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This month begins with my 47th birthday and our vacation in St. Joe's Bay area and ends with a camping trip down the Santa Fe. Trips this month: 11 (new high)
6/1/04 a.m.
Time for my annual birthday paddle - good thing it only comes once a year!? We're back here at St. Joe's Bay on the panhandle where we have come to think of as our favorite vacation spot - The Old Saltworks Cabins. We've been here for a couple of days but today was the first chance that I had to take the boat out and since we are waiting for Andrew to get here later in the day I thought a pre-dawn paddle was in order. Well, just barely. This year I brought my kayak cart and that made the trip down to the water a bit easier and I loaded it up the night before so once I got out of bed around 6:30 I was able to get in the water fairly quickly - about five minutes before the sun popped up above the trees. As soon as I set out I saw a Little Blue Heron on a post nearby and floated over to him. As beautiful as it is here - the birdlife is not nearly what we have over in the Timucuan preserve so any chance I get to photograph something I will take it. I decided to paddle over to the southeastern corner of the bay where it looked as though there might be some islands and marshy areas that would be interesting to explore. I passed a Great Blue on the way but he was spooked well before I got into camera range. The islands and inlets on the western side proved to be too shallow to explore much - even at high tide so I paddled on northward until I reached Conch Island where I got out and explored a bit before heading south. Not much to report on the trip home. Pleasant paddle and a nice breeze blowing from the "stump hole across the water. When I got close to the cabins I took a break and swam and snorkeled in the crystal clear water. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/1/04 p.m.
I don't think I have ever made two trips in one day but after our son Andrew finally arrived to spend the night we left it up to him for what he wanted to do. Kayaking was his choice so we decided to put-in at the State Park and head south. There is a photo in the cabin we have rented the last couple of years at the Old Saltworks that has always intrigued us. It's obviously an aerial photo taken along the peninsula south of the state park entrance and it shows as unusual pool on the bay side that looks like a good place to snorkel. By looking carefully at my terraserver photos I was pretty sure that I had pinpointed it's location so we decided to try and find it. We headed south with some difficulty as with the water level so low we had to kind of pick our way through the shallows until found water deep enough to paddle in. Andrew and I separated ourselves from Hopey pretty quickly and I spotted a sandbar poking out of the water and decided to pull over and take a break while she caught up with us. Once she got there we decided that it might be a good time to take a swim and snorkel a bit around the bar. We were amazed at the treasures we found in such a small area! Sea Urchins galore including several beautiful empty ones. We also found some interesting dead coral scattered around the bar. At one point we came upon a small ray who had buried himself partly in the sand. He stayed there eyeing us for several minutes until we decided to move on. We thought about continuing onwards in search of our quest but a storm was quickly blowing in from the gulf so we decided to head back and call it a day. Once we got back to the cabin the lightning started and it rained off and on the rest of the evening so I guess we made the right call. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/2/04
Andrew had plans to meet some friends in Tallahassee for lunch and didn't want to "wear himself out" so we decided a paddle and snorkel trip from the cabins would be in order. Not a lot to report. We saw a Reddish Egret along the way and stopped about 15 minutes out the same grass island that was being so diligently guarded by a Dowitcher last year and it looked like the same one was there this year although she was being very calm and merely stared at us as we beached our boats in the grass a respectful distance away. We then set out to snorkel around the island which although not nearly as interesting as the one the day before, still had a lot to offer with lots of fish of varying sizes and the usual assortment of horseshoe crabs and whelks. The rain from the day before had really cooled things off and it was just pleasant to lay in the water letting the breeze blow over us. At one point a Great Blue Heron joined us on the island unaware that those large objects splashing around the island were humans. Once we popped out heads up above the water he moved on. After about an hour we headed back and said goodbye to the boy and readied ourselves for a trip to Apalachicola for dinner. We returned to watch a spectacular sunset and full moonrise that occurred simultaneously and was quite a treat. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/5/04 Well, this hasn't been the week of paddling that I had thought it would be. The news of the death of the husband of a close friend put a damper on things and then on Wednesday I came down with a kidney stone and that ended all of my grand plans of exploration. Today I was feeling better and we were tired of hanging out in the house so we set out for a short paddle/snorkel in the bay. We headed over to the next grass island over from where we were the other day with Andrew and set out to snorkel the perimeter. Not much to report other than finding one very fast horseshoe crab. It was a pleasant day to float in the bay though.
6/11/04
My 200th trip! Well, at least my 200th journal entry since I began this web site four years ago. Not bad for an old man with a bad back! For a while I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out this week or not. I have yet to give birth to the above mentioned kidney stone but apparently it migrated to another point in my body and so is not causing me too much pain at the moment. After a round of tests at the Mayo I decided that I was feeling good enough to try our first paddle picnic of the summer. The tide was high, the weather great and the boy off to summer camp so we headed out from Alimacani on the last of the incoming tide. We let the current carry us to the mouth of Simpsons creek where we were sickened to find a huge pile of fresh garbage piled on the bank. We marveled at what kind of mentality would do such a thing and then moved a few feet down the bank so that we wouldn't have to look at the redneck treasure trove. While we waited for the coals we took a swim. Brrrrr! After the incredibly warm waters of St. Joe's Bay the water in the FGR was almost too cold especially with the stiff breeze coming off the ocean. The rest of the evening was pleasant - good steak, good wine, good company and a good light show in the skies. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/14/04
Still on the mend and feeling a lot better so with high tide around 8:00 I thought it might be nice to get back out in Hannah Mills early in the morning. I got out there just after sunrise but the low clouds that were left over from the previous night's storm obscured the dawn. I could see that the nearby grove of trees was occupied by several Night Herons so I headed that way at first. They flew off and landed on the east end of the trees. As I paddled over I could see a pair of crows that were quite agitated at their presence and one of them had food in it's mouth. They were soon joined by a Great Egret and apparently that was a too much for the crows one of whom began aggressively diving on the large bird, forcing it to defend itself from a few bonks on the head. As I watched this a black headed gull tried to land and the crow intercepted it in mid-air chasing it away before it could join the group at their roost in the top of the cedars. The birds were still trying to resolve this dispute when I paddled away and made my way over to the old cedar. It was occupied by a menagerie of herons and egrets but they gave way so that I could eat my energy bar and enjoy some coffee. I headed on my usual circuit north entering the ICW a little north of our campsite and then floated down to the Great Blue Rookery. I got out on the bank and walked into the interior of the island to see if I could find any evidence of their young. The adults were still there and quite active as I crept through the woods below but I still could not hear any young herons. From there I headed on south and passed by the Osprey nest on the Manatee sign confirming what I had feared earlier - the nest is abandoned and the chicks either didn't survive or else a predator had indeed gotten them. As I returned to my truck I confirmed the presence of a crows nest when I saw one enter the same tree that had been disputed earlier with food in it's beak. The herons, I guess, had decided that the roost was not worth the potential headache. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/16/04
I love this time of the year. Sunset at around 8:30 means that you can wait until the afternoon thunderstorms have passed through and hit the water when the air is cool and the light is glorious. The colors of the preserve seem to be magnified when the sun gets low on the horizon and dusk is the time of the day when the birds seem to gather at their favorite hangouts to discuss the day's events as they watch the sunset. As made my way out to the ICW I could hear the incessant chatter of the marsh wrens as they flitted about in the grass. I noticed that the islands on the waterway were already heavily laden with the white fruit of the herons gathering for their days end ritual of watching the sunset. By the time I got over to the eastern bank the trees contained at least three dozen Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets and one or two Great Blues. I let the incoming current carry me slowly past them and I could hear their constant chatter of croaks and groans as they talked about their days and watched the sun set across the way. I know that Great Egrets are pretty boring as a rule but I love the way their feathers and beaks reflect the light of the evening sun and I certainly enjoyed listening to their conversation as I floated by. As I floated slowly north, I spotted a Painted Bunting sitting on a tree limb over the water and I paused to watch him before he flew into the trees. I popped a beer and caught the last of the incoming tide home - scaring off the group of Night Herons who live in the grove of cedars near my put-in. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/20/04
I always avoid paddling on weekends during the summer months but for some reason we decided to make an attempt at a paddle picnic at one of the most crowded locations. What were we thinking?!!! When we got to the boat ramp at Alimacani, there was a line of people waiting to pull out and so we decided to try the Ribault Clubhouse even though it meant that we would have to leave before sunset. When we got there we found the situation not much better and after unloading our boats there was no where to park except all the way back up the hill in the main parking lot. In my frustration I forgot one very important item - the grill top I keep in the back of my truck. Of course, I didn't realize this until I was digging the fire pit on our sandbar so by that time we just decided to take a swim and head back to have a quiet dinner with the dogs at home. It was probably a good thing since a storm had been brewing to the south all day and there was an almost constant rumble of thunder while we were out. It was so hazy that it was impossible to tell how close the storm was coming so it would have made for a nervous dining experience. I wouldn't have even bothered recording this trip but for a couple of things that made the trip special. As we traveled down the little creek by our sandbar, there was a Red Breasted Merganser sitting in the sand close the water. She didn't move as we passed by and an hour later when we were returning she was in the exact same spot. I got some very good shots of her but still didn't plan on using them. On our way home, however, as we passed the culvert that connects Cedar Point with the river, I glanced over and saw several birds with their heads stuck in the water as the walked in the shallows. We turned the truck around and parked to watch five Roseate Spoonbills feeding intensely in the mud. Their pink plumage was unmistakable as was the action of their oddly shaped beaks that they swung back in forth in the water as they walked along as a group. We quietly walked down to where we were just above them but they were completely oblivious to our presence. We stood there for several minutes watching them before heading on home for a much more relaxed dinner at home. Its funny how things work out. It was a disaster of a trip but had we not gone out and returned when we did we would have missed a sight that we rarely see and it made the day very much worthwhile. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/25/04
This is a weekend that we have been looking forward to for some time especially since our trip to the west coast was ruined by my health problems. Hope was scheduled to attend a church conference near Live Oak and so we took advantage of my 4 day weekend and Andrew being out of town and came over here a couple of days early to explore the area around High Springs and the Santa Fe River. We're staying at the Grady House - a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in High Springs and after a great dinner last night at the Great Outdoors Trading Company and excellent breakfast here at the house we headed to the boat ramp just west of the 441 bridge - just north of town. The area of the river where we put in was quite shallow and we had to pick our way past some rocks before we got into deeper water but soon we were on our way paddling upstream to the River Rise preserve - where the Santa Fe River returns to the surface after a three mile journey underground. There was a spring run just past the bridge that was called Hornsby Springs but for some reason we missed it on our journey up the river. Not far past the bridge, we heard a very distinctive shrill call coming from the cypress trees overhead. The call was very loud and seemed to be coming from more than one bird. There was also a crow nearby that was cawing loudly in response and I wondered if there was a territorial dispute being worked out. Either that or everyone was upset at our presence. After a while, a small reddish brown hawk flew out from the trees and disappeared into the woods but we were unable to get a clear look at him. We continued on our lazy way against almost no current whatsoever. It was a very pleasant paddle and we encountered no humans the entire day until the very end when a canoe passed us by. The noise from highway 441 soon faded away and it was just us and the Herons and Ibis who I, as always, annoyed incessantly as I tried to take their pictures. At one point, while I was waiting for Hope to catch up, I began to notice the area I was in looked awfully "gatory". Almost on cue, a pair of eyes and a snout rose out of the water 20 feet away from me and then disappeared, reappeared and then was gone for good. The gator had to be a tiny one - perhaps three feet at the most but it made me remember that, unlike the Timucuan where I paddle most of the time - this area is full of nesting gators. We continued on at a leisurely pace and the passage was easy except for a couple of shallow areas where we had to pick our ways through the rocks and trees and one area where the duckweed and other vegetation stretched all the way across the steam and made paddling a chore for a few yards. We had stopped to admire a tree that had grown out of the stump of an old cypress when we noticed a large bird on the opposite shore catching something in the shallows. Hope gave me a shove to start me across silently and I floated to within a few feet of a bird that I recognized as a Limpkin. I had never seen one of these beautiful birds except in the books and it was quite a treat to see one so close up. He was completely oblivious to my presence as he searched the shoreline for his meal. At one point he stared at me but then went on hunting his meal with no concern for me in the slightest. After a good five minutes I quietly paddled back to Hope and we continued on our way. We finally reached the rise and I was kind of disappointed to find that there was simply a large pool that seemed to just appear out of the side of a hill. I had expected a large boil of water to churn out of the ground but that simply was not the case. The rise was quite deep and dark and we could not see the bottom. The darkness of the water combined with a sign warning about gators made us think twice about our intended swim so we sat in the shallows to cool off and then ate our lunch and drank a beer. We hung out for about 45 minutes before heading back, hoping to find Hornsby Springs on the way and take our swim there. When we passed the same spot where we heard the hawk and crow earlier, we once again heard the same vocalizations and saw both the crow and the hawk flying about. Once again the hawk was too far above us for a positive ID so we continued on until we found a pleasant spot to take a swim in the icy waters. Just before reaching the bridge, I saw what looked like a spring run that we had missed for some reason on the way up. I was sure this was the run I was looking for so I turned up it and stopped dead in my tracks by what I saw a few feet in front of me. On an old tabby pillar at the entrance to the run was sitting one of the hawks that we had been hearing all day but only glimpsing at a distance. He was beautiful and sat there silently staring at us from a mere five feet away. I had already used up all of my camera's memory on both cards and stowed the camera but amazingly he continued to sit there watching me as I got the camera out and deleted as many pictures as I could and began snapping away. I kept deleting more shots and taking more as we sat there astounded that he was letting us sit there and keep him company. Suddenly we heard the distinctive call again - this time from above and behind us and then he flew up the run - joined by another hawk. We tried to follow but the stream was completely choked with vegetation and it made paddling nearly impossible so we turned and finished our trip at the boat ramp a few minutes later. Later, thanks to our bird book, my pictures and the wireless internet at the Grady House that allowed us access to Enature.com we were able to positively identify the hawk as a Red Shouldered. Enature lets you listen to the calls of the birds and once we heard that - there was no doubt in our minds. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/26-27/04
We began our final day in High Springs by wishing Hope a happy birthday and then said goodbye to our new friends at the Grady House - promising to come back again soon. We then headed over to Ginnie Springs to leave Hope's car and get a campsite for me. I was a bit apprehensive about camping at Ginnie on a summer Saturday since it is usually a zoo but I thought that the primitive sites at the west end of the park by the water would still be available. Just barely - I did find a narrow strip of land that sort of resembled a campsite and we decided that it was the best we could hope for and left Hope's car to claim the spot. We hurried back to High Springs and did some shopping and managed to get in the water at the ramp near the highway 27 bridge at about 12:30. The river here is pretty nice although there are a lot of houses lining the banks as you leave the bridge and head SW. Most of these homes are pretty well hidden in the trees with just a dock or sometimes a platform on the river. Almost all of the property in this area is posted as private property - even if no dwellings are evident. We passed a couple of small rapids or shoals which concerned me a bit since I was going to have to the other direction the next day but I could easily see that even if I couldn't paddle up them I could easily walk my boat back up through the shallows. Soon we passed Poe Springs which is a county park and we stopped to look around a bit before we headed on stopping a short distance below Poe at a place called Lily Springs where we ate lunch. At Poe the serenity of the river was rudely interrupted by a very loud band playing a combination of Jimmy Buffet and Hawaiian music - a foretaste of what we would face downriver. Lily is an odd place and we didn't go into the spring itself but the entrance to the run was interesting enough. It was full of odd signs with funny sayings and we began to wonder if this was the residence of the famous "naked guy" of the Santa Fe River that we had read about years before. I've since done some research and found out that it is - although they don't call him the "naked guy" but "Ed the Hermit" who is the self proclaimed caretaker of the spring and lives above it in a makeshift stilt house. We'll have to go back and check it out. Hope took a stroll while we were there and said that she did spot what looked like a naked man strolling through the woods with a knife strapped to his leg. Just below Lily is a set of long rapids - approx 100 yards in length that were pretty intense. The water was fairly deep however and I was pretty sure that I could manage them on the way back. At one point we heard the familiar sound of chopping wood and looked to see a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in the woods. Shortly after that we passed a dock with a sign that said "Rum Island 15 minutes" and soon we could hear the sound of a huge crowd on the water. As we came around the corner of Rum Island we were astounded by the sight we encountered. At least a hundred people had crowded the beach at the county park and we found ourselves in the middle of a kayak traffic jam as several dozen boats were trying to negotiate their way through the swimmers and head up river. There were kayaks going every which direction and I wasn't sure we would make it without a head-on collision. We did, but from that point on the river changed from a quiet lazy river to one filled with drunken revelers in tubes, canoes and anything else that could float. As we approached Ginnie it got worse and I was starting to regret my decision to camp there. When we got just past the Devil Springs - the easternmost spring in the park, I spotted a couple of empty campsites on the river and pulled over to investigate. Incredibly, there were at least two or three sites that were off the beaten path and not easily accessible by car and therefore were not taken. I made the decision to try and get my stuff down river and paddle back to this spot to try to make it my campsite. If that didn't work out I was prepared to camp illegally upriver or else make the trip back to my truck and head home. We paddled through the revelers - picking our way through tubes and canoes - one had a huge keg in it and was surrounded by underage kids - mostly inebriated, and came to our campsite. When we got there we found that someone had parked their truck in the only spot suitable to hang my hammock and that settled the issue. I put Hope's boat on her car and packed my boat and we said our goodbyes. I then had to paddle upstream through the drunken masses and found my campsite the way I had left it. The campsite was great. The river was on one side and on two sides was a thick woods that separated it from the rest of the campsites by several hundred yards. On the fourth side the closest campsite was at least 30 yards away and unoccupied. The closest camper was 50 yards away. It was perfect! I set up camp and drank a beer and then headed over to Devil Springs to take a swim. I came back and began cooking my steak - a slow process since my charcoal had gotten damp on the trip. While waiting for the coals to get hot a storm suddenly blew up and the wind started whipping the cypress trees above my head. The temperature dropped dramatically but the rain only sprinkled a bit and nothing penetrated the canopy above my head and I was able to enjoy my steak in peace. The storm chased most of the tubers off the river and as darkness fell the sound shifted to the campground which became a cacophony of noise from all directions. After finishing my dinner, I was nodding off and I had the bright idea of tying my boat off and floating out in the river while I stretched out in it and dozed. When darkness finally fell I took to my hammock and dozed while the the din from the campground continued. Well after 1 a.m. the drunks finally finished their last beers and the only noise was from the frogs and insects which at times were louder than the campers had been. I dozed off and on until about 3:00 when a camper in the distance suddenly realized that all the beer had NOT been drunk and began yelling or singing loudly - it was hard to tell which. I got up early, as usual, and the campground was amazingly quiet - even the frogs were silent. I quickly drank some coffee, ate some yogurt and packed up hoping to get on the river well before the drunken rednecks slept off yesterday's binge. The river was wonderful at 7:30 in the morning and the sun was still low behind the trees on the north bank. As I started to pass the last campsites in the park I noticed a Yellow Crowned Night Heron feeding in the shallows just below the bank. I paddled quietly over and sat there snapping him as he snagged some frogs for his morning meal. Shortly after that, I saw a couple of hawk-like birds fly overhead doing acrobatic moves together as they made a buzzing noise. Later one perched in a tree over the water and I was able to get some good shots of him and later I identified it as a Mississippi Kite. I turned into the Blue Springs run and tried to paddle up it but the water level was too low so I turned back. As I did, I saw on the bank a few feet away from me a large wild turkey. It was too dim for a good picture but I tried anyway. As I passed the Rum Island park I heard the distinct call of the Red Shouldered Hawk and saw him perched on a branch in the park. He was quite a bit darker than the ones we saw at the River Rise but the call was distinctively a Red Shouldered. A little later, as I stopped to eat an energy bar at Lily Springs a pair of them flew down the river calling as they went. I also saw some otters but I was unable to get any shots. One of them popped his head out of the water as I was trying to paddle up the longest of the rapids we had passed the day before. The rapids really took it out of me and there was at least one time that I was sure I was going to lose it and have to retrieve my belongings from the river but I was able to keep it straight and get to a calm spot where I could take a break.
I stopped at Poe and swam into the spring and back before heading on. From
that point there was only two more sets of rapids and I was able to paddle
up them without much of a problem and finally after a three hour trip was
back at the boat ramp at highway 27 - a bit weary but very satisfied. See the Pictures From this Trip
6/30/04 OK - I admit it. The real reason I made this trip is because I looked at my journal and realized that I had a chance to break my record for trips in a month. So I ignored the knee deep grass in my lawn and the darkening skies to the west and got in the water right at 7 and began paddling toward the ICW and the evening "heron hangout". I passed by the Night Heron roost on Heckscher as usual and like always, they saw me well before I saw them so no pics were possible. I made a beeline for the waterway and as I approached I could already see that the herons were gathering from all directions. I passed by the Great Blue Rookery but could not detect any heads popping up from the treetops but I didn't stay long or look carefully. As I began to cross the ICW I saw three fins rise up out of the water at the entrance to Shad Creek and so I paused to watch and snap the dolphins as they made their way across to Hannah Mills. I had a favorable wind and current as I pointed my boat to the hangout and as I got closer I could hear the familiar cacophony of croaks and groans as the herons began talking with each other about the day. Instead of the bright light from the setting sun glistening off of their white feathers I had a ever darkening sky and I was forced to make the proper adjustments on my camera in order to have any hope at all that my pictures would come out. I made for an interesting contrast with their white feathers against the dark sky and as usual, they were none too happy that I was crashing their party. The air was full of the white down from their smaller feathers floating through the trees. As I turned to look at the sky behind me I started to detect the flashes of lightening although there was no thunder and it was pretty obvious that the storm was well to the west. Regardless, I thought it best not to dally since the light was rapidly getting too dim to take picture so I headed back to the truck scaring off what may have been a Yellow Crowned Night Heron along the way. 11 trips in a short month! Just think how many I could have made had I not been sick for a good portion of the month. |
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