Submitted by Teresa & Paul Beebe and Mary & Chris Hugo – March, 2022
Central Florida Trip Report
On Sunday, March 13, 2022 some 35 BCCC members and guests descended upon Lake Monroe Park in DeBary, FL, for a week of paddling east central Florida rivers. The campground was surprisingly very nice with nice sites and very clean restrooms and showers. A real bargain for $15.00 a night. After a get together around a campfire, everyone was excited and pumped for a week of paddling.
Monday saw us paddling the Shipyard Island Canoe Trail, which is a 3.5 mile out and back trail located in Mosquito Lagoon on the Canaveral National Seashore. The trail was okay, but turned into “tow your boat” in a few sections.
On Tuesday, we paddled the Wekiwa River from Wekiwa Springs State Park to Katie’s Landing, for a distance of about 10 miles. The Wekiwa is a beautiful slow moving river. We saw lots of birds, turtles, and a few alligators. And air plants. Some trees were covered with this very interesting plant, which is an epiphyte — plants that attach themselves to other plants for support, without relying on the host to thrive. They absorb moisture and nutrients through their leaves, not their roots, which they use only to anchor themselves to other plants or objects. Okay, enough for the botany lesson.
Wednesday was a “free day” i.e., no scheduled paddle. Some of us went to St Augustine and visited the historic St Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum and the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, which is an old historic fort. Others visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. And others….not sure what everyone else did.
Thursday was the Silver River and Silver Springs. As always, this is a favorite for many. After putting in at the State Park canoe launch, we paddled down the Ft King waterway to the Silver River. The Ft. King waterway was used for the “jungle cruise” back in the day when Silver Springs was a big amusement park. You pass ruins of the old Ft King and boat docks. At the Silver River, we hung a left and paddled up to Silver Spring, dodging glass bottom boats and a zillion other kayakers. We then paddled 5 miles downriver to the Ray’s Wayside Park to the take out. Wildlife sightings included birds, turtles, and gators, of course. But also manatees, a first for some of us. So cool!!!! And we can’t forget the Florida water moccasin sunning on a log. Snakes deserve attention and respect, too! Many of us finished the day celebrating St Patrick’s day at Drifter’s Riverfront Bar and Grill. A good time was had by all.
Friday took us to the Juniper Run, a 7 mile paddle that starts just below Juniper springs at Juniper Springs State Park and follows the spring run through the heart of the Juniper Prairie Wilderness to the take-out at Juniper Wayside Park on SR 19. The run is very narrow with lots of tight turns requiring those of us in longer boats to do a lot of maneuvering. About a mile or so from the put-in we came to a downed tree across the creek. Our only option was to get out of our boats and drag them over the log. Fortunately the water was only about knee deep…well, maybe a little more than knee deep for those with short legs. We all made it across without too much trouble. No gators nipped at our toes. Wildlife sightings included one very large gator! Fortunately it was well past the downed tree. The Juniper Run is a definite “must do” if you are in the area.
On Saturday, the hardy souls who were up for one more day of paddling, paddled around Hontoon Island. Hontoon Island is a state park, accessible only by boat. We put in at French Landing, which is on the St John River just below Blue Springs State Park. We paddled down the St John to the north end of the island and stopped for lunch at the state park visitor center. Of course, some of us had to buy ice cream at the park store. After lunch, a few went back to the take-out while the rest of us paddled on around the island, going down the Hontoon Dead River to Snake Creek. Snake creek was interesting. In places we had to “skim across” a solid bed of small water plants. Not the easiest paddling. But we made it back to the St John River and the put-in/take-out.
It was a great week of paddling with a super group of people. Can’t wait to do it again.