On this outing were Dot and I, Chuck Hubbuch our horticulturist, retired Director Charlie Bear and his daughter Donna, mutual friend and past U.N.F.'r Jimmy Carson, and a new friend of mine, Mike Johns. Mike's wife Joyce couldn't join us because of personal family matters. 

I finally got my track function on my GPS to work right. The photo below is a screen shot of the actual path we took down the Oklawaha River. Once again we started at the Rodman Dam for a one-way trip downstream. Just past the 'heavy blue line', you will see where we veered off into another branch of the river. Since I had been there twice before and Dot once before, we felt confident enough to do some exploring. Mike joined Dot and I probably because the three of us were well of ahead of the Bear gang. The branch we took is the yellow line that dead-ends. We followed that branch for about .7 of a mile.  One day we will have to fully explore that branch to see where it comes out at. The only reason we stopped following it was because I could see, according to my GPS, we were getting way off from where we were supposed to be. That part of the river is a kayaker and canoeists dream. Too shallow and too full of downed trees for any kind of a power boat. We saw one other person back in there. As we were leaving that area we came across a kayaker fisherman. We definitely want to go back there again. I know that Charlie and the rest of the gang will be surprised to see our ultimate path on the river. 

This is up near the put-in at the dam after we had crossed the main channel.

Herons and egrets are abundant on this river, as are turtles and a fair number of gators. We see lots of turtles but relatively few gators, but there is no doubt in my mind we see fewer gators than there really are. 

These are limpkins. We saw quite a few of these birds on this trip.

Both Charlie Bear and Jimmy Carson have told me point-blank, they LOVE this river. Don't we all !

This is on that back channel Dot, Mike and I took. Mike spotted this one. This was really a little guy. Stem to stern, nose to tail, was close to three feet. He went into the water as Dot and I got too close to him for his comfort.

However on the way back out the branch, we saw him again. We all thought this was a different smaller gator, but after seeing the photos close-up I think it is the same gator. You can tell he is a small one. 

Dot and I have both noticed the gators on the Oklawaha are 'toothier' than gators we've seen at Guana and at Okeefenokee. It could be a 'juvenile' thing. We don't know. Some of our friends just can't believe we get out in these wild places and mingle with wildlife like this. As far as Dot and I are concerned, this is really 'living life'. Neither of us would have it any other way.

This water is about 2 to 3 feet deep. And with the downed trees, a real motor boat stopper.

This is the one thing I don't like about making this website. I look at the pictures and I yearn to be back there. STRONGLY yearn !

But doing this website is truly one of those 'labors of love'. On Sunday [today for me] is when I put this website 'together'. First I have to preview all the photos Dot and I took, pick out the ones I want to share with y'all, enhance some of them and shrink all of them and then use some software to create the webpage. And then upload the whole thing to the University's computer. Hours . .  we are talking hours here.  

And what do I get out of it? The joy of sharing Mom Nature with those of you who don't or can't get out to these 'wild places'. Many of you, as I cross your path at work, compliment me on the photos. Many of you have said you live life vicariously through my pictures. My feelings? . . All of this is too good NOT to share. I do count my blessings, and one of those blessings is to be able to share all this beauty with y'all. So when I say  Enjoy !!  I mean it. 

We saw a fair number of gators this time.

Here is a sleeping bird. When we first passed it we thought it was an owl. So we back-paddled and got closer. We saw it wasn't an owl, but a sleeping bird. 

Of course, as close as we got to him, we disturbed his beauty sleep.

The red-orange eyes are the 'giveaway'. We saw one of these guys on the St. Mary's River and one of my 'photo fans' told me it was a Night Heron. No wonder he was sleeping, eh? But I did get some nice close-ups.

The water is really getting cold. No wonder they get out to sun themselves and warm up. After all, they are cold-blooded.

Sometimes it seems like the birds almost 'pose' for me.

On the last outing I showed y'all a picture of a 'coffee-cup' size turtle. Well . .  this one is 'tea-cup' size. 

At our lunch stop at the Indian Burial Mound, Dot and I took a little walk up the trail to the 'parking area'. We never saw the parking area, but we did see about 6 or 7 piles of bear scat along the path. And Dot spotted these guys crossing the trail. As we would say to the kids, they are giving each other 'piggy-back' rides. The big one was easily 4 inches long. 

While having our lunch we saw these people coming at us.

Who would have thought? It was Dan the father and Dan the son from the Jacksonville Canoe and Kayak Club. This is Dan the father.

Here is Dan the son and his lady-friend. I didn't catch if she was his wife or girlfriend, so lady-friend will suffice.

Mike in the lead.

Until we caught up to him. Mike has a sit-on-top kayak. These are pretty stable kayaks believe it or not. 

Another gator buddy. Again, most of the gators we saw were in the 5 to 6 foot range. I was hoping to see one of the 'big boys' I have heard about on the side branch we took. No such luck.

This is pretty much the 'peak' of fall color in Florida. Most of the leaves we saw on the trees were in the 'dying' stage.

Once again, as always, I hope y'all enjoyed tagging along with us. We will probably 'do' this river again next weekend so Mike's wife, Joyce, can join us. The St. Mary's River is still EXTREMELY low. Too low to paddle on for sure. We'll see.

P.S. 

If you want me to ADD your name/email address to my emaillist when I add new photos to this website, email me at the address below and I will gladly add your name and address. If your name is already on the list, no problem.

Email to Jack Woodward      mailto:  jackwoodward66@hotmail.com

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