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Peace River Feb
17 – Feb 23, 2019
Apology for the logo – I was lazy and used the 2012
logo and inserted 2019! Paddlers: Dave, Sam, and Stew Boats: Stew and Dave in an aluminum canoe, 17 ft, Sam QCC 500 Preface We
decided on a short trip with time to explore, fish, and fossil hunt. We had less than 35 miles to go from start
point to finish. The weather was warm
but not too hot, although it came close with some days 87 degrees. Nights in the upper sixties. We all agreed it would have been much more
comfortable if we had “normal” temps in the 60’s/70’s day and 50’s at
night. Still, it is always great to
get away and be outdoors on an adventure with good friends. We’ve
decided that our next trips will be more challenging with some distances need
to cover most days. It was nice to be
able to camp in one spot for 3 nights and explore the area by canoe and foot
but we did miss the daily goals and even the struggle at times to make it to
the next campsite. On
a sad note, our fellow paddle Jack Roberts died two weeks after this
trip. He was an original member of our
group and a good friend. He missed
many of our trips due to a lingering illness but we always kept in touch and
paddled with him once in a while. He
was a great guy and will be missed.
With Jack’s passing, we’ve realized how precious these moments we
share with one another are. This trip
as well as any others we do in the future is dedicated to him. We
started at Paynes Creek Historic State Park in
Bowling Green and shuttled one vehicle to Brownville Park campground. Not many river miles to cover! Sunday, Feb 17,
2019 Stew and Dave drive to Paynes Creek Historic State Park Stew
and Dave started a few days before Sam because he had family commitments and could
meet us on Tuesday..
Stew ready for the trip to begin We
paddled the canoe that felt like a barge because we are used to our
performance expedition kayaks. The
good thing about a canoe is that we had coolers filled with real food and
beer! It was nice having dinners that
were prepared by Stew and his wife Diane beforehand and then frozen. Stew took on the entire responsibility for
dinners. That was really nice for the
others. Stew
and Dave paddled upstream maybe 2 miles and found a nice area to camp that
had a stream that maybe held some fossils.
We camped there 3 nights. Day 1
we got there in late afternoon – we were taking our time and it was difficult
paddling that loaded canoe upstream.
We probably were making good time but it just felt soooo
slow. We
decided this would be a good spot to stay and explore. We walked up the stream and looked for
shark’s teeth. We found a few but not
many and very small. The Peace River
is loaded with small shark’s teeth.
Unfortunately the river was high so there weren’t and exposed sand
bars and gravel bars that the teeth are found on in abundance. That
night was the beginning of the moon becoming full. We got up several times thinking it was
morning since it was so light out. The
area had a whole lot of owls and they hooted all night long. We find that very enjoyable and
relaxing. The screech owls on the
other hand not so much. There were a few
of those. One very large owl landed in
a nearby oak tree and was hooting away.
It was a neat sight to see.
Cool to watch them fly because they absolutely make no noise as they
fly by.
We
had a relaxing day and beer at the end of the day too. Stew and Dave rely on Sam for making the
fire but since he wasn’t joining us for a few days, we had to do it
ourselves. We joked that we had to watch
a few YouTube videos before the trip.
Day two Stew and Dave paddled upstream about 6 miles. It was hot and even though we unloaded the
canoe, it was strenuous paddling upstream – probably because we are used to
going faster and tried to do our kayaking pace. The water was high and had a good current –
maybe 2.5 mph. At one point an otter
crossed in front of us and then ran along side of us on the bank and dove in
the water and climbed out a bunch of times.
He did this for maybe a quarter mile.
It was neat and amusing. He
probably told his friends the same thing about us. We explored any tributary we found and
places that looked like it may have fossils, but no luck.
Stew starting the fire
Exploring upriver areas, no fossils! When
Tuesday arrived we paddled downstream to Payne’s Creek Historical Park to
meet Sam. He arrived and loaded up his
kayak. Then we shuttled one vehicle to
our end point at Brownville park/campground.
On the way back we bought Subway for lunch and brought back some ice
and beer. Back at Payne’s Creek we
added ice and beer to the Styrofoam coolers and sealed them with duct tape –
that really helps them keep cold for 4 or 5 days – we were surprised they
lasted that long. Then we all paddled
back to camp a few miles upstream. Sam
was delighted that we just wanted to take it easy that day and he opted for a
nap in a hammock while Stew and Dave went for a hike. That whole area is in a flood zone so
hiking involved walking through a lot of wet areas. It was neat to see and to do some
exploring. Lots of private land most
likely for cattle and there is a phosphate mining operation nearby too.
Sam paddling up Payne Creek Wednesday,
day 4 we decided to break camp and meander downstream. When we got to Payne Creek we paddled up it
in hopes of finding gravel bars and areas to find fossils. There is no collecting while in the state
park boundaries. We went up pretty far
and it was tough going for Stew and Dave in the fully loaded canoe. It was a neat creek with nice Florida
scenery. Would have been much better
if it was cooler out though! Then we
met our first blockage. Dave got out
and cleared just enough to get the canoe through but it was hard work. The second blockage was doable but wayy too
much work so we decided to turnaround.
We had lunch across form the boy scount camping area in the park.
Stew in fully loaded canoe on Payne Creek We
came out of Payne Creek and joined the Peace Rive once again. We went a little while and saw a campsite
we just couldn’t pass up. It was just
outside the park’s boundary on river right.
We
set up camp quickly and tried our luck at fishing. No luck but a few nibbles. Exploring the area, we didn’t find any
place to look for fossils. Still, it
was a very nice campsite with beautiful scenery along the river.
Day
5, Thursday we decided to find some campsites that Dave knew of because he was
here 3 or 4 months ago at lower water.
He kept saying, “Don’t worry, they are just around the next
bend!” They weren’t. The campsites just did not look the same
with 3 feet more water in the river.
We saw some that looked like them and they probably were but they were
missing the nice gentle slope to the water and the 3 foot ridge going up to
dry land. Things can really look
different at various water levels.
That worked out okay because we got another 8 miles in and came upon a
nice area to camp. On
the way we stopped to try our luck once again for fishing and fossil
hunting. No fish but we found a few more small shark teeth.
Our
campsite was on a narrow ledge with woods behind it and lots of cow
footprints around. Again, no luck at
fishing. People told us they caught
some large snook in the area as well as bass and
catfish. Nice camping and a beautiful
sunset. It was a little cooler that
day and night too. Yay!
Best photo of the trip – taken with an Iphone Since
we had put in extra miles, we were closer to our take-out point. Knowing that, we all got a little antsy and
decide to end the trip a day early. We
know we are very lucky that our wives put up with our going on these trips
and coming home a day earlier gets us some brownie points! Friday,
day 6 we paddled to Brownville park and camped there. That evening we drove into Arcadia for
dinner and ate at a Barbeque place. It
was a very friendly and nice place.
Good food too.
Brownville Park Campground On
Saturday, day 7, Sam had an event he could now make (more brownie points) and
Stew and Dave decided to spend the last day trying to find fossils on a creek
that leads into the Peace River. They
drove to a put-in further away from the Peace River and found a lot of people
go there on weekends to fossil hunt.
So they paddled further upstream than anyone else which involved
pulling the canoe over lots of downfall in the creek. They just knew their extra effort would pay
off! They did find more small teeth
and some bones but nothing earth shattering.
Still they were glad they did it and celebrated with a nice lunch at a
barbeque place in Bowling Green. It
was very good. Then
they drove home and were discussing next year’s adventure. Maybe a hiking trip or something we fly
too? Maybe the Apalachicola again –
Stew missed that trip and we were thinking it would be enough of a challenge
but also places to stay for two nights to force us to slow it down some… Resources: As always, we use Google Maps to scout areas , get ideas, and find places to stay Use Google search to find info and resources. Our website: paddleacrossflorida.com |
