DAY 1: Day one was fun. We set out at around 9:30 or so that morning. The river was quiet and nice. We saw a large hill out on the floodplain so we stopped there for lunch. From that hill we saw another kayaker. Not a lot folks kayak this river but as this guy got closer we could tell he was out kayaking for the long haul. His name is Jim so we started chatting with him and decided to paddle together, the three of us. As we got to know him he told us he was paddling to Jacksonville and out into the ocean. That made our journey seem kind of wussy. We all reached the catfish hotel around 4 PM. Jim took a break and continued on solo. This catfish hotel is the most rickety little shack. I slept in it that night and I'm really surprised it didn't blow over that night. The wall to my right was bending in from the gusts. It was an adventure!
DAY 2: This was my favorite day! It started out cool and windy so that was a bummer but the events later that day made up for it. We set out paddling and came across some free roaming horses out on the flood plain. Down the river we caught up with Jim again so it was good to see him. We all had a rough night with the cold front that had come through. The sun finally came out and we were dodging air boats left and right. Out on the middle of the floodplain was a lone cypress tree and I noticed a clump of something on a limb. It looked furry but surely no woodland mammal would be so dumb as to sit up in a tree out in the open. I did the only natural thing and climbed the tree to get a closer look. Sure enough, it was two young raccoons snuggled together out on a limb sleeping the day away. Coincidentally, I found a good sized yellow rat snake shed in the tree too. In the backdrop to this scene of coons in the tree was a blazing wildfire. Fires are natural part of the floodplains but this was up wind and approaching the opposite bank fairly quickly. We got to paddle right past it as it hissed and sent dark plumes of smoke up into the air. At the end of the day we had seen 100 alligators and actually found our next camping area, which was in the most remote parts of the river. I ate, drank, strung up my hammock and dozed off as the sun went down. I was exhausted!
DAY 3: This was another chilly night but better than the last one. It was overcast and still when I got up that morning. With the cool morning air, I wasn't inclined to get out of my sleeping bag so I dreaded it for a while and got out a little before nine. I knew it was the last day and I was ready to get back and have this trip complete. I had hoped to see Jim again but I think at this point we were a fair bit ahead. As we headed north we hit puzzle lake which isn't really a lake but a river that goes through a series of small lakes. I had hoped there were a few short cuts but each time I ended up going the long way. Navigation was difficult but the good ol' animal instincts got me home at the end of the day.
I apologize for the lack of pictures but we were on a mission to cover the distance. All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to guiding some folks through this stretch in a couple weeks.
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