It was a late night for me last night so it was very hard to get up this morning. It didn’t matter because with the intricate shallow water channels outside of Carrabelle I needed daylight to see where I was going anyway. Before I could do any paddling at all I had to drag my boat over a couple hundred yards of tidal mud flats due to the fact that the tide was out and I pulled out of very shallow water last night. The drag went well and thankfully the mud was firm enough that I didn’t sink in past the top of my boots.
Taking boat for a walk
From camp it was a short mile and a half paddle into town where I pulled out at a boat ramp and walked a block up to the IGA grocery store to replenish my supplies. By now I know when my food reserves are getting low when I start to notice surplus room in the Ikkuma‘s hatches. As long as I was at the store I indulged in a few donuts and a pint of milk. The donuts only came in packs of a half dozen which I feared would be too much but somehow they all disappeared in minutes. It’s remarkable to see just how much food I can eat and still be hungry. Once I was re-packed and ready to go I pointed my boat inland and continued on my way.
Anybody that was following along with the SPOT hits that didn’t know about the river route I took must have been baffled as to why my location was showing up five miles inland. Taking a cue from the Florida Circumnavigation Guide I used this route to get a day away from the winds which lately have been a constant hindrance to my progress. The irony is that I ended up working harder in a full day of paddling verses what I would have achieved in a few hours on the open coast even with the wind. However, if I had stayed on the open coast I would have missed one of the most beautiful paddling routes I’ve ever seen. If you ever end up in northwest corner of Florida, I strongly recommend paddling this section of water. It is amazing.
Anybody that was following along with the SPOT hits that didn’t know about the river route I took must have been baffled as to why my location was showing up five miles inland. Taking a cue from the Florida Circumnavigation Guide I used this route to get a day away from the winds which lately have been a constant hindrance to my progress. The irony is that I ended up working harder in a full day of paddling verses what I would have achieved in a few hours on the open coast even with the wind. However, if I had stayed on the open coast I would have missed one of the most beautiful paddling routes I’ve ever seen. If you ever end up in northwest corner of Florida, I strongly recommend paddling this section of water. It is amazing.
View on the river.
I spent the day on the Crooked River which I picked up in Carrabelle and followed roughly NE toward Ochlocknee Bay. True to it’s name the Crooked River is very crooked. Starting out near Carrabelle the river is mostly a salt water tidal stream surrounded by salt water tolerant grasses. As you move inland and upstream the water becomes less salty and the grasses give way to pines and cypress. At the same time the river narrows drawing the tree lined banks even closer. I was on a constant look out on all the sun warmed banks for a potential sighting of an alligator but all I saw was a few camera shy turtles. The river passes through state forest land and the state has set up a series of very nice camp sites for paddlers to use. With storms in the forecast tomorrow I don’t expect do much paddling on the open coast so I took my time on the river and decided to camp back here tonight. It is a very different experience camping amongst pines and cypress rather than sand dunes and grasses. The frogs are singing a constant chorus and the sound of the wind blowing through the pines is one of the most soothing sounds I’ve ever heard.
View from camp.
Storms are supposed to blow in tonight so I made sure everything was staked down tight and am now enjoying the calm before the storm.
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