Paddle
Florida to scout
3 new trips!
Beginning in April Paddle Florida
staff will be traveling the state in order
to scout trips in Central Florida, the Florida
Keys and the Panhandle. We hope to put
in place all the details for trips to be scheduled
in December, February and March, respectively. These
3 new events will be staged in addition to
the 3 events we have already scheduled
for 2010 and 2011; our 3rd annual Fall
Paddle Florida, our Peace River trip over the
MLK, Jr. weekend and our 4th annual Spring
Paddle Florida. The plan is to host a
trip over the Christmas break in Central Florida,
over President's Day weekend next year in
the Keys and during Spring Break in the Panhandle. Stay
tuned for more information to come after
we have finished these scouting trips! Right
now our next event is scheduled
for the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail,
October 14-21, 2010.
Columbia County a valued partner in
the growth of Paddle Florida
In the nascent days of Paddle Florida, the Columbia County Tourist Development Council office was one of the first to come aboard and believe in the concept of hosting events each spring and fall on the Suwannee River. Harvey Campbell and the Columbia County TDC supplied water, radios, insect repellant for our first two events and was a t-shirt sponsor for our first Fall Paddle Florida event. They have also provided our new water bottles for the last two events on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. We look forward to continuing the partnership with Harvey and Columbia County going forward.
Thanks to the Florida Park Service!
As we have said elsewhere in this newsletter, Paddle Florida would not be possible without the assistance and support of the Florida Park Service. We look forward to working with them as we plan new events and promote Paddle Florida through our fantastic state parks.
Remember, you can subscribe to the Happy Paddler, Florida's Monthly eNewsletter from the homepage of the Paddle Florida website at www.paddleflorida.org
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Click on the link below to view
our monthly
video short
This is some older footage of our inaugural trip.
Water levels and conditions were nearly the same on
our spring trip as they were then. Nearly 1000 photos
from our Spring 2010 Paddle Florida trip have been
posted to our Paddle Florida Picasa Web Albums page.
For access, please send an e-mail to bill@paddleflorida.org
YouTube
Spring Paddle Florida
is in the books!
Our 3rd annual Spring
Paddle Florida began at Madison Blue Spring
State Park where paddlers checked-in for
the weeklong adventure to come. We heard
a presentation from Lars Andersen, a local
author, historian and river guide, on the
Suwannee River Wilderness Trail, after
dinner. In the morning, 45 paddlers awoke
on a Friday morning to a haunting mist
on the Withlacoochee River. The river was
near flood stage but receding. Our intrepid
group paddled the easy 12 miles to Suwannee
River State Park, over a covered up Melvin
Shoals. Our anticipated whitewater never
materialized due to high water, which flowed
at about 4 mph. We were fed and then entertained
by Magda Hiller, who made her record
fifth appearance at Suwannee River State
Park.
The next day was
another relatively short 14 mile paddle
to Advent Christian Village, where paddlers
set up camp, had dinner and attended
a lecture on 'Why do those Sturgeon jump'
on the Suwannee River? The presenter
was Ken Sulak of the U.S. Geological
Survey. He has been studying sturgeon
on the river for over 15 years on the
river, and regaled his audience with
data and anecdotes collected over that
time.
On Sunday, the river
took us to Suwannee River Rendezvous
Resort and Campground. This rainy day
dampened the trip of 24 miles, but not
the spirit of our participants. Everyone
handled the less-than-perfect conditions
with good spirit and humor. Most opted
to spend the night indoors at the facilities
there. Rebecca Zapen put on a great show
with her mellifluent stylings of old
favorites and original material. Her
rendition of 'Old Folks at Home' on her
violin and her interpretation of James
Brown's 'I Feel Good' were real crowd
pleasers. The next day after breakfast,
the sun shone and temperatures began
to rise for the rest of the trip.
Our stay in Branford
featured dinner and breakfast at the
Branford Shrine Club and a presentation
by Mike Devlin and Don McCumber of 21st
Century Kayaks. These kayaks are skin-on-frame
boats that anyone can build themselves
in a week. The Shrine Club was a big
hit with everyone as they showed us great
hospitality on that Monday night and
Tuesday morning. A big 'thank you' to
Charlie Daniel, the Town of Branford
and the Branford Shrine Club.
The next day, we
paddled 21 miles to Gornto Springs, a
Gilchrist County Park. The water level
was sufficient to paddle right in to
the spring. Water levels hadn't been
that high since our inaugural event 2
years ago. We had dinner and were entertained
by Big Cypress Bluegrass. Randy Slaughter,
his wife Kim and the boys turned in another
great performance.
We were welcomed again by a fog-shrouded
river on Wednesday morning for our 20
mile paddle to Fanning Springs. With
the river and the weather cooperating,
paddlers arrived between 1 and 3pm to
set up camp, have dinner and await our
final night's show with Raiford Starke.
Raiford did not disappoint, as he played
on into the night. Thanks Raiford!
Our morning paddle
on the last day lasted only nine miles.
When paddlers got to Manatee Springs,
the facility lived up to its name. As
many as 30 manatees were in attendance
at the end of the spring
run. We were treated to great hamburgers
prepared by Jim and Cheryl Hollis, who
catered most of the meals again on this
trip. A special thanks to Jim and Cheryl.
After lunch most paddlers departed, but
a small group returned to Madison Blue
Spring State Park to retrieve their vehicles,
where the spring had almost returned
to normal levels; another example of
the ever-changing nature of Florida's
flora and fauna. As the old saying goes,
'You never step into the same river twice.'
The Florida Park
Service, once again, did a fantastic
job of playing host, as we stopped and
stayed at several of their facilities.
We couldn't do this event without the
assistance and support of the Florida
Park Service and the Suwannee River Wilderness
Trail. |
