by 10 am I was setting out from the Ribault ramp.
The yacht basin was, as usual, full of birds, including a couple of Ospreys and several Black Crowned Night Herons so I spent several minutes chasing the birds around the area before setting out into the river. The tide was coming in so had a relaxing ride past the houses and into the stream near our sandbar. I made the turn to the west and headed toward Point Isabella but spotted a Great Blue Heron who was feeding along the grass near the turn. He flew into a little inlet that was blocked by an oyster bed but as I parked in front of it he surprised me by not flying off. Instead he stared at me and croaked very loudly as if to tell me that he had this fishing spot and wasn't going to leave it.
I finally left him and pulled into the stream that runs in front of the wharf at the point. It was too shallow to go very far but I spotted a brand new lure hanging from a the cedar tree overhanging the water. I reached up and smacked it a couple of time and it dropped into my lap. The funny thing about it is that it is nearly identical to a lure that I found last weekend near the Pelican pool. From there I paddled along the bluffs leading from Isabella to near Kingsley. As I was heading in that direction I spotted a young Bald Eagle flying in from the west and stopped to watch him with my binoculars. He flew past me until he was over a sandbar at which point he lowered his legs and began dropping in a tight circle toward the earth. I thought that I would see him crash into the water but he pulled up at the last second and swooped over the sand where either a large tern or a gull was sitting. His intended prey escaped him and he rose to the air again but was promptly set upon by several small terns who loudly chased him away. I continued on toward the plantation and then cut over to the opposite shore where I spotted a mass of shorebirds including a lone Oyster Catcher. I headed into a stream that intersects the marsh located between Big Talbot Island and Simpsons Creek. I knew that at high tide I would be able to find a connection to another stream that exits the marsh closer to my intended destination of our hammock island but after 30 minutes of scratching up my new boat on oyster beds I gave up and headed back out to the river. I paddled up the island and strung my hammock and ate lunch and read for the next 45 minutes or so. A cold wind started blowing so I decided to pack up and head back a little earlier than I had originally intended and decided to continue the circumnavigation of the grassy sandbar in front of the houses and then do another circle of the yacht basin before heading back. See the pictures from this trip
12/8/08
Hope and I chickened out from our proposed camping trip last night since the weather forecast called for temps hovering around freezing and winds out of the NW at 10-15 mph. Rather than spend a night freezing on an island by the ICW we took the puppies for a long walk and then spent the evening by a fire in our backyard and had a good time.
I had a dentist appointment this afternoon in Fernandina so I got up early and donned my long underwear and a few layers of clothing and headed for Pumpkin Hill with temperatures in the mid-30's. I arrived at the put-in as the sun was rising above Black Hammock and as the last of a thick mist was dissipating from the water. I cut directly across from the launch point and circled around to the the small island near the first bend and then began paddling toward the trails. I headed into the marsh past the trails to check out the trees at the little point there.
As I was paddling along the shoreline an immature Night Heron flew up from the shoreline and perched in a tree nearby so I spent some time shooting him before heading back out into the main channel. I rounded the bend and then paddled into the small stream near my shrimping spot and not finding much there I started toward the point. As I neared the point, I spotted a hawk perching on a dead tree just south of the point. It wasn't a Red Shouldered or Red Tailed and I couldn't see a patch over his eye so I'm pretty sure that he wasn't a Peregrine but it may have been a Northern Harrier. I've never seen one perch in a tree before but it seems like my best bet. I stopped at the point to walk around and shot some interesting fungus on a log and then made my way toward the big cove the runs along the east side of Edwards Flats. There was not much happening there save a lone White Pelican who was grooming himself on the bank. He began swimming north and I set out to intercept him which I did as swam past some shore birds. After shooting him I left him alone and started working my way back against the still outgoing tide. I stopped to shoot a Great Blue Heron near the put-in and a flock of what looked like Ruddy Ducks but for the most part the trip back was uneventful. See the pictures from this trip
12/16/08
After 8 days off the water I was determined to get in today after work in spite of it being one of the shortest days of the year. A thick sea fog had hung around the area for most of the day and as I set out from Browns Creek I could see it hovering over the ocean along the coast line making me wish that the sun would stay up long enough to let me watch it roll in over the marsh. That was not to be, of course, and by the time I had reached the first turn the sun was already nearly to the horizon and the light was rapidly dimming. Above the big pine trees on the east side of the big island were several Great Blues who were chasing each other around and then lighting together in the tree tops. I wondered if these were the same Herons who for the last few years have nested here and are getting ready to do the same. I cruised under the trees shooting a few of the birds perching there and paddled around to the west side of the island. By the time I reached the other side the sun was shining it's last brilliant rays through the silhouette of NGS and I knew that it was time to head back. The Great Egrets were starting to gather in the trees and I could hear their croaks and groans as they talked about the days adventures with each other. The sky was on fire as I paddled under the bridge and the orange glow was reflecting on the bank of fog that was approaching from the east but darkness was falling and it was time to get home. See the pictures from this trip
12/19/08
After a late night at the Jaguar's final home game, I wasn't able to get as early a start to my Christmas vacation as I would have liked but I was at the put-in on Simpsons Creek a little before 8 am. The signs that I had seen back in September were long gone and there were four kayak fishermen putting in ahead of me so I felt a lot better about what I had perceived as the state attempting to close this area.
I passed the fishermen and let the nearly slack tide carry me toward the sound on an incredibly beautiful morning. As I approached Half Moon Bluff I spotted an odd looking bird ahead of me that was about the same size and shape as a Cormorant but something about it told me that it might be a Common Loon instead - a bird I hadn't seen in the marsh in a couple of years. As I was checking with my binoculars I suddenly realized that it had surfaced a few feet from my boat and I was about to run over it. We both realized the impending collision and took evasive action and I soon spotted him surfacing a few yards ahead of me.
I spent the next several minutes following him as we continued to drift out to the Sound. Although Loons resemble the Cormorants in their size, shape and mannerisms they are quite different. They seem to be much faster swimmers and this one would disappear under the water and appear several yards away a few seconds later. They also don't spook as easily and this one would simply disappear under the water if I got too close instead of flying off. I've read that they require a long stretch of open water to get airborne and are unable to take flight from dry land. The one that I followed would also swim along with its head under the water as it looked for things to feed on.
Finally, we parted company and I headed on to the sound where I decided to paddle north and head over to Bird Island - the large sandbar located between the end of Little Talbot Island and Amelia. I hadn't landed there in several years and I was amazed to see the changes the years of hurricanes have had on it. The last time I was here there were sizeable dunes with vegetation growing but now the island was completely flat and scoured of vegetation. It was littered with dozens of interesting crab floats and I took some time to add to my collection. I got some good pictures of a Sanderling who was poking around in the sand until he was blocked by my kayak. He gave me a long annoyed stare and headed the other direction poking the sand as he went.
I decided to continue north along the sound until I reached the area of Big Talbot just south of the A1A bridge across to Amelia. I have wanted to check out the slough that I see from the road that is located on the inland side of the dunes. What I didn't realize is that there is a tidal creek that leads into it from the sound but is only accessible at high tide. The pool was dry since it was low tide and there were no birds present so after exploring around a bit I decided to head back. The tide has turned by now so I knew that it would be slow going against the current until I got across the gap between Bird Island and Little Talbot. As I reached the gap between Amelia and Bird Islands the swells from the ocean grew to 1-2 feet making the going a little rough but once I reached the gap between Bird and Talbot things got pretty hairy.
The onshore breeze had picked up and was pushing against the strong incoming current. The swells suddenly grew to 3-4 feet and were coming from all directions which meant that I had to be prepared to change directions quickly. I had been in water this rough before on Cumberland Sound so I didn't panic but I was wishing that I had taken the time to stow my camera, attach my paddle leash and even put on my PFD. I kept my wits and as tired as I was after a short night and a long paddle, I plowed ahead through the swells that would suddenly lift me high into the air so that it seemed as if I was on a roller coaster. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of extreme paddling, I reached the relative shelter of the end of Little Talbot and took refuge in one of the tidal creeks that cut into the marsh near Half Moon Bluff. I took a break on the beach there before deciding to head back but not before watching a young Bald Eagle circle overhead. The trip back was uneventful and relatively easy whenever the strong breeze wasn't opposing me. I arrived at the put-in thankful that the water was now covering the slick, muddy put-in. Incidentally - my trip odometer rolled over the 600 mile mark for the fourth consecutive year. See the pictures from this trip
12/22/08
The unseasonably warm weather came to an end last night on the shortest day and longest night of the year. It was a frigid morning in the low 30's and with winds forecast to be in the teens on the coast I decided to head to Kingfisher Landing in the Okefenokee Swamp. I got an early start and was in the water just before 7 am. There was another vehicle in the parking lot when I got there and according to the log book they were from North Carolina and on a two day camping trip. I headed down the canal as the sun was just beginning to rise above the trees to the east and was soon on the trail to my intended destination of Double Lakes - a pair of large pools that are about five miles out. I heard the distant sound of Sand Hill Cranes but other than some Pileated Woodpeckers and Wood Ducks I didn't see much as I paddled down the narrow path toward the Lakes.
About an hour out I spotted a Raccoon along the water's edge who appeared to scamper into the woods when he saw me approach. When I pulled even with where I had seen him I looked into the grass and saw him staring at me. As I sat there he came ambling toward the water and resumed his intent search for food just five feet away from my boat. I spent the next several minutes shooting him as he feverishly pawed at the mud beneath the water, occasionally bringing his paws to his mouth to munch on what he found. He was well aware of my presence and would occasionally look up and glance at me but never seemed to be scared or even very annoyed by my being there.
Finally, I moved on and left him still hunting for whatever it was he was huntinng and continued on toward the lakes. The trail I was on continued in a NW direction but after I passed the 4 mile marker it began to loop to the west and then to the south. I had marked the lakes on my GPS so I knew that I was getting close and I knew I was already past the place where I stopped last month. The path was narrow and at times clogged with loose vegetation and lily pads which made paddling slow and tedious at times but I slogged through until I could see a body of water that was sparkling in the sun light and brisk breeze.
I paddled out into the first Double Lake which I estimated to be about 5 acres in size and was lined with dense vegetation. I was disappointed in the lack of wildlife but the breezy conditions were likely the reason for that. I paddled around the northern edge of the lake until I reached the trail leading out of it. I followed that path for about a quarter mile and soon I could see that I was approaching another large body of water. As I was about to enter the second lake I heard the distinct trumpet of Sand Hill Cranes coming from very close by. The vegetation in this area is very dense, even in the prairies so I could barely detect a pair of Crane heads moving about and was unable to get any photos. When I stayed still they would quiet down but as soon as I began to paddle thy would croak loudly in alarm.
I left them and paddled out into the second lake which I guessed to be about twice the size of the first one. I began my circumnavigation of the lake flushing out some Wood Ducks. As I reached the opposite shore of the lake I saw a huge gator flopping into the water - the first one I have seen in the Kingfisher area in my three trips here. He was too quick for me to get any shots but I was able to see that he was at least a 10 footer. I paddled around the rest of the lake and decided to take a lunch break sheltered against the thick vegetation that lined the shore.
After my break I began my trip back into a brisk cold breeze. I spotted what was probably the same Raccoon not far from where I had seen him earlier but this time he was in no mood to stick around. The rest the trip was uneventful but I was able to spend some time shooting the many Warblers that enjoy hanging out in the small trees that line the trail who zoom out to the water to snatch insects. There were several Phoebes, Pine Warblers and beautiful Common Yellow Throats that are hard to shoot since they are in nearly constant motion as they jump from branch to branch. See the pictures from this trip
12/24/08
I was up early and out the door well before sun rise so with high tide at 7 I decided that I could squeeze in a Christmas Eve Day paddle at nearby Hannah Mills. The sky was a slate grey but there was not a rippled stirring the surface of the water as I set out across the pool near the road. As I approached the sea daisy island I could make out the huge silhouettes of about a dozen or more White Pelicans dozing in the growing light. It was too dark for photos and as soon as I came into view they calmly waddled into the water and began swimming away. The tide was slack so I was able to easily paddle up to the old cedar which was empty. I took a breakfast break as the sun broke through a gap in the clouds on the horizon and then disappeared into the low gray clouds. I paddled up to the ICW and easily made it toward the landing where I usually beach my boat to visit my friends the White Pelicans. As I pulled up, al one Dophin surface a few times and then headed north. As soon as I exited my boat I could see that only about a dozen Pelicans were in the pool but there was a long line of the big birds flying from the direction where I had seen the others a few minutes earlier. As I walked toward the pool the airborne giants circled above the marsh as they dropped in altitude and soon they had joined the others.
I tried to keep the blind I had placed a couple of weeks ago between me and the group that was perching on the narrow peninsula that juts out into pool. That seemed to work as only a few of them moved into the pool to join the rest and I was able to snap away at the rest who were grooming themselves. As I moved closer, another group flew in from the west and repeated the same ritual that I had seen before. This answered the question that I had wanted answered for years about what the Pelicans do at night. Apparently, as I had suspected before, the majority of them leave around mid-day and disperse throughout the area to feed. They stay gone throughout the night and then return to their home pool in the early morning where they spend the morning sleeping and grooming before starting the cycle again. I left the pool and and walked back to the island where I decided to do a little more housekeeping on the two potential campsites I had found earlier and after a few minutes of hacking with my machete I felt satisfied that we could squeeze a tent or a pair of jungle hammocks into the area. The wind had by now picked up and was blowing at a 10 mph clip from the south. With the tide now heading out against the wind the ICW was starting to get choppy but for the most part I had an easy ride back to the Kingfish Park where I headed back to the put-in.
As I got close to my truck I noticed a FDEP truck pull over to the side of the road and start down the trail to the put-in. It stopped backed up and appeared as if it was going to head on but then started back down the path and I knew from my past experiences that I was in trouble. No matter that I felt sure that I had all of my required safety equipment, I knew that the FDEP rarely stops by to chit chat with people without leaving them a little gift of a citation so I got ready for the worst as the female officer stepped out of her truck. She asked if I had been fishing and seemed disappointed and a little skeptical when I answered in the negative. She chit chatted a bit as she watched me carefully pack my things away and then mentioned that she could see my PFD (actually, it was a brand new one that I had found in the marsh and strapped to the back of my boat) but she asked if I had my whistle with me. Of all things to be picky about - a whistle that is about as useful to me as fishing pole would be! I wasn't 100% sure that I still had it in my dry bag or not but I told her I would check and to her disappointment produced the rusty trinket that I was sure couldn't make a sound if I blew it. Apparently she ran out of things she could ask for and since there was nothing overtly wrong with my kayak she wished me a happy holidays and got back in her truck. I didn't feel like reciprocating the holiday cheer and finished packing my things away. She sat in her truck for several minutes watching me - I'm sure that she was waiting for me to pull out the stringer of illegal Redfish that I had hidden in my boat but when I didn't she finally left. I did leave my machete in the boat as I loaded it up - I sure didn't want to explain what I needed a machet out on the water for - to repel pirates seems like a good answer though if it ever comes up. Anyway - I escaped without another $68 ticket so I guess I got an early Christmas present courtesy of the FDEP! See the pictures from this trip
12/26/08
As we were sitting around the backyard fire pit on Christmas Eve, we started to notice the fog roll in off the ocean. I went to bed hoping that it would still be there in the morning so that I could enjoy a trip out in it. As I lay awake early the next morning I could hear several ships blasting their horns as they traveled up and down the St. Johns River. I got up well before dawn and with high tide around 8 I decided to head to the Cedar Point put-in on Heckscher Dr. As I set out, a ship was passing on the river nearby blowing it fog horn so loudly it sounded as if he was in the creek with me. As I set out into the gray stillness I could hear the sound of his horn resonate up the channel long after he finished blowing - a good six seconds before the echo diminished. I paddled around the first bend and toward the confluence point as the sun began to rise to east.
As I approached the entrance to the confluence point I could just barely detect some large white shapes in the fog near the two little oyster shell islands where the creek turns to the north. The tide had by now covered the islands and at least 70 White Pelicans were already starting to vacate them and swim with the current away from me. Once I came into view the stragglers who were hanging onto the last bit of dry ground finally joined the rest of the group. They split into two groups at a grassy island and I decided to follow the larger group which I estimated to be around 50. I followed them for a while but of course it was time for them to get back to their home pool and soon they began flapping their enormous wings and rose up into the gray fog above where they quickly disappeared.
I paddled over to the sea daisy island to take my breakfast break but I took some time to shoot a sleeping Great Blue who was silhouetted in the fog. He eventually flew away and I ate my breakfast before continuing north toward the point. At times it appeared as if the fog was lifting but as I approached Cedar Point it seemed as if it was actually getting thicker. I pulled into the point and exited my boat to walk around shooting the fog as it drifted through the trees and the many Orb Weaving Spiders whose webs were glistening with dew. I got back in my boat and paddled up the creek that runs past the point until I reached the two nests near where the hiking trail we had walked with my daughter Hannah and the puppies back on Thanksgiving. The tide was heading out by now so I turned around and began drifting back out to Cedar Point Creek shooting the hundreds of spider webs that were drooped everywhere. A couple of fishermen came roaring by me and the one at the tiller asked "Is this the way to Clapboard Creek?" I pointed in the opposite direction and then waited for them to turn around and then spent some time trying to explain where I thought they had gone wrong. They said they had been told to head for "the stacks" which is good advice but I'm not sure how they had taken the turn they had taken since clearly the stacks of NGS and SJRPP were no where to be seen. By the time I got back to Cedar Point Creek the fog had lifted or rather it had retreated back to Ft. George Island on its way back out to the ocean where I knew it would spend the night. My trip back was easy with the outgoing tide and I was soon back at the put-in where unlike my previous trip I had no one waiting for me. See the pictures from this trip
12/28/08
There was supposed to be another day of fog today but I was disappointed when I woke up early to find clear skies along Heckscher Dr. I decided to pack up and head to Pumpkin Hill anyway and as I turned onto Cedar Point Rd. I was hopeful when I saw a bit of patchy fog hanging above the road. The fog turned thicker when I turned onto Pumpkin Hill and as I carried my boat down to the water I could see a thick band of the gray stuff hovering about 10 feet above the marsh with a thin mist rising from the water.
I could see about a dozen White Pelicans swimming in the fog across the way but the racket I made as I dropped my boat on the shell put-in caused them to begin flapping their wings and becoming airborne. As I pulled away from the put-in I heard a couple of more that were nearby but obscured by the fog rise into the air. I headed toward the trails where I shot an Osprey perching near there. At the bend in the water was an unusual gathering of huge bubbles that made me wonder what had caused them. With the Pelicans in the area I suspect that either their fishing or else when they became airborne had made these bubbles appear but it was strange to see them.
I made my way toward the point against the incoming current uneventfully but as I approached it I spotted a large, dark bird sitting erect in a pine tree just south of the point. A check with my binoculars confirmed my suspicions that it was a young Bald Eagle so I quietly paddled toward it shooting as I got closer. When I was about 30 yards from the shore I could see it begin to move its head around lifting its beak as if to sniff the air and I knew that it has spotted me and was about to bolt. I got a fwe more shots off while it shifted its position and then without a sound flew off to the west. I got out at the point and stretched my legs before catching the last of the incoming current back to the point. As I reached the trails I spotted what was probably the same Osprey I had shot before perching in the same dead tree he had been in a couple of hours earlier. There was a Little Blue Heron feeding on the black clay banks directly beneath him and the Osprey seemed to be quite interested in what he was doing. Finally, my presence became too much of an annoyance and he chirped and flew off and I finished my trip to the put-in. See the pictures from this trip
12/31/08
Hope and I have talked about wanting to camp in the Okefenokee Swamp since we started paddling here 3 years ago so at the beginning of this Christmas vacation she called and found out which hoops we had to jump through to get permission to camp in the park. They told us that we could have two days - New Year's Eve at Monkey Lake and New Year's Day at Coffee Bay. I had to go back to work the following day so we couldn't do the second night but since neither one of us is much a New Year's Eve reveler we decided that spending it with the Gators and Cranes would be as much fun as we would normally have and made our plans accordingly.
I kept checking the weather as the day approached and, of course, as often happens this time of the year it seemed to change every day. We decided that unless it called for a better than 50% chance of rain, temperatures in the 20's or gale force winds that we would keep the date. As luck would have it the day before New Year's Eve I checked the weather again and saw that, once again, the forecast had changed and called for 15-20 mph winds on both days with overnight lows on New Year's Eve in the low 30's. If that wasn't enough of a reason to cancel, Hope started battling a cold/sinus infection that made me think that it was very unlikely that we would be spending New Year's Eve in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp. When we woke up on New Year's Eve I let Hope know that the weather had deteriorated and thought she would beg out but, trooper that she is and always has been, she said that she wanted to go and we packed up and headed toward the swamp. We had been told that the permit would be waiting for us at the Okefenokee Adventures office where we usually check in but once there we were told that we had to back track to the Park Service Office and get the permit there.
We did so and paid our fee of $20 for one night's stay for two people and found out that, technically, we were supposed to be on the water by 10 am if we were to camp - another small detail that we were not informed of - but they said that they would let us go in spite of the fact that we were an hour late. We finally got going a little after 11 am and were on the way down the canal on a warm but breezy day. Since Hope was obviously struggling with her cold, I decided that we would take frequent breaks as we headed down toward Monkey Lake but since I had been there before I knew that we had plenty of time to get there and set up camp. We stopped at the 1st mile marker and chatted with a guy headed upstream in a canoe that he was paddling with a kayak paddle as he stood in it. He had obviously been camping and told us that he had spent the first night at Monkey Lake and the second at Coffee Bay as we had been scheduled to do. He told is that we would enjoy it and then as he passed us Hope pointed at the opposite bank and said that she saw something moving in the water along the trees. I soon spotted a slick head popping up above the surface of the water. We followed the Otter as he swam ahead of us and then hopped up on the bank where I saw him digging feverishly in the dirt before jumping back in the water. I could see his bubble trail moving ahead of us at a quick pace but whenever he would surface we could catch up to him briefly only to watch him disappear once again.
Finally, he submerged and either headed into the flooded woods or else backtracked on us and we continued on up the canal until we reached the split and then shortly thereafter the turn into Grand Prairie. We had heard the trumpet of the Sand Hill Cranes off in the distance as we paddled down the canal but as soon as we turned into the path to the prairies we could see a couple of them grazing along the edge of the cypress islands. As we paddled along the path toward Grand Prairie the sight and sound of these huge gray birds became an almost constant sight and sound. As we would paddle through the open areas we would hear the Cranes chortle and trumpet unseen on the other side of the vegetation only to flush suddenly with a ruckus when we passed by. We hadn't seen a single Gator on the day but as we entered the wide open spaces of Grand Prairie we saw our first one - a youngster who was sunning himself in the grass and backed away from us as we passed. In the last couple of miles before we reached Monkey Lake we passed four or five more of different sizes who for the most part simply eyed us as we passed. Finally we pulled into the small pool called Monkey Lake and started to unload our boats. and set up camp.
The Monkey Lake Day Use platform that they are allowing overnight camps on is a little odd. There is a long boardwalk that leads from the shelter that is situated on a small wooded island. At the end of the boardwalk is a bathroom that unfortunately has the best view of the whole site. The good thing about the site is that the shelter itself is nestled into the woods and protected on three sides from the wind that was starting to really pick up as we started to set up camp. We finished pitching our tent and setting up our sleeping bags and then decided to paddle out into the lake to watch the sunset at 5:20.
The sunset was pretty spectacular but by 5:30 it was over and we headed back to the platform to eat our dinner of flank steak that I had cooked the night before. Dinner and desert was over by 6:30 or so and after some discussion we decided that there was no way we were going to be able to stay up to welcome in the New Year. We decided that the whole New Year thing was kind of arbitrary anyway and so we settled on welcoming in the London New Year (we think) and popped the cork on the chilled bottle of champagne we had brought along and spent the next hour or so sipping on it as the darkness grew and the incredible stars began to appear overhead. The Sand Hill Cranes continued to call out occasionally as the darkness settled in and the air started to get chilly but, eventually, they quieted down and the swamp grew still with the quiet broken occasionally by the call of a few Owls. We were tired, a little drunk and ready to crawl into our tent and we both were asleep within a few minutes. See the pictures from this trip
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