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2008 gets off to a slow start as I recuperate from minor knee surgery Trips this month: 4
1/1/08
What a week! Ever feel like there was a target on your back? Or a "Kick Me Sign"? This past holiday week reminded me of a line from one of my favorite movies - "Fiddler on the Roof" when Tevye tells God "I know we are your chosen people but do you think for once - you could choose someone else?" After four years of relatively pain free good health with my back and SI joint, I woke up last Sunday with a terrible sharp, burning pain in my left buttock and I knew instantly that my sacchroiliac was fully inflamed. Stubbornly, I went ahead with the big plans we had for that day, which involved going to the Jaguars-Raiders game and then tailgating afterward before heading to the airport to pick up our daughter, Hannah. We were really looking forward to her visit since it would be the first time since she had graduated from college that she had been able to spend more than a long weekend at home. By the time the game was over and we had walked the two miles back to my truck, I could barely stand and I knew that I was in for several days of horrible pain. It also meant that all of my great plans to kayak in the Okefenokee Swamp with the family were going to have to be put on hold and most likely cancelled. Having been through this before, I knew that I had several options at my disposal and that if I was proactive about it I might rebound very quickly and get back on my feet and on the water before the knee surgery I had scheduled for the first week in January put me down for a few weeks. I kept a pretty good attitude for the first couple of days as we celebrated the holidays with our kids and Hope's Mom and sister. The rest of the family took everything in stride and were wonderful to me which helped me keep an upbeat attitude in spite of how crappy I was feeling. I managed to get into the Mayo Clinic on Monday afternoon where they gave me an anti-inflammatory shot that usually helps me get back on my feet. Unfortunately, the SI flare up was only the beginning of what I was to go through and my disposition soon suffered. On Christmas day I noticed that my knee suddenly started to feel stiff and I also didn't have much of an appetite. I dismissed it and we had a great Christmas which included me getting the surprise gift of a GPS from my mother-in-law. I woke up the following day and realized that my knee was noticeably swollen and I couldn't bend it or straighten it and could barely put any weight on it. By the end of the day I realized that I was running a fever of close to 103 and couldn't eat anything. The next day it wasn't any better, so I called the Mayo Clinic and they got me in to see them that afternoon. They were concerned about the knee and thought it might have an infection that would prevent me from having the operation as scheduled but once they saw me they assured me that although it was obviously infected it was probably due to the problem we already knew about even though in the 12 years since I'd had the condition it had never done this. By Friday, the knee felt better and my fever was gone and over the weekend I started feeling better and better until this morning I felt almost normal. My SI joint was still a little tender but even that seemed to have gotten back to normal and I was itching to get one more paddle in before my surgery and I was also anxious to try out my new GPS on the water. Since last night was New Years Eve and I didn't get to bed until nearly 2, I was slow to get going and didn't reach the put-in at Pumpkin Hill until 8:30 to catch the last of the outgoing tide. It was a beautiful, crisp day with little wind as I set out but I knew that the forecast called for the winds to pick up as the day went along so I wouldn't be able to stay out for long. Before leaving the house, I had put Tiger Point in as my destination on my GPS and as I started off, it told me that I was about 2.2 miles away and began pointing the way. As I rounded the second bend near the trails I could see that the creek and sandbars that stretch from the trails toward Black Hammock Island were full of White Pelicans who I shot as I floated by. For the rest of the trip down to the point I passed a few more groups of the big birds feeding along the banks. As I approached the point, I could see that a large group had recently risen from their pool in the Edwards Flats and were circling as they tried to gain altitude. They were being pushed rapidly to the south by the strong NW breeze that I now felt full in my face and was pushing swells down the channel. I reached the point, which my GPS confirmed, but it also indicated that the location where I had actually placed the mark was actually about 85 feet to the south so I exited my boat and walked around until it it read zero. After eating breakfast, I got back in my boat and headed back. I made good progress as the wind was now at my back. As I reached the bend near my shrimping hole a couple of crabbers came up behind me and when I turned to face their wake, I noticed that they had pulled up close to me and one of them was hailing me. He proceeded to tell me that he was re-opening Charlie's Fish Camp on the Nassau River as a kayak center and encouraged me to check it out. I promised him that I would and headed on toward the put-in. See the pictures from this trip
1/18/08
The stitches were taken out of my knee on the day before and my doctor basically told me that if it didn't hurt - it was OK to do anything I felt like so after considering a few options I headed for the Okefenokee. I woke up with a slight headache but I figured a day out on the water would be a good cure for it and after nearly two weeks on dry ground I wasn't going to let it stop me. I was the first one to check in and the lady at the office told me it was a good thing I was paddling since it would keep me warm. I didn't have too much trouble unloading my boat and getting in and I was soon on my way west. By the time I had reached the park, my headache was worse so I decided that, unless it improved quickly that I would make this a short trip. I read on the Okefenokee.com site that the Cedar Hammock Trail was now clear so I made that my goal.
As I paddled that way I began to notice an unusual number of Great Blues stalking the shore on either side of the canal. The high water levels have flooded the woods along the canal banks allowing the Herons more places to hunt for food. I was shooting one of these birds when he became aware of me and turned and began walking into woods. A few seconds later, he began to squawk loudly in alarm and flap his wings. As he continued to croak, I tried to peer into the dark woods but I could not see him. I heard a splash coming from a few yards downstream and so I turned to see what, at first, I assumed was an otter. It was the same general size and shape as an otter but it's fur was a distinct reddish yellow and very fluffy. It's behavior was also different from and otter as instead of diving under the water and then popping it's head up to look around, he swam on the surface of the water for the entire 30 seconds or so that I was with him. He swam back and forth across the canal and then turned to face me. His face, although similar to an otter, was slightly fatter and eyes appeared to be smaller. There was obviously a noticeable lack of whiskers.
After a few seconds of checking me out, and since the Heron that had obviously stumbled onto him was still loudly squawking, he decided to submerge. Up until this point I was still sure that I was just seeing an odd looking otter but when he disappeared, something didn't appear that made me begin to realize that he was not an otter - a long slick tail. I've never seen an otter submerge without that distinct, slick appendage looping behind him into the water so I began to question his identity. A few minutes later, when I looked at my pictures I was able to see clearly that he was definitely not an otter and I suspected what I later was able to confirm on the net - he was a Beaver. Apparently, not all that uncommon in the swamp as well as on the Suwannee River where we had seen signs and evidence along shoreline trails at Suwannee River State Park. That made the trip worthwhile which, from the way I feeling, was a good thing. The cold, blustery conditions were not helping my head and I began to wonder if I was coming down with something. The Cedar Hammock Trail was just ahead and I began to hear the calls of the Cranes so I turned up the path to see how far I could go. I checked my GPS and was disappointed to find that it was not doing a good job tracking me, which was a surprise since there are mostly wide open spaces in the swamp. I had just passed the mile marker but my GPS only showed about .6 miles. After a few yards I could tell that the the trail cutter had indeed been here and although the going was at times slow due the loose vegetation left behind, I was able to progress up the path. The calls of the Cranes became louder as I headed north and after a few minutes I spotted a pair grooming themselves behind some grass on the west side of the stream. I began shooting them and then worked my way closer whenever they would put their heads down to preen. I was able to get out in the open for some clear shots from about 15 feet away before they flushed.
Not far past them, I could see the roof of the shelter and I could also see a mass of gray birds who were trumpeting nervously as I approached. They didn't allow me to get very near before they made a very noisy departure and they flew as a group in a circle above me before lighting a few yards on the other side of the platform. When I got to the shelter, I decided to not get out since, by now, I was feeling pretty rough and I didn't want to further expose myself to the cold breeze so I turned around and headed back. I kept feeling worse so once I reached the canal I made a beeline back to the ramp. When I checked my GPS again, I saw that it's batteries had died but I decided to not bother changing them. I passed a couple of half empty tour boats and as I was pulling up to the ramp a pair of guys in a canoe pulled up who had obviously been out camping. I would have loved to chat with them, but it was all I could do to load up and head home where I wound up spending the next several days in bed with a fever and headache. Still - I saw my first Beaver so - it was very good day. See the pictures from this trip
1/28/08
Hope took off for South Carolina to begin a silent retreat so I got up early and headed back to Pumpkin Hill with the intention of paddling in the general direction of the place we hiked to on Sunday.
My knee started feeling much better this weekend so I was able to carry it down to the water without much trouble and was heading out on the last of the outgoing tide a few minutes before sunrise. I was shooting some Plovers and Dowitchers along the sandbar past the first bend when I spotted an Otter laying on the surface of the water checking me out. He disappeared before I could set up a shot so I sat there waiting for him to re-appear. A few seconds later, he popped his head out of the water and then extended his neck as far as he could reach it and looked as if he was not only checking me out but also trying to look inside my boat. A couple of huffs later and he was gone and the next time later he was well behind me so I continued around the bend by the trails. It was a beautiful morning but at 35, the coldest I had paddled in some time. I didn't put the spray skirt on since I was wearing a couple of layers and the only thing that was hurting were my fingertips. A chemical hand warmer took care of that and with the activity I felt plenty warm. I shot some Great Blue Herons as well as some other birds as I floated down toward my shrimping spot but didn't see a whole lot. As I passed the little point, I heard the cry of an unidentified bird and watched as a large dark bird flew along the tree line. It was big enough to be a young Eagle but I was never able to positively ID it before it disappeared.
When I reached Tiger Point and made the turn into Edwards Creek, a similar looking bird flushed from the trees and flew off over Edwards Flats - again without my being able to identify it to any certainty. I got out and ate my breakfast but once I was out of the sun and not moving my arms I became quite chilled and had to walk along the beach on the east side of the point to warm up before continuing on. On the day before, Hope and I had walked a trail in the park that ended at a marshy overlook on a tributary of Edwards Creek. I had paddled here a couple of years earlier and so I decided to at least head in that direction and possibly check out some streams that I had seen on Google Earth that ran along the back side of the point. I used my GPS to make some decisions about where to turn and found myself in a long and surprisingly deep little stream that wound it's way toward the land. I would have had several opportunities to shoot some Mergansers but as usual they flushed. Had the tide been higher I probably could have found access to the point but it was a bit too low and by the time I reached the end of the stream I decided to not push myself any further on my second trip out since surgery.
While I was deep in the little stream I could hear the wind begin picking up over my head and once back out in the open I could tell that conditions had changed. I paddled up to Edwards Creek and turned to the east where I began paddling against both the incoming tide and the NE breeze. I kept a steady stroke and made sure I stayed out of the strongest current and was soon in view of Tiger Point. As I passed by the stand of pines located about a quarter mile west of the point itself, I spotted a large, dark shape in the trees. I checked several times with my binoculars before I was able to positively identify it as a Bald Eagle so I floated over and got a few shots off before it flushed. I watched as it flew toward Tiger Point and then swooped up into one of the dead trees near the point. Since I was still battling the current and wind, there was no way that I could cruise under it unless I paddled out into Pumpkin Hill first and I was sure that it would flush well before that so I crossed over and got a few shots off before it left. Since I never saw it rise above the trees, I beached my boat and walked to the east side of the point to see if it had perched there. Seeing nothing I returned to my boat and paddled on into Pumpkin Hill where I let the current carry me back to the put-in. See the pictures from this trip
1/29/08
For one of the few times since the time change in November I decided to try and after work paddle. With the sun now setting around 6, it gives me at least an hour to explore before I have to head back to shore. Today, temperatures were in the mid-60's as I set out from an empty Browns Creek put-in and began paddling into a swift outgoing tide. Three or four Dolphins were playing in front of the bridge pilings on the river side so I sat in an eddy under the bridge and watched them as they seemed to catch the fish rushing past them on the swift current. A few seconds later I saw them surfacing on the Browns Creek side of the bridge so I followed them up to the first turn where a large eddy forms. For a while, it looked as if they might head further into the creek, but then they started heading back out to the river.
I decided that I would try to go in a counterclockwise direction around the first island so that I would have the current with me as I drifted under the trees where the birds usually perch. As I approached the NE corner of that same island, I saw several Great Blue Herons perching in the large pines that grow there. I have observed for the last couple of years a good size rookery there and it appeared that they have chosen this spot once more. As if to confirm this, I watched as one of the birds flew out and then returned a few minutes later with nesting material in it's beak. I had rounded the corner by this time and was on the back side of the island and I watched as it flew into a pine tree where another Heron waited. The two then began to work the sticks into the flimsy nest at their feet. As always, I am amazed after seeing what passes as a nest in the Great Blue Herons building code and wonder how any chick ever survives the spring.
The tide being past mid-level meant that I was going to have to hurry to get through the shallow area between the islands and my GPS was no help since it showed that I was already well off the water. I wound up going much further out than I intended and spent several minutes unsure whether or not I was going to wind up spending a few hours in the dark as I sat in the mud waiting for the tide to come back in. Finally, I reached deeper water on the west side of the islands and the current began carrying me around the front side of the first island. The sun was rapidly setting behind Northside Generating Station but I could detect a lone Osprey perching over the water. I was able to drift in close to him as he cocked his head back and forth trying to get a fix on who or what was approaching his perch out of the setting sun. He flew off and headed back to the suddenly crowded put-in and headed home. See the pictures from this trip
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