Canoeing the Santa Fe River

On Friday, Ben and I took advantage of the beautiful day and went on a 7 mile canoe trip on the Santa Fe River.  We saw a lot of turtles, some birds, and even some squirrels for Laney, but nothing else unusual.  It was a nice trip and it was fun to be out on the water.  

The three of us in the canoe.

A pretty view of the river.

A turtle sun bathing.

Some cypress trees on the water.

Ben had to get in to feel the 70 degrees spring water.

Our sporting dog keeping an eye out for squirrels.

Brookville Lake with the Arthurs

In late July, we were invited to visit with the Arthurs at Brookville Lake. We drove our canoe down for the day and enjoyed exploring the lake. While we were out paddling, a thunderstorm came through.  We were caught on the other side of the lake and had to paddle across in the rain.  It was a little scary, but Ben thought it was fun.  

The Arthurs in their kayaks. 

Laney looking for water squirrels.

 Ben and me in our canoe.

 

 Ben having fun in the rain.

 The Arthurs paddling back to the dock in the storm.

We went out again after the storm passed and I tried out one of the kayaks.   

So glad we could visit with the Arthurs while they were in town.

Canoeing the Sugar Creek

Saturday we took our canoe out for its maiden voyage. Here is the canoe loaded up on the car carrier, which worked nicely.

We left one car at the Arthurs (near 400S) and drove up to the S&H Campground on 100N near Philadelphia. The campground was a convenient location, with easy access and parking. Joy and Laney pose at the start of the adventure.

Laney seemed a lot more comfortable in the canoe.  She got in much easier.  That's not to say that she is perfect in the canoe; she still has no concept of balancing the canoe.  We saw several deer, numerous squirrels, and many Canada Geese, Mallards, and Wood Ducks, all garnering Laney's attention.

The water levels were great, we only had to get out and drag the canoe over shallow riffles a couple times.  The biggest obstacle, though, were log jams.  There were at least six times we had to get out and carry the canoe around an obstruction.  Our route was 6.3 miles, so about once per mile.  The first one was the longest, being maybe a hundred yards.  In the photo below is the old Pennsy railroad bridge.

We got fairly accomplished at working our canoe through tight spots, anything to avoid portaging.  There were many trees that had fallen across the creek, leaving just enough gap to get the canoe through.  Joy decided that it was better to just lay back in the canoe rather than trying to step over them.

Overall, the creek was very scenic, especially for Hancock County.  Wood Ducks were everywhere.  Solitary Sandpipers worked the sandbars and banks.  We even saw a Green Heron, some Wild Turkeys, and a Prothonotary Warbler.

The biggest man-made obstacle was the farm north of US40, which had strung fencing across the creek on the upstream and downstream borders.  Luckily, we were able to squeeze through.

There were a couple of islands in the Sugar Creek closer to New Pal.  Here we had a small portage, where the stream had split into three channels.  The day was gorgeous, the water wasn't too cold, and it was fun to explore.  I look forward to exploring more in the future.

Our Canoe

It was brought to my attention that I never posted pictures of our "new" canoe on the blog.  So here are a few for your enjoyment. 

 Laney, always ready to go.

 Ben's clever pulley system in our garage. 

Our life jackets and paddles that we got for Christmas.  Now we are all set to hit the water come spring time.

Canoeing Rainbow River

Canoeing Rainbow River in Dunnellon, Florida

I wanted to take Joy to see Rainbow River on our Florida trip, having been there while working in the area. It was just the three of us, and the weather was perfect.

According the sign at the State Park, Rainbow Springs is the fifth largest springs by volume of water in the world. The river starts full-sized at the state park and has numerous springs along the spring run. The water is crystal clear, 72 degrees, and with much of it having a sandy bottom. Blooming Vallinsneria covered much of the rest.

A cypress tree stands out from the shore. The left bank was mostly undeveloped and wild. We didn't get to see any otters, like I had the previous time, but we did find two alligators. Other non-avian highlights included a red fox and an armadillo.

A group shot of the three of us. Laney did pretty well, and really enjoyed watching the wading birds, with maybe a different focus than I had. She was sure she could have caught an immature Little Blue Heron, and we were lucky to not have been tipped.

Laney sitting back with me, after the Little Blue Heron ruckus.

Joy relaxing and enjoying the view. It was still too early for the tubers, so we mostly had the river to ourselves. It got warm enough by the afternoon that I went for a swim with a cormorant.

A lovely view as we get close to Dunnellon and the confluence with the Withlacoochee. The trip made me want to take the trip down the Withlacoochee one day, as they say it is more remote, peaceful, and with more wildlife. I'll post about the avian highlights in the next post.

Laney's Canoe Trip on the Tim River

Here are some fun pics of Laney on our canoe trip.

Ben and Laney

The three of us

Another of the three of us.  Laney is getting a little tired in this pic.

Snuggling with me.  

A fun pic from outside of the canoe.

She found a good spot to rest her head.

So glad to be on solid ground again.  Poor thing, she was pretty tired.

Portaging on the Tim River

One fun thing about our trip on Tim River was portaging.  It was the first time we have ever had to portage on a trip.  It wasn't too difficult since we had only packed a lunch for the day, and the men easily carried the canoes. Here is the portage sign.

Ben's impression of the Portage sign.

Coming down the hill.

Ben made it look easy, only using one hand.

Andrew smiling for the camera.

Rich finishing up the parade of canoes.

When we got done canoeing for the day, I decided I wanted to try to carry a canoe too.  It wasn't horribly heavy, but I am not sure I would have wanted to carry it up and down a hill.

Another shot of me, so you can see my face better.

After I tried it, all the other girls needed a pic too.  Here is Kristen.

And last but not least, Susan.

Canoeing the Tim River in Algonquin

On Wednesday, we headed back to Algonquin to canoe on Tim River. Ben's plan was to canoe out for about 3 hours and then turn around and go back the way we came. It took us a little longer coming back (since we had to go against the wind) so it took us about 6.5 hours for the whole trip.

Our group (Susan, Rich, Kristen, Andrew, Ben, Laney, and me)

Ben, Laney and me in our canoe.

We didn't get to see as much wildlife as we had hoped, but we did spot this Loon.  One funny thing is that we saw him poop in the water.  I was lucky enough to get a decent picture of it too.

This was the first little portage spot.  We also stopped here to take a nice relaxing break for lunch. It was pretty evident that bears and moose enjoyed hanging out here, as well.

This is a view from the top of the hill of the second portage spot.  The men did great carrying our canoes (see pics here).  

It is so peaceful out there.  

Some of the fall colors starting to peek out.

A little beaver dam that we had to go around.

My attempt to get all of us in a picture while canoeing.

The final stretch.  It was such a beautiful day!