Bigbend Area Paddlers' Network
| 1/19-20/02 Citrus County Weekend |
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| Manatees, manatees, manatees! Dolphins and otters too! Those were just a few of the exciting encounters of the MLK weekend trip to Citrus county. On Saturday, with Buddy Holshouser as our guide, we explored a good part of Kings bay and the more ambitious and hardy among us continued down Crystal river. There were manatees everywhere and unusually numerous birds including many white pelicans, ospreys and at least one bald eagle. Hunter springs park was, as promised, a very nice and convenient place to put in.
Sunday was a 10 mile paddle along part of the Nature Coast Paddling Trail. The best part of this paddle was the Salt river near Shiver’s bay where we encountered some very curious dolphins and a hugh group of river otters. This part of the Salt is unusual and pretty with its low, flat, vertically walled terraces of limestone that make the live oak/palmetto hammocks look almost as if they were afloat. If anyone ever tells you that there is a good place to go ashore and have lunch at N28?47.102’ , W82?39.860’ they are pulling your leg unless you don’t mind sinking up to your waist in mud. The rivers and marshes of this area are quite different in many respects from those found nearer to home and are well worth the visit. I have to add however that this trip served to remind me of how extrodinarily lucky we are in the Tallahassee area to have so much wilderness relatively unspoiled by people and machines. Kings Bay was congested with commercial party boats, divers and power boats of every variety - not congested enough to spoil the experience but certainly enough to make the Wakulla seem pristine, peaceful and silent - even on its busiest day. Paddling on the Homosassa outside of the no wake zones is great practice for riding out the perfect storm although perhaps a bit more difficult due to the unpredictabily of the behavior of the big wakes of hugh, high speed boats when they combine from different directions. Whatever you do, don’t try this without your sprayskirt. Monday was cancelled due to rain. Trip details such as launch sites and waypoints can be found in the mailing list archives at http://paddletally.org/mailman/listinfo/listserv. Finally, whether you are paddling or just passing through, don’t miss Peck’s Old Port Cove. One of the best kept secrets in Citrus County, this restaurant gets at least 4 1/2 hats from all of us who were fortunate enough to eat there. The service was excellent and the seafood out of this world! It is well off the beaten path so save these directions. Take Hwy. 19 to the stoplight at Ozello Trail about halfway between Crystal River and Homosassa Springs. Turn west and follow the long, twisting, rural road, (in very thick fog when we did it), about 10 miles nearly to the gulf. Pecks is on the right.
Michael Lampman lampman@newact.com |
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