02/17/00 Paddling St. Johns River:
As I was launching from the public boat ramp next to Blue Spring State Park an old(er than me) guy said "Look at that alligator". I looked in the direction in which he was pointing and, thinking his eyesight was failing said, "That's not an alligator, it's a branch". "Not the branch, dummy, what's swimming in front of it?" Well, sure enough, it was an alligator.
Blue Spring State Park, in Orange City, is the site of the largest artesian spring in the country/world. It pumps 104 million gallons of 72 degree water a day into the St. Johns River. Manatees move into the warm spring water in the winter time. Since there's no oxygen in the spring water, and therefore no vegetation, the manatees have to go out into the St. Johns to feed but quickly return to the warmth of the spring.
They don't have to go too far if they don't want to because the water absorbs oxygen from the ground within a short distance, making growth of some vegetation possible. Lots of large carp inhabit the area below the spring as do dozens of 2.5-3.0 gars and some big large mouth bass and a lot of large black catfish. Scuba divers like to dive down into the boil (why I dunno), the area where the water bubbles up. They can only go down 100 feet where a large boulder blocks further descent.
I only saw one lone manatee swimming around in the spring area. The temperatures have been warm the past week or so, presumably warming up the St. Johns (already warm from the flow from the spring) enough for the other manatees to venture farther. The lone manatee had a buoy tied around its tail. I guess this was a radio transmitter for keeping track of the critter.
So, I was hoping to paddle up river and find some manatees. I didn't know if seeing an alligator before I was even in the boat was a good omen or not. I paddled across the river to what was actually an island to see the gator. He heard me as I came around a corner and stampeded off the bank. It seemed to be about a 6 footer.
Paddling around the island I came across a houseboat tied to shore with a couple just sitting down to breakfast. Now that I could go for. If you could just trailer one easily it would beat hell out of a motor home and all those noisy campgrounds.
I passed over a sting ray in 3 inches of water and 2 gators in the water up ahead. On shore another gator dragged its 6-7 foot body into the water as I approached. Up in the trees I could see more than 100 white Ibises and a few immature brown ones. As I sat watching the Ibises, a loud splash directly behind the boat scared the crap out of me. I assume it was a mid-size alligator that surfaced behind me, took one look at me and headed for the bottom with a big push from its tail. All of this while going around a 2-3 acre island.
Well, that was certainly an auspicious beginning to a trip. Back out on the St. Johns I headed north, which is against the current because the St. Johns flows northward, in this area at about 1 knot. As I started up the western (sunny) shore however, the pontoon boats started coming from the other directions. They were all rentals and numbered more than 10. They scared off any wildlife so while it was a pleasant paddle upstream, it could have been better. Even so, I saw several alligators swimming across the 50-75 foot river and others just floating along waiting for a bird or something to swim by for breakfast.
The St. Johns flows into Lake Beresford in a couple miles. A couple of day markers mark the channel around a small island right there. I followed the channel around and scared up several really big gators. One 8+ footer was stretched out its full length with its head arched up. Just as I began snapping the picture he took off. This is getting to be a habit. I saw its rear leg twitch and then it was gone and I got another nice shot of a bank.
Lake Beresford has a fair amount of development and doesn't look particularly appealing. The southeast part is wild and paddling along that shore I found several 2.5-3.0 foot gators sunbathing on top of the seaweed growing out from shore.
Back at the island, I beat 2 big eco-tour boats into the channel. Knowing where to look and when to be a little more quiet I spotted 5-6 really large gators in a short stretch. I really don't have anything to go by but I'd say most were 8+ feet in length.
I shot several pictures from 50-60 feet. One I took to be a large female on what looked might be a grass nest. I got a shot of her but when she hit the water I was out of there. If she was protecting a nest I wanted to be somewhere else, now!
I hugged the eastern (sunny) shore on the way back and spotted 10-15 large (6+ foot) gators. Either I'm being unduly impressed or they were all big and I think I may have gotten a couple of decent shots, one of a 8-9 footer turning around to head for the water. Another of a smaller (5-6 footer) with both ends dangling over a tree stump. And then there was the grand daddy. This guy had to be over 10 feet. I figured the head at more than 2 feet, the body at 3.0-3.5 feet and the tail more than 4 feet. I used up my film on him but he was in grass and I couldn't get a full length shot of him.
In addition to the Ibises, I passed a number of great egrets on the way, some snowy egrets, herons and osprey.
02/18/00 Paddling Back Channels:
Well, I didn't see any manatees yesterday and hoped I'd have better luck heading south today. I launched from the boat ramp next to Blue Spring State Park again and turned towards Blue Spring.
Just a short way past the spring is The Lagoon, an enclosed body of water 0.25-0.50 miles long and a couple of hundred miles wide. Entrance is through a growth of large lily pads. The water is only a couple of inches deep and the bottom is covered with 6 inches of sediment. This debris is so loosely packed, the only way to tell you're not paddling in water is the blade comes up all covered with silt.
Even so, I scared up some fair sized fish, for which the osprey thanked me. One swooped down and lifted a fat fish out of the water. I got a picture of it shaking water from itself and trying to gain altitude with the fish clutched firmly in its talons.
The entrance of the lagoon had some deeper water. As I was leaving, a medium sized gator crossed in front of me, heading for the sunny shore for a morning of sun bathing.
Paddling out into the St. Johns River I watched as flocks of Ibises flew from somewhere across the river to land in nearby trees. They came in 5 or 10 at a time, all landing in the same couple of trees.
I was supposed to be heading south (up river) on the St. Johns in search of manatees. I was soon distracted by a tributary flowing into the river and had to go investigate. A little ways up this tributary I found a small feeder creek and had to go exploring it.
I had already paddled past 2 limpkin when they took off up the creek sounding like sirens. Oak branches formed a canopy across the 30-40 foot creek its entire length, allowing sunlight to filter through infrequently. Where ever the sun could peek through to the water surface you'd find small gators or turtles soaking up the rays.
It was so peaceful along this creek. Some kind of bird was screeching in the background like a macaw or something, adding to the feeling of being alone on a distant river in the Amazon.
In a half mile or so I came to what I thought was the St. Johns again with a pontoon boat passing by. After I turned in what I thought was a southerly direction, the compass bluntly informed me I was heading north. Not being one to argue with technology I retraced my path rather than grope around trying to figure where I was.
If I'm going to be wandering around in these little feeder creeks (which I am) then I'm going to have to start using the GPS more, marking waypoints when I turn into the tributaries. I don't ask for much, but I do ask that I be able to find my way back to the truck after each paddle. Waypoints should help.
Once I clarified my position by paddling all the way back to where I had entered the tributary I was soon paddling around another lagoon where I passed several small gators swimming around. The water was so shallow they couldn't really dive to get away from me and just had to swim away as best they could.
I seem to be rationed to one bald eagle a day and the one for today made a single pass across the lagoon. I passed several more flocks of Ibises roosting in trees as I passed by. I started to wonder at their numbers.
I soon came to another feeder stream, this one with several palm trees at its source. Palms and large palmettos line both shores with live oaks extending their branches to form another canopy. In 0.75 miles I came to a wider stream that wasn't the St. Johns. I suspect it was the Hontoon Dead River which leads to another state park near by.
I turned the other way for 0.5 miles before running out of water. Water lilies extended from both shores with some smaller watercress type plant growing on the outer edges. I thought this might be prime manatee feed but didn't see any. Numerous great egrets were in among the lily pads gorging themselves. I stopped to watch one guy. Their necks are crooked, like the plumbing fixtures under a sink. When they catch a small fish, they start to swallow it, then have to extend their necks to remove the crooks, allowing the fish to slide down.
I wandered on down another tributary and came across 100's and 100's, maybe more than 1,000 Ibises. They were in the trees, on the ground, in the marshy areas, everywhere. It looked like a chicken farm with all these little white birds running around. Every time I'd paddle near the trees, they would start dumping. There was so much it looked like giant rain drops hitting the water.
Coming back down the tributary I could hear owls hooting in the distance. These sounded like the same type that were keeping me awake a few nights ago. Why they were hooting in the daytime I dunno.
It only took me about 30 minutes to paddle back to the boat ramp. An all day paddle and I only went a mile or so from the put in. Fine by me, it was a really good paddle. I didn't see any manatees but did see about 15 larger gators, a few of them pretty big.
02/20/00 Paddling No Name Branch:
Only the second manatee showed up at Blue Spring this morning. This was a small one released from Sea World, after some kind of rehabilitation, just a couple of days ago.
Yesterday while on my morning walk I came across 3 sand hill cranes. I didn't have my camera and by the time I ran back to the camp site and back, they were gone. This morning I had the camera and spotted a large red headed woodpecker. It was kinda shy and kept hiding on the other side of a tree. When it got tired of that game it flew across the spring to its mate. They were out of range of my little 90mm so I didn't get a picture of them either.
We've been having a heat wave with several days in a row in the 80's. That's part of the reason the manatees are out of the spring. The water in the river is warming up.
I put in from the High Banks boat ramp in De Bary, a short distance down route 17/92. I wanted to go south in search of manatees but a 10 knot wind was blowing from the north so I headed in that direction instead.
Turning into a small channel, I noticed a medium alligator on the far bank up ahead. I was kinda proud of myself for spotting it so far ahead. As I got nearer, I kept my eye on it to make sure it didn't turn into something else. But no, the ridges on its back became more distinct as I approached and it remained an alligator. The surprise came when it slid into the water. What I had mistaken for the back of a 4 foot alligator, was in fact, only its tail. Shudder! I didn't get a good view of the whole beastie and I'm not sure I wanted to, as large as it seemed.
I turned up into what turned out to be a branch of the St. John's River. I had started down this part of the river at the tail end of my last trip. It's a pretty and quiet and calm river. Lots of egrets dotted the shore with some blue and Ward's herons, lots of American Coots and a few cormorants.
I sat and watched as a Ward's heron a fish that looked suspiously like a flounder. It wasn't as round as a sting ray and had a wider, floppy tail. The fish had to be 4 times the width of that bird's mouth. Yet, after some maneuvering it did get it down. Once it was in its throat, it did take a few more gulps to get it the rest of the way down.
Coming out of the river branch I got my daily allowance of one bald eagle. I thought I was going to get a picture of it flying directly overhead but couldn't get the camera positioned in time. Oh well. I did get to see 100's of Ibises flying overhead in an impressive display.
I should have turned around and gone back down the branch. Instead I turned down the St. Johns and into a zillion big 25-30 foot power boats. Not your high powered bass boats or that type. No, these are those so called pleasure boats that serve no useful purpose except to go fast, make lots of noise, create big wakes, and emit huge clouds of noxious fumes.
I came across a 4 foot gator that had been sunning itself on a floating log. 4-5 big boats went by, full throttle of course, and the gator was hanging onto that log for dear life as all those waves kept pounding it. Then it saw me and decided the effort just wasn't worth it anymore and slid into the water.
Although I didn't see any again today, the manatees are in the area. There's no way any of those power boats could have avoided hitting one if the situation arose. I doubt if they would have even seen one in the channel because the water is really dark.
I started up one little canal to explore but after powering over one downed log and squeezing through a narrow opening I gave up and turned back. One the way back I saw a coot hobbling along the shore, trying to make its way into the water. One foot, while intact, just dangled loosely as it made its way into the water. I thought about maybe trying to catch and take it somewhere for care. It could still move faster than I could on land and I'd probably only hurt it worse by chasing it. I didn't know where to take it anyway and coots are so common down here, no one would probably care so I left it to its own fate.
Back on the St. Johns the power boats got to be too much for me. I wasn't having fun so called it quits for the day.
02/22/00 Paddling St. Johns River:
I've moved from Blue Spring State Park to Lake Monroe (Velousia) County Campgrounds in De Bary. The continuously barking of neighborhood dogs 24 hours a day was too much. Several creek and river trips in the area still look interesting so I signed on for a week a Lake Monroe.
I kinda had a goal of paddling to Black Water Creek off of Wekiva River from St. Johns River but I kinda blew it. Last night I used DeLorme's Street Atlas CD to get a better view of the rivers and printed out a slightly more detailed map than DeLorme's hard copy Atlas. It was a little too detailed.
I put in at the High Banks landing again, turning south on the St. Johns with a 10 knot NE wind pushing me along. The CD showed a couple of little trickles coming into the St. Johns before meeting with the Wekiva River. I didn't see any so ignored the Wekiva when I came to it. I kept on paddling anyway, just to see what the rest of the St. Johns was like.
Part of it was really great with palms and palmettos and Spanish moss draped live oaks lining the shores. The water level is down anywhere from 2-4 feet because of lack of rain.
I watched a pair of ospreys doing some spring maintenance on their nest by flying in loads of Spanish moss. Poking around in some backwaters I found 4 wood storks, the first I've seen since leaving the Merritt Island and Sebastian Inlet area.
The usual compliment of herons, great egrets, Ibises, king fishers and coots were scattered around the shores, lily pads and grasses. I passed a few houses on the eastern shore while the western shore remained unpopulated since its a state park.
The landscape gave way to lots of moss covered cypress trees along with some palms on one shore and 8-12 foot grasses on the other. Rounding a bend I found 6-8 Hereford and Angus cows grazing at the water's edge. One Angus was belly deep in lily pads. That didn't seem a very healthy thing to do because on my side of the river was a large alligator just floating along. A cow is probably way to big for an alligator to attack (at least I hope so since I'm smaller than a cow) but even so, a nice big soft belly right there in the water might be pretty tempting. I saw a couple of other floaters (not the NYC Hudson River kind), but no alligators on shore today.
I kept paddling south with the wind pushing me along occasionally until I found myself near a power plant that sits across the road from my campground. Remembering the map I knew nothing of interest lay beyond. After an early lunch I took advantage of a temporary shift in the wind and started back. The wind shift didn't last long and I was soon battling a 10-15 knot NE wind again and getting tinkled on by some intermittent showers.
I verified where the Wekiva was with a couple of fishermen and will give it another shot tomorrow.