With the arrival of warmer weather and a little free time, I was able to do some paddling recently. I’d already seen the Duck River from a trail hike, and actually drove past an outfitter to get to the trailhead. I can highly recommend Higher Pursuits in Colombia TN https://www.higherpursuits.com/

They use an online reservation system but will take phone calls for same day reservations and general questions. The staff was both friendly and professional. I chose the Jackson tripper kayak for my paddle and was very pleased with the installed seat. It allowed me to adjust so that I could sit upright for the entire paddle without any back fatigue.

The paddle itself was uneventful, more relaxing than challenging. I chose the shorter route since it had been a long time between paddles. There were numerous turtles sunning themselves. I also spotted a belted kingfisher, a hawk and a few black vultures. The current was fairly steady and a few sections of the river even had Class I water. Next time I’m in the area, I’ll try out the longer paddle.

Put In

Feeder Stream

Class I

Zoomed Class I

I woke up this morning, looked out the window and decided to put the kayak in the Banana River for a paddle. Weather conditions were overcast with a light breeze, perfect for a speed paddle across the river and back. I was almost all the way across when I noticed a large flock of birds overhead flying north. I couldn’t identify them but ruled out geese or duck since I didn’t hear any honking or quacking. They were flying in sloppy V formations but what made them really stand out was their sheer numbers. This flock took well over a minute to pass by and I’m guessing it was about 1/2 mile from start to end. Before my paddle was finished I saw 3 other flocks of similar size, all heading in the same direction. While I was watching one of these flocks I also caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. 3 dolphins had snuck up on me and were just cruising past looking for their breakfast. One of these days I’ll figure out how to signal a dolphin to turn around and inspect my kayak. All in all, a pretty good way to start the day 🙂

My time in Florida grows short and Monday was a beautiful day for a paddle. I dragged my kayak the 100 yds to the river and the water was like glass. I jumped in and quickly paddled across the Banana River to Merritt Island. Along the way I tried chasing a dolphin and numerous stingrays. Those critters are very fast and sneaky. It’s like they were born in the water 🙂 I also spotted quite a few mating horseshoe crabs while floating through the shallows. The finale for this paddle was spotting a huge white swan, not my normal bird sighting in Florida. I was able to get quite close to it to be sure of the identification. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera on this paddle. However, I’m including some representative pics of everything except the dolphin. On the paddle back to the famcamp, the wind picked up, naturally. Wave heights looked like 8-12 inches, maybe some a little higher. It’s a very good thing I had my spray skirt on or it could have been a wet and cold return paddle.

Got to paddle a 9 mile stretch of the Peace River between Brownville Park and Arcadia with new friends from Ontario, snowbirding here in Lake Placid. The water was cold, as found out by one couple who fell out of their canoe on some shoals, but the weather was great. It was a good omen that we spotted a bald eagle just as we started the paddle.

Paddled Arbuckle Creek solo today. Put in at Istokpoga Park off US 98. Found the mouth of the creek without too much trouble. Started paddling upstream and found a private park with wild turkeys running around in it. Paddled past a fish/rv/horse camp and spotted a long-tailed monkey. Found out from fisherman further up the creek that it’s a family pet named Sam. On the way back, spotted llamas at this same property. A lot of the creek had open pasture on either side but some sections were bordered by cypress, pines, and live oak. Just past the railroad trestle, there were actual shoals. I had to portage around to get further upstream. Ran into more cows on the banks. Even though I gave them a wide berth they spooked easy and ran off. Turned around and was able to paddle through the shoals, only hung up a little on one shelf.  Inventory of wildlife seen: black vultures, osprey, hawks, great and little blue herons, ibis, cattle and great white egrets, turkeys, sand hill cranes, belted kingfisher, gators, cows, horses, long tailed monkey and llamas. Total time on the water was about 6 hrs.