Now this is interesting. Charlie Bear sent me an email saying Oklawaha was spelled Ocklawaha. After doing a Google search on both spellings, the same places showed up in the search. So evidently, either spelling is correct. My GPS map program shows it as Oklawaha, so that is what I am going with.
After hearing about and seeing the photos from last weekend's outing on the Oklawaha River, Dot was quite anxious to see it for herself. The problem was the weather. High winds were called for, 15-25 mph with even higher gusts. I saw from the weather report that the winds were going to come out of the northeast. Since the river runs east-west, I felt pretty sure the trees on the northern bank would protect us from the winds. I hit that one on the head. I had called Charlie Bear earlier in the week and invited him to join us as he had never been to the Oklawaha either. He told me they had planned on going to Guana. He called me Friday evening and said that he, his daughter Donna, and Jimmy Carson would be joining us on the Oklawaha.
We all met at Rodman dam and unloaded the kayaks and our gear. Charlie and his gang all came down in his truck. Dot and I each brought our own vehicles. So after unloading everything, Donna and Jimmy stayed with the kayaks while Dot, Charlie and I all headed down to the takeout point. Once there, Charlie and I left our trucks there, and Dot 'shuttled' us back to the put-in. That way we could load up our gear at the take-out and all go our separate ways.
Dot and I had brought flannel shirts with us but decided to shed them pretty quickly. The sun was out and nice and warm. And the paddling kept us warm as well.
I've read that an abundance of turtles and frogs are a good sign of a healthy eco-system. That said, the Oklawaha River is very healthy. We saw tons of turtles as you will see. All told we saw three gators, all in the 5-6 foot range, although we've been told by more than one person that there are 10-12 footers on this river. That's a dang big gator. We also saw lots of great blue herons, egrets and anhingas or cormorants. One day I'll remember the difference between the two. They are pretty much identical except one has a sharply curved beak at the tip. No eagles, but hawks and ospreys. And a few schools of fish to boot. Just like last weekend, the water was crystal clear. Dot and the others couldn't get over how crystal clear the water was. We are all used to doing blackwater rivers like the St. Mary's and the Suwannee.
One of the many, many turtles we saw.
Our first gator. As I said, all the gators were small ones.
I think this is a juvenile great blue heron. Nope. According to Keith Stokes, my biology friend at U.N.F., this is a Little Blue Heron. Different species from a Great Blue Heron.
There was an abundance of these yellow daisy-like flowers along the way. We also saw purple aster type flowers, some growing on logs midstream.
A great blue heron.
Very scenic.
Starting out, we were on the right side of the river near the spillway [see next photo]. We paddled directly across the channel you see here and entered the woods on the left side near the spillway. All the previous pictures were taken on that 'back leg' of the river. That leg joins up with this straight main stretch downstream. It was easily a half mile back to the spillway. The telephoto I had on the camera at the time makes the distance deceiving. I also had planned to get a 'track' on my GPS of where we went, but once again I screwed up something and didn't get it . . darn it! Next time.
Which will be this coming weekend. Oupa Seane doesn't know it yet, but he's going to get an invite to join Dot and I here next weekend. Oupa has been really 'antsy' about going out again. However the low water level on the St. Mary's is really a no-go. Oupa plans on bringing his teen age daughter for her first kayak ride. I think she will like this.
Dot spotted this gator. Dot loves to see the gators.
Got this hawk resting in the branches.
This little guy was about the size of a coffee cup.
This gator was out like a light.
Here you can see how clear the water is. Don't be fooled, the water is easily over six feet deep.
Does this look relaxed or what?
Ok, I know this is kinda gross, but it's WHAT it is that makes it a bit exciting. Charlie, Donna and I all agreed this is bear scat. And it was fresh so it was probably dropped that very morning. From the size of it, this bear was probably around 200 pounds or so. Donna found some more droppings on a path into the woods. I would LOVE to get a picture of a wild bear.
Charlie said, "I'm a Bear, take my picture". So I did.
At our lunch stop.
Dot and I were in the tandem kayak and Charlie and company were in his singles.
I found this guy hopping around. Surprising this little guy could easily jump three feet. I think it's a leopard frog. Maybe one of my biology friends will let me know, right or wrong. Nope again. According to Keith, he thinks this is a Cricket Frog.
A waterlogged great blue.
As you can see, there are some fall colors in the trees.
This is more rare of a sight than most people think. Charlie said it was a banded water snake. He was every bit of five feet in length.
No I'm not THAT close. I used a telephoto. I try to give snakes, all snakes, a respectful distance.
I wanna go back . . . NOW !! After getting to the take-out point, Dot and I decided to go downstream a bit more and explore. One of the first things we came across was a Fish and Wildlife patrol boat. They checked to see if we had lifejackets (which we always do) and to make sure we were aware there are power boats in the area (which we were). Just in case anyone out there thinks those guys are like wanna-be cops, guess again. I have an acquaintance who didn't have his life jacket or a whistle on the intracoastal waterway. He got an $80 ticket for that one. Don't mess with those guys.
The Spanish moss backlit by the sun is always a pretty picture.
This is going down the channel to the take-out point. That's the boat ramp in the distance.
Needless to say, a good time was had by all. Just because we went 'with someone' doesn't necessarily mean we stay together the whole time. With experienced kayakers like Charlie and his gang, Dot and I will leave them on their own. Most of the trip, Dot and I were way ahead of them. Or way behind them.
With novices like Oupa and his daughter, we tend to play mother hen and try to stay relatively closer to them. At least until we feel we can trust them on their own. As I am sure everyone already knows, there is an inherent risk being in a boat on the water. Being in a kayak tends to be a bit riskier because one is so low in the water to start with. If you want a good birds-eye view of a gator, look at one from a kayak. And always remember . . YOU are in HIS house.
P.S.
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Email to Jack Woodward mailto: jackwoodward66@hotmail.com
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