alexander springs-ocala forest kayak-camp

wow! what a trip this was!
and at this point of paddling in amazing florida... it takes a lot to be blown away........................

for this trip we went down to alexander springs in central florida. the plan was to spend the day paddling, load up, backpack 6 miles into the ocala national forest, backcountry camp and then hike the next day through the forest looking for florida black bears.

day 1. the paddle

there are two good launches for this river. the first is a public launch under the bridge right before the park entrance.
which is where i have put in before. the second is from inside the park. we had a lot of expensive gear with us this time and opted for the safety the park provides. under the bridge.... not so much.
we put in at the spring head in alexander springs state park and headed downstream.
the run itself is 8 miles and the start looks very like ichetucknee, wide and very similar plant life.
as it goes on, past about mile four it starts to narrow and there is some nice canopy cover... which is great in the summer.

there was plenty to see on this trip, bitterns, green herons, belted kingfisher, we saw some beautiful bald eagles fishing from the trees on the banks. all kinds of turtles and alligators....... all the usual suspects. we were happy to see so much.

we spent a couple of hours on the river before leaving as we still had a 6 mile hike ahead of us so we didn't do the full run.. but we'll be back for sure.
read on below.......





















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day 2. camp and hike.

after we loaded up the kayaks we headed over to the ranger station at juniper springs.
this is where we would leave the cars overnight. the fee for this pleasure was $10..

so on with the back packs and away we went. we hiked for 6 miles to the prairie we checked out the last time we were here.
unfortunately, since that time they had a forest fire that burned 10,000 acres.. so it looked very different.
luckily graham remembered how far in the site was and we made it there.

the prairie was an island of unburned grass in the middle of the enormous scorched sea so we were very happy.
we had come looking for bears but weren't so sure now because of the fire.
when night fell it was beautiful.. no lights and the stars shone so clear.
then, to my utter wonder the woods and grass all around us started to dance with the light of thousands of fireflies.
i was blown away, i have never seen them before and definitely never camped out with them..
it made the trip for me regardless of the bears.... it was truly magical.

the next morning after some strong coffee.. we started our hike out.
just before we left we seen this spider by grahams tent. not sure what kind she was but if you look close you can see tens of blue baby spiders on her back.
as we walked through the woods we came across a big male black bear rooting for grubs and tubers right in front of us.. it was exhilarating!
we watched him for a while then he disappeared so we moved on. not 5 minutes later we walked across another one, smaller but sill very big.
this made our trip!

the ocala national forest is an amazing place to go. it is a jewel in the state. and back country camping is the way to see it.
no lights but for stars, no noise but for frog chorus......firefly shows, bald eagles and bears with you morning coffee.

i cant wait to go back!!!

click on the pics to enlarge.. and remember to visit irishwaterdogs
till next time, slán-dave











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fort clinch kayak-camp

fort clinch state park in fernandina is where we went for this kayak-camp trip.
it is an hour north of jacksonville and along with its sister park cumberland island national seashore forms the florida-georgia state line.

there is so much to see and do in this state park, from amazing wildlife viewing, mountain bike trails, hiking trials, nature walks and of course unbelievable paddling.

you are not allowed launch from inside the park, but right around the corner from the main gate is a public ramp.
there are so many white sand islands and tributaries that it is easy to lose your way. from tiger island all the way over to cumberland island. a paddle past the fort at twilight is amazing cause it really takes you back in time, more so that a lot of the forts we have been to.. i think it may be because its a state park and there are no houses or signs of modernity to be seen.

this was a one night camp trip so we tried to take advantage of everything. the nature and hiking trails are well worth doing with lots to see.

we were lucky enough to spend two hours photographing a great horned owl that was nesting in the park with her two chicks.
raccoons, eagles, osprey, pelican, dolphin and so much more are easily seen in this park. it is a wonderful place to spend a few hours or days paddling and camping and we will be back.

click on the pics to enlarge.. and remember to visit irishwaterdogs
till next time, slán-dave













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chassahowitzka river- homosassa springs kayak-camp

the beautiful nature coast on the gulf of mexico is where we headed for this kayak/camping trip to the amazing chassahowitzka river in the homosassa springs basin. and what a fantastic trip it was.

graham, connor and myself headed down to camp over on friday night at the chassahowitzka river campground. as far as campgrounds go, we thought it was lacking in a few areas, the spots were too close together, with no privacy. but we didn't mind too much as their launch area is second to none.
we put in saturday morning at 8:30 am while everybody was starting to wake up and put their breakfast on. this was the perfect time as we were the only ones on the river... and it was beautiful.
the chassahowitzka river takes its name from the indian for "river of hanging pumpkins". apparently the native american tribe that controlled the river used to grow a type of gourd along the river and it could be seen hanging from the branches over the river, which they would collect in their canoes.

we headed 3 miles down stream to the salt marsh and open waters of the gulf before turning around and heading back as we wanted to explore some of the creeks.
we decided on potter creek. as we headed back it was now 11 am and more people were on the river. the tide was in and a silt bar had stopped them at the entrance to the creek so it was the perfect place for us. we portaged over the bar and within a few minutes were back on water.

this creek was amazing. it runs for a mile in and as we were the only ones there, the animals were not disturbed.
we passed 2 big flocks of little blue heron, belted kingfishers zipped overhead, night herons looked out from the trees, tricolored herons waded by. we passed within a few feet of gators sunning themselves on the banks, we passed a lot of raccoons as the foraged by the rivers edge. so many ducks swam by our kayaks it was hard to count, some would even paddle alongside us for a while. this area has a large population of bald eagles and we were lucky enough to see two.
hoards of black vultures sit in the trees in groups of 20 or more and the crystal clear waters lets you see the amazing fish life.
one of the reasons we were here was to paddle with the manatee as this is one of the places they come to over-winter.

we were able to stop and watch as a mother and calf played under our boats for 20 minutes, gently breaking the surface for air. it was a beautiful thing to see this amazing endangered animal in the wild, and worth the trip.
we continued on to blair creek, which is a tighter paddle to the spring head and not as much to see.
we took out at 2:30pm and were ready for campside food and a couple of beers.

an early night was had by all as tomorrow we would spend the day in the homosassa springs state park and the crystal river archeological state park.

this trip is well worth doing for the beauty of the gulf coast and the variety of things to do. this whole delta has hundreds of springs and creeks with something different down each one. its all there to discover, so get out there.

click on the pics to enlarge.. and remember to visit irishwaterdogs
till next time, slán-dave















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juniper springs kayak-camp trip 09

DAY 1: .................... JUNIPER SPRINGS PADDLE
for this trip we loaded up and headed back to juniper springs. graham, conner and myself.
this was going to be a 2 day kayak camping trip and we would be staying in juniper springs state park, located in the ocala national forest.
we arrived down sat morning at 9am, got set up and were in the water for 10. we put in at the parks canoe launch by the main spring head.
the run its self is 8 miles and flows into lake george

the first 2 miles were a bit of a struggle as you can see from grahams face.. but it was made worse by the fact that he was in a 16' touring kayak.... so be warned, the smaller the kayak the better on this creek.
this was an unusual paddle in that we didn't see any wildlife at all. one turtle, one woodpecker and a deer.
this is the third time i have been down this creek and it is always teeming with life. so it made for a very empty feeling.

the creek is covered in canopy for the first half so you are well covered from the sun but the second half opens up and gets wider so it gives you a chance to get out and stretch your bones.
it was a beautiful day and a great paddle.
we reached the bridge take out point at 4;30, loaded up and went back to camp for some much needed food, campfire and a cold one.
we were exhausted and turned in early to rest as we had a long hike thru the ocala forest in the morning.
zzzzzzzz
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DAY 2: .................... OCALA FOREST HIKE














after a good nights sleep and some strong coffee we were ready for the hike ahead.
we were going to do the 'florida trail', its a marked hiking trail that runs thru the forest for 40 miles.... we weren't going to tackle 40 miles this morning...

we entered from the entry road to the camping site after signing in with them and giving them some basic info ( number in party and expected return time)
there are plenty of primitive camping spots and we wanted to scope out a few for our return trip in a couple of weeks.
we found the perfect one in juniper prairie (3rd pic below) and decided that would be our camp site.
all in all we hiked 12 miles, 6 in and 6 out,,, past hidden pond and beyond.

the ocala national forest is a beautiful place to spend a few hours, or a few days.
we cant wait to come back here to camp.

click on the pics to enlarge.. and remember to visit irishwaterdogs
till next time, slán-dave

















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anastasia island kayak-camp

anastasia state park is located on anastasia island in saint augustine, florida.
this is a great place to paddle, camp, surf and swim.
kayak rentals are available from a kiosk located inside the park as well as catamarans and wind surfers.
there is plenty to see and do, from trail hikes, beach access to dolphins, snakes and an abundance of birds as it is on the great florida birding trail.
this is a short post as we have covered this area a lot in previous posts.
i just wanted to post some spring camping pics to annoy my friends in dublin, where it is currently snowing.
: ) dave.





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the silver river trip 09

for our latest post, we went back to the silver and oklawaha rivers.
there was an overload of things to see so it has been very hard to edit this post and pick which pics to use.
even though i trimmed a lot, this is still a picture heavy post, so enjoy.

graham, conner and I packed up and left jacksonville at 6am during a record cold spell in the low 20's.
it is an hour and 40 min drive down to our put-in at the wilderness r.v park off state rd 40.
it's 3 bucks per car to park and use their launch which is great knowing your cars are safe and secure.

we put in at 9 a.m and headed left down the oklawaha for about an hour. it is a black-water river and the banks were full of red shouldered hawks, barred owls, black vultures and belted kingfishers. i didn't expect to see too much on this trip as it has been very cold lately and the wildlife have been laying low but it was off to a great start. as it turned out, this was to be the start of an amazing day.

we headed back and started down the silver river, it is spring fed and the water is crystal clear with a 6mph current. our goal was to head down to see the famous wild monkeys, stop at the state park rest area and have a packed lunch of homemade bread, soup and coffee before turning back. the whole way down was surreal, as every possible bird or animal to be seen on the springs were out today.
the biggest alligator i have ever seen was on silver river and i seen him again on this trip. i am used to paddling with alligators, on my own a lot of the time and photographing them quite close but when you are 10 feet from something 3' wide and 14' long and a mouth as big as my shoulders it gives you a different perspective.
we had the benefit of seeing thru the bare trees to watch the macaques forage for berries, watch the kingfishers, cardinals, anhingas hunt for fish and grubs and when we stopped to have some lunch there were a few armadillos hunting bugs on the banks beside us. the food really helped and gave us the boost to start the paddle back where we were treated to the same show of wildlife. conner seen some otters on the bank with some limpkins but i couldn't get a pic, maybe next time. todays paddle was fantastic and at the end of the day we had spent 8 hours paddling but didn't notice any time go by.

the silver river is an amazing trip any time of year, but i like to do the springs when its cold out. 9 times out of 10, you'll be the only one there and if you sit still, the world opens up.

click on the pics to enlarge.. and remember to visit irishwaterdogs
till next time, slán-dave



















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from the blue ridge to the smokies

well the latest post is from a recent kayak/hiking trip in north carolina.
based in asheville for 6 days. it was a great chance to paddle some of the local lakes and hike in the blue ridge and smokey mountains.
day one was lake james, about an hour east of asheville. it is a great paddle with a lot of wildlife and some spectacular views of table mountain.
day two was a day hike to 5721ft mount pisgah from the blue ridge parkway all the way to the old vanderbilt hunting lodge. with breathtaking views and amazing scenery.
i spent day three back on lake james, taking a different direction to discover the many coves.
the last two days were spent hiking in the snow covered smokey mountains. the cataloochee divide trails and the asbury trail were amazing. with 1600 black bears and countless other wildlife it is a place i will return to many times.

click on the pics to enlarge.. and remember to visit irishwaterdogs
till next time, slán-dave