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Courtesy of the University of North Florida
and Jack Woodward
Here is the link for the University of North Florida.
10/13/07 Hey ! This is another outing all by myself again. Dot was helping a friend of hers move. Of course I would much rather have Dot with me on my outings, but it doesn't bother me to go out alone on my own. It's what I did before Dot came along.
Considering all the rain we've had around here, I decided to give it another go at the Okeefenokee Swamp at Stephen Foster State Park near Fargo, Ga. The last time Dot and I went there about a month ago, only a mile and a half of the waterway in the swamp was open because of low water and downed trees blocking the channels. Not so this time. The rangerette said I could pretty much go anywhere in my kayak.
This first photo was on the way up to the put-in. Obviously it is hay baling time.
This is on the water at Stephen Foster State Park. This is the channel that leads out of the boat marina. The last time Dot and I were here, there was only a small tricklet of water on the left and even that was pretty much grass filled.
This is looking backward toward the boat marina. Yes Tom, there is enough water for a jon boat, depending on which direction you head.
Still on the channel heading toward the main river, the Suwannee River to be precise.
The Suwannee River. It sure was a pretty day for reflections on the water as you will soon see.
This is looking upstream. There was a bit of a breeze blowing almost all day. At times it sure was welcomed.
The cypress trees up here in this part of the swamp are truly impressive. I decided to make a go for Minnie's Lake. There are literally tens of thousands of cypress trees in this area and heading toward the lake.
There are scattered flowers in the area, mostly these daisy's.
This route I took is a kayakers or canoeists dream. But there was a point on the way to the lake where a log blocked the channel. A jon boat would have been stopped by it. I seriously doubt if a canoe could have gotten over it. But because my kayak has a flat bottom, I was able to 'ram' it, get on top of the log and push off on the other side.
This is one of the four gators I saw. Stephen Foster area has extremely few gators. But the scenery more than makes up for that.
This is the turn-off to Minnie's Lake. According to my GPS, this is the Middle Fork of the Suwannee River.
This is a Little Blue Heron. I capitalized that because that is the name of the species. If I had said this was a little blue heron, you would think it was just that, a 'little' blue heron. This guy (gal) was hunting for ford.
This guy (gal) wasn't hunting for food. It was trying to take a nap and I disturbed its beauty sleep. It did hiss at me to let me know it wasn't overly pleased with my presence. Like all the gators I saw this day, this one was about 5 feet long. The Okeefenokee Swamp up near Folkston has much larger gators.
This is heading up toward Minnie's Lake. Like I said, this paddle is a kayakers dream. The scenery I saw on the way up [4 miles] was nothing less than awesome.
The reflections of the cypress trees in the mirror flat 'blackwater' was especially picturesque.
Like I said, this is a kayakers' dream trip. Luckily for me there were very few boaters out on the water. I only saw 5 other paddlers and 4 of them were in one group that I saw on my way 'home'. I did see one 'jon-boater' couple on this stretch, also on my way 'home'. So I pretty much had this whole trip all to myself. And believe me, out here and all alone is just that - All alone - ! Getting in trouble out here would not be a good thing.
But on the other hand - having all this to one's self is Heaven on Earth.
I saw a great many of these guys, baby dragonflies.
The trail to Minnie's Lake changes character a lot. It goes from wide open like this, down to very tight passageways through the cypresses.
Like this. If it wasn't for the arrow sign on the tree, one would have no idea of which way to go. But if you went the wrong way, you would 'run out of water' pretty quickly. One of my biggest obstacles to heading upstream was spider webs. And I HATE spiders. Having been really badly spider-bitten in my past does that to a person. And when the channel narrows down, it gives spiders a good opportunity to build a web. U-G-H !!!
The small sign ahead says - Rest Shelter - One Mile. This was at the 3 mile mark of my trip, where I had 'planned' to turn around and head back. I almost wish I would have, as you will see why. But when I saw this sign, I thought, Oh, good, a chance to get out of the boat and stretch my legs. These 'rest stops' out in the swamp are usually raised platforms on the water that have a port-a-potty type thing on them. They are usually pretty nice and well maintained.
This is just around the corner from the Rest Stop sign.
I must admit, this section of the channel heading toward Minnie's Lake is extremely picturesque.
Here is the 'log-stopper' I told you about. If you look closely you can almost make out a small 'V' notch in the middle of the log. That is where I 'rammed' it and got on top of the log.
From this point on, downed trees were numerous, on both sides of the river. There must have been either one hellacious windstorm here or a microburst hit the area. Okay, we all know about windstorms, but what the heck is a microburst? Right? Okay, essentially it is a mass of air that forms way up in the sky, tens of thousands of feet up. It is usually a mass of very cold air. We all know that heat rises. Well, cold air sinks . . FAST ! When one of these masses of cold air is formed way up in the sky, it 'falls' to the ground. Reaching speeds in the 'hundreds of miles per hour' when it hits the ground. We've all seen what wind damage can do. One of these microbursts is no different. Absolute devastation !! There were dozens of trees knocked down on both sides of the river. It was a pretty eerie feeling to see so much damage in 'one spot'.
And downed trees makes what? Great places for spiders to build more webs. U G H !!!!
This part of the trip upriver was absolutely grueling. All I wanted to do was to get to the rest shelter and regroup. I was really needing a break.
The sign for Minnie Lake.
And MORE downed trees.
But . . it sure was pretty.
This is nearing the rest shelter.
The sign for the rest shelter.
The rest shelter. TOTALLY blocked by downed trees. There was no getting out of the boat anywhere !!
At this point I had resigned myself that I was going to have my lunch IN the boat. And do whatever else I had to do . . IN the boat. This was pretty disheartening to say the least.
But . . . it sure was pretty !
This is Minnie Lake. Not much of a lake one might say, but after going through the narrow channels to get here, it is indeed a lake. Maybe there was a 'wider' part further upstream . . I don't know. This was my stopping point . . four miles from the put-in. But what an absolutely, incredibly beautiful four miles.
It was up here on Minnie Lake I got the royal be-jesus scared out of me. I was already feeling very 'antsy' after passing by all the spider webs on the way here. VERY antsy !! I felt something hit my left shoulder and turned to look . . . and after a few cuss words . . . realized a praying mantis had landed on me. It wasn't a big one, but even when a smaller one lands on you, you know it. It crawled down my arm and onto the boat. It stayed with me while I had lunch then crawled back up on me and headed down my back. I lost sight of it for a while, but when I saw him again, he was on the back of the boat. So I paddled toward some of the downed trees and he got the idea and climbed up on the tree branches. I moved away from the branches and looked over my left shoulder . . and there was a huge black spider on my shoulder !!! I damned near jumped out of the boat. He left . . I assumed . . but nonetheless I grabbed my can of insect repellant and sprayed myself down. %$^*&^^$ I HATE SPIDERS !!!!
After my eventful lunch . . I headed back downstream. Back through the spider webs. Was it worth it? Honestly, I must admit that it was. The beauty I saw [ and am able to share with you ] made it very worthwhile. It's what you call 'taking the bad with the good'.
It was, as I said, grueling. But well worth it. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
As I've said before . . . money can't buy this. This is earned. Through perseverance and a little bit of hard work.
And all these reflections in the water I saw . . I wish I could have taken . . and shared . . a full length video with y'all.
But I can't. So here is the next best thing. My simple webpage. Again . . courtesy of the University of North Florida.
Heading back to the take-out.
Another Little Blue Heron hunting food . . and getting ready to strike.
They are pretty birds. And miniatures of the Great Blue Herons.
One 'last' look at the Okeefenokee Swamp at Stephen Foster State Park near Fargo, Ga.
Here is an added treat, I hope these 'come out' okay. On the way back from Minnie Lake, I was letting the current and the wind carry me along, only paddling when I had to. I was pretty whupped.
I heard a splashing sound off to one side and looked up and saw a deer. A really nice looking buck . . six points I believe. I was able to stay with him . . since he didn't run off after spotting me . . for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
I don't hunt. Nor do I fish . . although I may take up fishing in my retirement. So seeing a wild deer in his own element like this is truly exciting. I never even thought to take any 'still' photos. I was too enthralled to do anything but stay near him and take these videos. Lucky me! Lucky US !!!
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