Our next camp site.
Thursday.
Up in the morning and after a lot of coffee, breakfast and BS we had the canoes loaded and on the water. The river widen out so the paddling was easier and a little slower but we still covered a lot of water without working.
On this stretch of the River I had a flock of wild turkeys fly across the river in front of me. Things like that happens when you are just drifting along nice and quiet.
Again we had a place we were thinking about camping at but since we were covering the river quicker then we thought we would we decided to go on down river and that was one darn good decision. We located one sandbar and area you could camp 30 campers in and still have room. Needless to say we pulled off the river and set up camp for a couple of reasons.....
The sky was getting overcast and the area was just to good to pass up. We had camp set up when ....... I know you will not believe this .... It started to rain.....
The rain was not bad just a light sprinkle but the tarps went up and we went under them. Later we set up a lot of wood for the fire and after a while we had potatoes cooking in the coals then later a lot of hot dogs on the grill with a large pot of beans and some onion in with them steaming in a large pot on my cooking stove. Naturally we had the snacks, cheeses of different flavors, crackers, pepperoni, and all sorts of camping snacks.
The rain warmed the area so it was short sleeves and just comfortable ........ After the supper we kicked the campfire up a notch since it was cooling down and the mist was already rising from the river. Later it was into the sleeping bags when a cold front mover thru and the temp went for the bottom of the scale. In the morning there was ice in some of the boats.
The guys drying the rest of there gear.
A better shot of the river.........
Friday
Doing our normal camping routine ....... we were up and with some breakfast, hot coffee and just relaxing we were on the river and we were hoping to get to Tompkins Landing around 12 because Steve was going to meet us there at that time , things are looking good , we should be there on time. We are paddling along and all of sudden Bear hollers at us ........ River is blocked..........
A very large tree had gone down across the whole river. After Bear did some work with a saw on the right side of the river blocking tree we managed to get most of the canoes thru that opening but it did require some fancy paddling and sliding over logs . The heaver canoes went overland on the left side of the river which everyone agreed was the safer way for them to do it.
Back on the river and going down stream I scared three otters who had no idea I was there till I told the guys ... "Otters" Boy did the bark at me.... No, the Otters not the Guys. A short time later we were at The landing ( earlier then expected) and Steve had parked his van and trailer there so we loaded all of the boats and gear on it and called him .... Off the river back to civilization and home bound.
This is at the end because this is what it looked like at each camp site.
Chuck.
If you are thinking about doing the St.Marys River at any time I would suggest contacting Steve.
He is located at the St. Mary's River Fish Camp
28506 Scotts Landing Road
Hillard, Florida 32046
Web Site ... http://stmarysriverfishcamp.com/ (Canoe Country Outpost)
Phone 904-845-4440
Fax 904-845-4441
Toll free 866-845-4443
He also offers a Complete RV Hookup, Guided Fishing and is surrounded by 4000 acres of public land and naturally a canoe shuttle service.
Thursday.
Up in the morning and after a lot of coffee, breakfast and BS we had the canoes loaded and on the water. The river widen out so the paddling was easier and a little slower but we still covered a lot of water without working.
On this stretch of the River I had a flock of wild turkeys fly across the river in front of me. Things like that happens when you are just drifting along nice and quiet.
Again we had a place we were thinking about camping at but since we were covering the river quicker then we thought we would we decided to go on down river and that was one darn good decision. We located one sandbar and area you could camp 30 campers in and still have room. Needless to say we pulled off the river and set up camp for a couple of reasons.....
The sky was getting overcast and the area was just to good to pass up. We had camp set up when ....... I know you will not believe this .... It started to rain.....
The rain was not bad just a light sprinkle but the tarps went up and we went under them. Later we set up a lot of wood for the fire and after a while we had potatoes cooking in the coals then later a lot of hot dogs on the grill with a large pot of beans and some onion in with them steaming in a large pot on my cooking stove. Naturally we had the snacks, cheeses of different flavors, crackers, pepperoni, and all sorts of camping snacks.
The rain warmed the area so it was short sleeves and just comfortable ........ After the supper we kicked the campfire up a notch since it was cooling down and the mist was already rising from the river. Later it was into the sleeping bags when a cold front mover thru and the temp went for the bottom of the scale. In the morning there was ice in some of the boats.
The guys drying the rest of there gear.
A better shot of the river.........
Friday
Doing our normal camping routine ....... we were up and with some breakfast, hot coffee and just relaxing we were on the river and we were hoping to get to Tompkins Landing around 12 because Steve was going to meet us there at that time , things are looking good , we should be there on time. We are paddling along and all of sudden Bear hollers at us ........ River is blocked..........
A very large tree had gone down across the whole river. After Bear did some work with a saw on the right side of the river blocking tree we managed to get most of the canoes thru that opening but it did require some fancy paddling and sliding over logs . The heaver canoes went overland on the left side of the river which everyone agreed was the safer way for them to do it.
Back on the river and going down stream I scared three otters who had no idea I was there till I told the guys ... "Otters" Boy did the bark at me.... No, the Otters not the Guys. A short time later we were at The landing ( earlier then expected) and Steve had parked his van and trailer there so we loaded all of the boats and gear on it and called him .... Off the river back to civilization and home bound.
This is at the end because this is what it looked like at each camp site.
Chuck.
If you are thinking about doing the St.Marys River at any time I would suggest contacting Steve.
He is located at the St. Mary's River Fish Camp
28506 Scotts Landing Road
Hillard, Florida 32046
Web Site ... http://stmarysriverfishcamp.com/ (Canoe Country Outpost)
Phone 904-845-4440
Fax 904-845-4441
Toll free 866-845-4443
He also offers a Complete RV Hookup, Guided Fishing and is surrounded by 4000 acres of public land and naturally a canoe shuttle service.