Buck Lake , Nov 19th-21st with Two Harry's , Mac and Myself. | SouthernPaddler.com

Buck Lake , Nov 19th-21st with Two Harry's , Mac and Myself.

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Harry Sr. , Harry Jr. , Mac and Myself made a short two night , three day camping trip to Buck Lake here in Central Florida. We used Harry's Grumman and Mac's Mohawk for the trip.
We walked the boats in abut 1 1/2 miles on the dolly's to get to the campsite. Harry Sr.and Harry Jr on one , Mac pulling with me pushing on the other. Bad mistake on my part.

Arrived at the camp site , after a few breaks along the way and started to set up camp , the guys got there tents up and I started to get mine up when putting in the third tent peg my unit went off. I was squatting down to get the peg in and when that ICD ( Implanted Cardiac Defibrillator ) unit went off knocked me backwards , off my feet and onto the ground on my back with my feet in the air. to say it was shocking is an understatement. I thought I shoved the stinking tent peg into a buried ( high voltage) power line in the middle of some wilderness.
The guys finished putting the tent up for me while I recovered. They wanted to call 911 but I told them , some resting , and if it did not go off withing a few hours I would be OK , If it went off again then I was out of there. Much to my pleasure it has not gone off since then and I got to enjoy some camping with good friends.

Later they went fishing and exploring up into the north end of the lake while I took some pictures of them , This is when Harry caught that nice bass and Mac got skunked , Harry one , Mac none.

That evening we had a nice fire and sat around it enjoying life , the clear skies , and a bright 3/4 moon.

The next day up and at it with the guys fishing and checking out the lower section of the lake before the winds came up and they had to get off the water. A fire that evening with some steaks on the grill , Mac had his the night before so he caught a few bass ( while the rest of us had supper ) , cleaned them and did them up in some tin foil over the grill for his supper.
Again a nice evening , clear skies , a bright moon and a good campfire to make life enjoyable.

In the morning we loaded the canoes on the dolly's . packed the stuff in the canoes and back out to the vehicles. This time I did not help drag the boats out and my unit did not zap me. I have learned that portaging a boat , by any method , is not in the cards for me , I paddle them from now on and that is all.

A few pictures of the trip so you can have an idea of the area.

The boats on the dolly's for the trip in.
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The road into the camping area at the lake.
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My tent
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The Camping area and Macs new tent. .
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Looking in from the other side with Harry's tent in the background.
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The lake looking north from the landing.
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The lake to the north , it goes to the woods line at the top of the picture
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You can see the North part of Buck Lake in this picture of the two Harry's out fishing.
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Harry ( the Commodore ) and Mac fishing in Macs Canoe.
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The lake to the south and it goes a lot further then you can see in this picture.
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The two Harry's returning from fishing.
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Looking across the lake from where we were. That is Mac trying to pick up some fish.
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Back to the vehicles , the trip is over and we are homeward bound after a good time.
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Chuck.
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
The tent I used is the Go Lite Hex 3 with the bug screen on the inside.

buck%20003.jpg


The pros of it. It is light weight , sets up in a flash , takes very little space in the backpack.

The flip side... They say it is a three person tent , they are full of chit , so much so there eyeballs have to be brown. There is no way you will ever get three people in there if all three of them are over 4 feet tall.

One 6 footer (me) fit in there nicely and had room to put stuff so it was out of the way , two guys might make it but not three. The major thing I hated was that you can not leave the door open at night and just have the screen door closed. The dew we had would of soaked me if I would of done that.

There is plenty of ventilation because the sides of the rain fly can be adjusted so it is off the ground but low enough to stop any water (rain) from entering into the living area.

I was glad I took it since the woods are so hevely grown up there was no way a person can hang a hammock , the place I used last time has trees gowning in it so I made the right choice about taking the tent and trying it out.

Chuck.
PS. I consider it or would rate it as a one person tent.
 

oldyaker

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
1,949
31
Nice report and pix Chuckles. Looks like it was a nice outing, however I didn't see too many fish photos.....
That lake looks alot bigger than when you first described it. How many acres would you say it is? Is it managed by the state? The Harry's look as good as ever and Mac is just Mac thank goodness! :roll:
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
The lake is narrow on the north and south portion about 1/4 mile wide till you get to the top of the north section then it angles off at right angles for about a half to 3/4 mile and about 1/4 mile wide.

It is longer then wide till you get to the top. Then it drains out into about 5 more lakes and eventually into puzzle lake and the St.Johns River.

If you go to the St Johns River Water management Areas web site and pull up Buck Lake you will see what I'm saying.

www.sjrwmd.com

Then the Recreational guide in the tool bar ( Quick Clicks) along the top , not on the side......It is right under the word river in there header........... then the South Central Region and the 1st one listed is Buck Lake.
 

oldyaker

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
1,949
31
WOW Chuckles! Almost 10,000 acres....That is a big one. I can see why the wind was an issue, alot of open water. I saw the lake shape. Your camping spot looked nice.
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
oldyaker said:
WOW Chuckles! Almost 10,000 acres....That is a big one. I can see why the wind was an issue, alot of open water. I saw the lake shape. Your camping spot looked nice.

Good size lake , great camping spot and the fee is just right .... Nothing to camp there.
I'm going to see if I can get a disable permit and if I can then they will let me drive in to the campsite.

I am sure I qualify for it , I go camping and paddling with Lawyers and Yankees so that alone should prove to them I have a mental disability if nothing more.
My ace in the hole is that I actually know Kayak Jack and even admit to it in public , no person can be more (Mentally ) disabled then that and still out walking the streets. OK..So the time they let me out is limited but I'm still out walking around. :lol:

Chuck.
 

bearridge

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2005
3,092
4
way down yonder
Re: Buck Lake , Nov 19th-21st with Two Harry's , Mac and Mys

oldsparkey said:
We walked the boats in abut 1 1/2 miles on the dolly's to get to the campsite. Harry Sr.and Harry Jr on one , Mac pulling with me pushing on the other. Bad mistake on my part.
If yer gonna be dumb, ya gotta be tough. Reaux Heaux's Law
 

hairymick

Well-Known Member
Dec 8, 2005
2,107
2
Queensland, Australia
Heya Chuck & guys,

Great report fellers and lovely piccies, Thank You! :D :D

Chuck, W.T.H. are you thinking? :shock: portaging bloody boats AND crouching and driving in tent pegs. Ya just can't do chit like that and expect your ticker kicker not to kick you in the arse.

Take care of yourself mate.
 

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Chuck, I have an idea. Next time you push boats, tape a bag of Jiffy Pop on your chest. that way, you'll have something nice to wake up to.

(No need to thank me for this wonderful idea. Just enjoy yourself.)

(Oh and you can cover the bag of popcorn with a tide chart. That way you'll have something interest - though useless to you - to read whilst nibbling.) :lol:
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Kayak Jack said:
Chuck, I have an idea. Next time you push boats, tape a bag of Jiffy Pop on your chest. that way, you'll have something nice to wake up to.

Not a bad idea except for one thing ...... This ole boy ain't never doing that again , NO SIR , NO WAY. use to do it when I was dumber.

My boat carry's me or it and I don't go. This portaging stuff is for the birds , fools , idiots , nut's , insane folks and Yankees. I came to the shocking awareness that boats were made to carry folks not the other way around.

Chuck.