Friday Westbury and I headed down to O'leano State Park just outside
of High Springs, Florida. We had the canoe and camping gear loaded
and looked foward to a weekend of paddling and relaxing with our good
friends. Our group has a habit of late starts and doing more relaxing
than paddling but I knew we were going to at least get in two paddles
as we were right on the river and that would be an easy, quick short
paddle for Friday or Sunday. It wasn't a good omen when the Park
Rangers first words were "you can't put your canoe in here at the
park, the water's too low". Too low is a matter of opinion but I
wasn't going to argue at check in.
I went around to the sites and Jay, Trish, Melinda and Darrel were
already in place and setting up. Not much later Jim and Roz showed up
soon followed by Diane who completed our small group for the weekend.
It was decided that for the limited time we had left of the day we
would explore the campground which has great hiking and biking
trails. Westbury was really impressed with the suspension bride that
crosses the river. When he felt the bridge start to bounce he went
spread eagle and really didn't want to move. It was funny watching
him try to walk with his legs spread out that way. We walked down to
where the river goes underground and then back to the camp site.
Supper that night consisted of a whole turkey and all the trimming,
quite the feast. That night we had quite a lot of rain off and on all
night. My tent leaked a little but not enough to get excited about.
Saturday turned off nice and warm and we rose ready to paddle. In
keeping with our usual routine it was 11 am before we launched our
boats at a public landing on Hwy 27 just outside of High Springs. The
water was just barely moving, not much current at all. As we paddled
along it was amazing the number of Turtles sunning on every log they
could find. When we weren't seeing them on logs we saw them floating
on the surface of the water.
Along the banks the ever present Great Blue Herons and Great Egrits
remained motionless waiting for the unwary fish to venture too close.
Several flew off as we came too close and flew scout for us as we
paddled down the river. Kingfishers were flying up and down the river
and woodpeckers called from inside the near wooded areas. We were
fortunate that we had several good spotters in the group and we
captured on camera a Red Shouldered Hawk and also a Barred Owl that
were perched right beside the river. We did spot a Bald Eagle as it
flew downriver but it left too soon to get a picture.
Commorants and Vultures were numerous but ducks dominated the river.
I ventured down a small log jammed side stream and must have spooked
up almost a hundred. Wood ducks were the easiest recognized but
several other species were present as well. Just when we thought we
weren't going to see any gators we spotted a small one sliding off a
log. It wasn't long before we saw a slightly larger one but it didn't
hang around long either.
We visited several of the springs that feed into the river and made
sure to visit Ed at Lily Springs. He's quite interesting and always
willing to answer any question or give an opinion on almost anything.
Quite a character! Although the sun was in and out and the air temp
was warm we didn't opt to swim. We did wade around a bit but no
takers on the swim....
As the day grew later we stepped up the paddling a little as the
miles weren't exactly melting away. With little current we had to put
a little more effort into moving along but about 4 pm we came to the
take out, another public ramp on Hwy 47. The trip was just under 10
miles. Motor boats were encountered on the lower portion of our
paddle but all were courtious. Several groups of paddlers were also
out enjoying the warm weather and great river.
Back at camp Jay created another feast for us and we dined in
splendor. We finished with toasts of Champange, ice cream and
strawberries to the couple (Melinda and Darrel) on their upcoming
wedding. Another sit around the campfire and then to bed.
Sunday found some talking about a paddle but with having to be at
work that night I opted to leisurely pack and head home. We did hear
Sandhill Cranes overhead as they flew over. We said our goodbyes and
headed home. Great trip, O'leano is a great park with excellent Bath
house facilities but it does get a little loud with some of the
campers partying late. I can't wait for our next trip......
of High Springs, Florida. We had the canoe and camping gear loaded
and looked foward to a weekend of paddling and relaxing with our good
friends. Our group has a habit of late starts and doing more relaxing
than paddling but I knew we were going to at least get in two paddles
as we were right on the river and that would be an easy, quick short
paddle for Friday or Sunday. It wasn't a good omen when the Park
Rangers first words were "you can't put your canoe in here at the
park, the water's too low". Too low is a matter of opinion but I
wasn't going to argue at check in.
I went around to the sites and Jay, Trish, Melinda and Darrel were
already in place and setting up. Not much later Jim and Roz showed up
soon followed by Diane who completed our small group for the weekend.
It was decided that for the limited time we had left of the day we
would explore the campground which has great hiking and biking
trails. Westbury was really impressed with the suspension bride that
crosses the river. When he felt the bridge start to bounce he went
spread eagle and really didn't want to move. It was funny watching
him try to walk with his legs spread out that way. We walked down to
where the river goes underground and then back to the camp site.
Supper that night consisted of a whole turkey and all the trimming,
quite the feast. That night we had quite a lot of rain off and on all
night. My tent leaked a little but not enough to get excited about.
Saturday turned off nice and warm and we rose ready to paddle. In
keeping with our usual routine it was 11 am before we launched our
boats at a public landing on Hwy 27 just outside of High Springs. The
water was just barely moving, not much current at all. As we paddled
along it was amazing the number of Turtles sunning on every log they
could find. When we weren't seeing them on logs we saw them floating
on the surface of the water.
Along the banks the ever present Great Blue Herons and Great Egrits
remained motionless waiting for the unwary fish to venture too close.
Several flew off as we came too close and flew scout for us as we
paddled down the river. Kingfishers were flying up and down the river
and woodpeckers called from inside the near wooded areas. We were
fortunate that we had several good spotters in the group and we
captured on camera a Red Shouldered Hawk and also a Barred Owl that
were perched right beside the river. We did spot a Bald Eagle as it
flew downriver but it left too soon to get a picture.
Commorants and Vultures were numerous but ducks dominated the river.
I ventured down a small log jammed side stream and must have spooked
up almost a hundred. Wood ducks were the easiest recognized but
several other species were present as well. Just when we thought we
weren't going to see any gators we spotted a small one sliding off a
log. It wasn't long before we saw a slightly larger one but it didn't
hang around long either.
We visited several of the springs that feed into the river and made
sure to visit Ed at Lily Springs. He's quite interesting and always
willing to answer any question or give an opinion on almost anything.
Quite a character! Although the sun was in and out and the air temp
was warm we didn't opt to swim. We did wade around a bit but no
takers on the swim....
As the day grew later we stepped up the paddling a little as the
miles weren't exactly melting away. With little current we had to put
a little more effort into moving along but about 4 pm we came to the
take out, another public ramp on Hwy 47. The trip was just under 10
miles. Motor boats were encountered on the lower portion of our
paddle but all were courtious. Several groups of paddlers were also
out enjoying the warm weather and great river.
Back at camp Jay created another feast for us and we dined in
splendor. We finished with toasts of Champange, ice cream and
strawberries to the couple (Melinda and Darrel) on their upcoming
wedding. Another sit around the campfire and then to bed.
Sunday found some talking about a paddle but with having to be at
work that night I opted to leisurely pack and head home. We did hear
Sandhill Cranes overhead as they flew over. We said our goodbyes and
headed home. Great trip, O'leano is a great park with excellent Bath
house facilities but it does get a little loud with some of the
campers partying late. I can't wait for our next trip......