Friday we met up in Whitesprings, Fla. around 2 pm. ACA outfitters has moved from downtown back out to Wendels house where they originally started and now have a campground behind the house. His prices have increased as well as charging for parking, so for just the four of us it was a little pricey but worth getting away for a few days. We journeyed up to Roline to put in, the three of us and Gatordog. He's gotten a reputation now and everyone around is warned about what a beast he really is, such a cute little dog until you approach his canoe or truck. The weather was warm during the day and cool at night and the water level was just about perfect, 55.5 feet at Whitesprings.
We packed the canoes and kayak and headed downstream. It didn't take long to relax and forget about the routine of home and work.
As usual it wasn't long before we found a nice sandbar to camp for the night and in quick order had the tents up, chairs out and something to eat in front of us. We had seen three medium sized gators on the way along with a pair of Great Blue herons, a Great heron, lots of songbirds and a few sunning turtles. As night fell, the owls serenaded us and the whipperwills called from the woods.
Westbury had me up bright and early on Saturday and we tried to be quiet but soon Jay and Diane were up making breakfast. We never really rush and it was around 10 o'clock before we were packed and on our way. Bonnie met us just above Hwy 6 and after a short break we continued downriver. We saw a few more birds to include woodpeckers and a Kingfisher but other than songbirds not much was stirring. We had not paddled this section before and soon found that the sandbars are few and far in between. It was 14 miles before we were ready to stop and settled on a sandbar that had posted land behind. We usually don't like being around something that's posted but we really were whipped and that was the only bar we had seen in several miles.
We set up camp again and all took a quick swim to refresh and clean up. The stars were fantastic and the night cool enough to make a small fire a welcome source of heat. We were just below Cones Bridge Road and only had a few miles to go before our take out at Bullards so we planned to sleep late. As usual my dog was up and wanted out early but this time Diane was already up so we didn't disturb her. We ate breakfast and again loaded the boats.
Diane spotted a banded water snake sunning on a cypress knee and Jay soon spied several baby gators coming off the bank into the water. Not to be left out I found another snake wrapped around some tree roots and after close inspection we decided we didn't want to inspect it any closer....
Four miles down from our camp we came to the takeout and proceded to unload for the last time. It's a long and dusty ride back to the outfitter's. On the ride home we stopped and had some great BBQ at Woody's. On Hwy 301 I saw a Swallow Tailed Kite flying over the road and just before I95 there was a Bald Eagle fighting with an Osprey. We saw almost as much wildlife riding down the roads this time as we spotted in the three days on the river. Temperatures ranged from low 80's during the day to high 50's at night and the water was just a little cool for comfortable swimming.
We hope to make another trip down the Suwannee River real soon as this is one of our favorites.
We packed the canoes and kayak and headed downstream. It didn't take long to relax and forget about the routine of home and work.
As usual it wasn't long before we found a nice sandbar to camp for the night and in quick order had the tents up, chairs out and something to eat in front of us. We had seen three medium sized gators on the way along with a pair of Great Blue herons, a Great heron, lots of songbirds and a few sunning turtles. As night fell, the owls serenaded us and the whipperwills called from the woods.
Westbury had me up bright and early on Saturday and we tried to be quiet but soon Jay and Diane were up making breakfast. We never really rush and it was around 10 o'clock before we were packed and on our way. Bonnie met us just above Hwy 6 and after a short break we continued downriver. We saw a few more birds to include woodpeckers and a Kingfisher but other than songbirds not much was stirring. We had not paddled this section before and soon found that the sandbars are few and far in between. It was 14 miles before we were ready to stop and settled on a sandbar that had posted land behind. We usually don't like being around something that's posted but we really were whipped and that was the only bar we had seen in several miles.
We set up camp again and all took a quick swim to refresh and clean up. The stars were fantastic and the night cool enough to make a small fire a welcome source of heat. We were just below Cones Bridge Road and only had a few miles to go before our take out at Bullards so we planned to sleep late. As usual my dog was up and wanted out early but this time Diane was already up so we didn't disturb her. We ate breakfast and again loaded the boats.
Diane spotted a banded water snake sunning on a cypress knee and Jay soon spied several baby gators coming off the bank into the water. Not to be left out I found another snake wrapped around some tree roots and after close inspection we decided we didn't want to inspect it any closer....
Four miles down from our camp we came to the takeout and proceded to unload for the last time. It's a long and dusty ride back to the outfitter's. On the ride home we stopped and had some great BBQ at Woody's. On Hwy 301 I saw a Swallow Tailed Kite flying over the road and just before I95 there was a Bald Eagle fighting with an Osprey. We saw almost as much wildlife riding down the roads this time as we spotted in the three days on the river. Temperatures ranged from low 80's during the day to high 50's at night and the water was just a little cool for comfortable swimming.
We hope to make another trip down the Suwannee River real soon as this is one of our favorites.