Feb 24 – (If you are planning a
We rated
this trip as Moderate/Difficult due to our daily mileage. If we didn’t cover so much distance this
would be Moderate only due to areas of low and fast moving water and the
portage at Big Shoals. The Paddlers:
Stew 51, Tom 58, Craig
31, Dave 48 Note: Tom drove down from Kayaks:
Current Designs Solstice GTS, QCC 700, Current Designs Storm, Current
Designs Solstice GTS same order as paddlers list. Prior to
the trip we looked at maps, marked what looked like good places to camp, read
everything we could on kayaking/canoeing the Quote
from his email to me “You are making a big mistake
trying to set a darn speed record. WHY the heck would you want to do
that? You won’t have time to enjoy
the trip. You’re making it a hard working chore. Take your time
and do it right, and smell the roses Youngman. You should want to be
able to say, “Damn that was really a fun trip, need to do it again
sometime,” Not “That was way too much,
sure don’t want to do THAT again.” Paddle leisurely, don’t burn up your
paddles and you’ll be glad you did. NOT swift!” Steve at
Canoe Outpost came right out and said “I don’t think you will make it” when I
told him what we were going to do.
Finally, Wednesday before we left (our trip was to start that
Saturday) I emailed Wendell at the White Springs outfitter (American Canoe
Adventures) and he said “We did a trip from Stew and
I drive in my car to Suwannee Canoe Outpost located in The Spirit of the 1-800-428-4147, website www.canoeoutpost.com Craig
left a few hours earlier and Tom was already there. We get
there around Day 1 Saturday, Feb 24, 2007 28.7 miles Steve
(the owner) and David (one of the guides) from the outfitters show up right
on time – we requested a We get to
It is
cold out – all of us are wearing warm clothes and layering. The water is shallow as expected and we
cautiously begin our paddle while looking out for rocks and fallen trees in
the river. The river in this area is
very pristine and has numerous turns and bends with little to no signs that
anyone has come this way for some time.
It is absolutely fantastic – better than I had imagined it would be
and I’ll bet it is as good as just about any other river out there. At one
point someone yells “rapids!” and sure enough there was rushing water
ahead. I was very nervous because I’ve
never been in a kayak – let alone a fully loaded kayak - in rapids before and
I sure as heck didn’t want to tip over.
So, I got behind Tom who is experienced with rapids and he also has a
brand new kayak that he doesn’t want to scrape up! Tom picks his way through and I follow his
path. It was exhilarating and made the
paddle all that more exciting and enjoyable.
We went through several more rapids and/or fast moving water areas
that day. We push
until All of us
go to sleep practically right after dinner – tired from paddling but more sleepy
from a restless previous night. I woke
up around Day 2 Sunday, February 25, 2007 23.1 miles Rise and
shine! Another
excellent paddling day – warmer today we don’t need the extra layer of
clothes. Great views and still more rapids/swift
water to contend with to make us smile.
Low water so we have to watch out for rocks and trees in the
water. This also lets us see a lot of
limestone croppings on the river banks that are normally below water. The banks of the river are majestic with
rock formations, trees and their roots exposed and pristine white
sandbars. Stew says it looks a lot
like the scenery from the movie Deliverance.
Partially overcast keeps things a little cooler but very comfortable
for paddling. Making good time –
current maybe 1 mph and finally we make it to Big Shoals – this is where the
fun stops for a while. Big Shoals is a class 3 rapid
during higher water and it is not advisable to run them unless you know what
you are doing. Definitely don’t run
them in a loaded boat. They weren’t
passable with our kayaks anyway – Tom said if he had a smaller plastic kayak
he would have attempted them. We
portage the kayaks and find that the shorter quarter-mile portage is not
doable due to the low water so we go further – just under a half-mile to find
a place that is just terrible to launch from but we have no other options. After thinking about it and talking it
over, the portage was probably close to or just under a quarter mile although
it seemed further at the time! Tom
brought a kayak cart just for this and I was glad he did. We strap a kayak to the cart and pull and
push it our roots, rocks and assorted bumps to the top of a cliff where we
will later have to carry the kayaks down over rocks and very slippery
clay-like mud. Tom’s kayak was the
worse due to its weight. I’ll bet it
weighed more than 250 lbs without Tom in it!
Anyway, it took us 2.5 hours to get through the portage and we made it
through without any mishaps except for Tom slipping and falling 4 times –
ouch! If he had slipped while we were
carrying one of the kayaks, it would have been all over for him and the kayak
– nothing but hard, sharp rocks. We end up
covering 23.1 miles that day and decide to stop at a boat ramp that belongs
to an RV/campground called The Suwannee Valley Campground. It was a very nice place with a laundry
area, (very) small store, bathrooms, showers, and nice residents. The only drawback being a 70-stair climb to
the top of the river bank. Of course I
forgot several items in my kayak several times and had to make 2 or 3 extra
trips up and down those stairs – that’s why I know there are 70 exactly. Craig
wanted pizza for dinner and asked the girl at the store if she knew of a
pizza place where we could order one for delivery. Her response and a quote we used many times
for the rest our trip was “This is White Springs. We ain’t got nothing in White
Springs.” No pizza so we made our own
dinners but that night they had a root beer float social at the clubhouse and
everyone was invited. It was very
nice. We called Tom’s brother Jeff (in
Day 3 Monday, February 26, 2007 29.9 miles Up at No sign
of anyone at the shop – we wanted to let them know our progress so we move
on. We paddle for around 2 hours and
Tom has calculated that we have 5 or 6 more miles to go to get to our next
destination Holton River Camp which would put us on schedule. We were feeling pretty tired – it was a
long day with all the sharp turns and winding river - when all of a sudden
around yet another bend we see the Holton River Camp – around mile 140 on the
Suwannee River map of launch sites.
What a pleasant surprise that was!
Here we thought we had more than an hour to go and we were already
there after kayaking 29.9 miles that day.
This was a very nice set up – the state did a great job putting this
together except for an almost impossible place to store your kayaks/canoes/etc – way up the
steep bank – but this was due to the extremely low water. We just pulled our kayaks far up on the
bank and left them there. In
retrospect, we should have tied a rope to them and also to a firm tree –
Craig did but the rest of us didn’t.
The camp is I think 5 wood structures big enough to house 6 people
each with a roof, electricity, and night lights that have motion
detectors. Picnic and campfire areas
and bathrooms with showers are also provided.
The camp hosts were also very nice and knowledgeable. We all slept in the shelters on the wood
floors and heard owls and things scurrying in the bushes. Some of us saw armadillos foraging. A very pleasant night. Day 4 Tuesday, February 27, 2007 37.3 miles Rise and
shine at Again, as
with the entire trip, we are blessed with terrific scenery with interesting
trees and rocks along the banks not to mention the water having boils from
time to time from springs spewing out absolutely clean, clear, water. The river still looks like we are in the
middle of nowhere but we start seeing more and more signs of civilization by
way of bridges and stairways coming down to the river. Dave sees all sorts of animals along the
banks that keep turning out to be rocks, sticks, logs, and other non-animal
things. Several times he is yelling at
Tom – “Look, look at that!” or “Tom, over there – it’s an alligator!” Finally Tom goes over and picks up a stick
Dave was pointing to and brings it to him and says “Here’s your
alligator.” Obviously, Dave needs
glasses for distance. He doesn’t wear
them much but maybe he should. We end up
having our longest day at 37.3 miles and camp at Lafayette Springs around
mile 103 from the Gulf on the river map.
It was another nice campground – only complaint is that the camping
area was pretty far away from the river.
We left our kayaks under the trees and walked our camping gear to the
campground area. The ranger said they
couldn’t allow us to camp outside the campground – next to our kayaks as we
requested. That was okay – we
understand they have to follow rules.
Nice showers and another nice night.
Again we hear owls and what I thought were numerous raccoons talking
with each other. Still not sure that
was raccoons but it sure sounded like them. Day 5 Wednesday, February 28, 2007 37 miles Launching
at At
several stops we saw signs with warnings about big jumping fish – we thought it
was a joke at first but then remembered reading about them. People have been hit while motor boating
and jet skiing in the On one of
our breaks we saw some people at a boat ramp and asked how far to the Cove
restaurant. They said it was only open
Thursday through Sunday (today is Wednesday!) and our hearts sank. We finally make it to the restaurant around
We still
wanted pizza and some nice local couple coming back from a boat trip gave us
their phone number and we called them after they got home
for the local pizza take-out number.
As luck would have it, the pizza place closed some time ago. Oh well, crank up the stoves and make our
camp dinners. A very nice, friendly
local man comes up to us and starts talking to us while we are fixing our
dinners. His name is George and he
pulls up his chair. He tells us a
story about a memorial about 60 feet from our campsites. There was a stone that read something about
a “Chief Leroy” so I had asked George about it. He said the guy was driving at a high rate
of speed and he hit a tree so hard “it split his feet.” I didn’t ask him to explain… Anyway the road is straight and around 7
miles long and ends at the That
evening Day 6 Thursday, March 1, 2007 32 miles Our early
routine has become just that – all of us are up at Craig was
having problems with blisters and especially the wind since he was the only
one in a plastic kayak and it had things strapped all over the top. When a gust came down the river – and it
really blew hard when it got between the banks due to a venturi effect - you
could see him slow down and even get pushed sideways at times. Boy was I glad I was in my Solstice. I too had blisters and was trying to ignore
them and hoped they wouldn’t get infected – they didn’t and they actually
became hard by the end of our trip.
The wind was irritating all of us but having the GPS made us feel
better because we could monitor how fast we were going and it still was in
the 4 mph range. We finally arrive at Fanning
Springs. It has a nice campground but
again, you have to carry the kayaks a bit to the camping area – but not too
far. When we went to pay for the camp
site the rangers and everyone in the office started telling us how we were
under severe weather warnings with the possibility of tornadoes. They even showed us an on-line weather map
where the worst weather shown in multiple red squares was over our area. It even had two red squares overlapping
right over us. Just great – we are all
tired with our tents set up under giant 100-year old oak trees. Well, Fanning Springs is located in an
actual town so we walked across the street and ate at a barbeque place. We ordered too much to eat and all of us
ate a little too much but it was good to have “real” food for a change. On the way back from the restaurant, Dave
found a snake by the water – either a baby moccasin or a brown water
snake. Of course he picked it up with
a stick and did his best Steve Irwin imitation. Tom being from When we
got back to the campground the winds were picking up and the sky didn’t look
so good. We spent some time walking
around the springs and sat at a shelter at the end of a boardwalk. Dave went to the river to look for Indian
arrow heads because he promised his wife he would – didn’t find any. The good part was that while down by the
river Dave picked up a stick and was able to reach Tom’s legs about 12 feet
above him. Tom screamed and Dave
laughed harder than he had in a long time.
It was funny but Dave was well aware that Tom also is good at
practical jokes and was wary the rest of the trip although Tom never went for
the revenge. As night
approached, we decided to move our tents to a big solid-looking outdoor stage
that was made of wood and had a roof.
Everyone was glad they did and the rangers even said it was okay due
to the storm threat. It was a good
idea and we were happy because it was very windy and rained on and off
throughout the night. The next morning
we were dry. Tornadoes did hit just
north of us and I think a few people were killed in the storms so we were
very lucky. Day 7 Friday, March 2, 2007 30 miles It is
raining when we get up at We
stopped at Manatee Springs and carefully got out on a floating, metal boat
dock. Here is where we really caught a
chill – very rainy, windy, and cold – but no lightning. We explore the park a little and Dave is
stopped by a guy (we later nickname “Scary Guy” who insists that we need to
“respect the Finally
we leave Manatee Springs – I say finally because we were all getting pretty
cold with not paddling. As we leave we
paddle toward the springs and over around 5 baby manatees which scary guy
pointed out to us earlier. We passed
under the boardwalk which had buzzards lined up along the rails – not such a
good omen. Scary Guy watches us pass
by. He was also helpful because he
told us of a place to stay when we get to the city of Along the
way we pass a house boat with two women on board. We wave and start talking with them. They knew about us because they read about
our trip in the paper as well as our trip last year. Their names were Amy and Carol and one was from Well, we
make it to We ate at
a restaurant just down the street – Sarah’s I think. It was an excellent meal and a celebration
that we had actually made it! The
night was uneventful and we were glad we stayed in the fish house because it
rained and there were biting gnats outside. Day 8 Saturday, March 2, 2007 7 miles We get up around We loaded
our kayaks on their trailer and Tom decided to load his while still fully
packed which turned out to be a not-so-good decision. His kayak got some nasty dings in it from
the long, bumpy ride. What made it
worse was his kayak was a brand new QCC 700.
He took it back to the factory for repair since he lives around 100
miles from them. They are very nice,
talented people and did a fantastic job repairing the kayak – looks good as
new. The next
hour we prepare our vehicles and load our kayaks and other stuff for the ride
home. A little melancholy in the air
knowing our adventure has come to an end.
We didn’t want it to end. We
all caravan and eat dinner at a Cracker Barrel along the highway and then say
our good byes and head home. Wow. What a great trip! 225 miles of kayaking with awesome
experiences with friends, people we met, and lots of individual time alone
paddling as desired/needed. A big
challenge with rich rewards of accomplishment but mainly fond memories. I’m ready for our next trip! The best advice I can give is to
plan a trip and JUST DO IT! - our trip was awesome and something I never
thought I could or would do just a few years ago. The trip was over too soon and each
commented that they would gladly do it again. Resources: A MUST:
Call Suwannee River Water Management District 800 226-1066 and request
several “Boat Ramps and Canoe Launches” maps of the river (these have mile
markers on them every mile and places of interest like potential camp
sites. Ask for any other brochures
they have that may help for your trip planning – a good one is Suwannee River
Wilderness Trail brochure. The people
there are very nice and helpful. Website: http://www.srwmd.state.fl.us/ Get the
Suwannee River Wilderness Trail brochure from Suwannee River Wilderness Trail
800
868-9914 and on the web www.SuwanneeRiver.com There is a National Geographic Destination
Map of the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail too that is pretty good. Not sure which organization sent that to us
– ask for it. We were
very happy with The Canoe Outpost in the Spirit of the 800-428-4147
(800 number not listed on their website).
They have a website too www.canoeoutpost.com/Suwannee/outpost.htm Visit
these web resources and Google the www.aca1.com - American Canoe Adventures in White Springs – Wendell was very
helpful and knowledgeable and they also offer shuttle service. His positive email two days before our trip
sealed our resolve to start in http://paddleacrossflorida.home.att.net Our website for more photos (not sure how
long it will be up) www.canoe-suwannee.com
– Bill Logan’s site We also
used maps.google.com to get a better idea of the terrain and research as well
as just plugging in “ |