Start: 7:00 AM- Sink Creek Camp
Finish: 2:40 PM - Shell Mound Campground (5 miles north of Cedar Key FL)
Time: 7:40
Daily dist: 33 miles
Total dist: x miles
Companions: None
Weather: Calm for first two hours then 15 mph NW tail wind…ye ha!
Notes: Made incredible time with nice tail wind for a change. It was plenty rough by the time I reached the camp ground.
Finish: 2:40 PM - Shell Mound Campground (5 miles north of Cedar Key FL)
Time: 7:40
Daily dist: 33 miles
Total dist: x miles
Companions: None
Weather: Calm for first two hours then 15 mph NW tail wind…ye ha!
Notes: Made incredible time with nice tail wind for a change. It was plenty rough by the time I reached the camp ground.
A calm morning for a change
When I woke up to the sound of a steady rain pattering against the roof of my tent I never would have dreamed that I’d finish the day swapping stories with a group of hunters while dining on a variety of local favorites. But that’s exactly where I ended up.
I don’t really have a process for choosing one camp site over another. I simply plot out where 25 or 30 miles of paddling will put me and make plans to spend the night at which ever site works the best. Sometimes there are no sites within that distance range so I have to do a shorter day or hunker down and put in a few more miles. Shell Mound happened to land right on the 32 mile mark which is perfect for my average eight hour day at four miles per hour. The math may work out but it’s still up to me to make it happen. Today began with a steady rain but dead calm which is how it remained for the first two hours. There was a cold front on the way so I knew it wouldn’t last but it sure was nice. Once the front did reach me the winds did build but for the first time in ten days I had a tail wind. It was with that 15 mph NW wind that I made incredible time and reached the Shell Mound Campground (32 miles from where I started) in less than eight hours.
Named after an Indian midden (pile of shells laid down by people over the centuries) the Shell Mound Campground is a county run affair and for just five dollars you gain access to excellent campsites and….HOT SHOWERS! Immediately after landing I took advantage of every minute of sunshine and wind to try to dry my gear after two days of hard use and rain. Once everything was hung up I checked in and then found my way to the shower house. I hadn’t had a shower since I stayed at the RV park in Destin and this shower was probably the best I’ve ever had. To say it felt good would be a gross understatement. It was heaven. There is no laundry facility at the campground so I once again used the dry bag trick and took advantage of the hot water to get my clothes freshened up. They’re far from totally clean but at least the smell is tolerable.
After I finished getting cleaned up and dried out I walked over to a camp site that was populated by huge pickup trucks and men wearing camouflage. I guessed deer hunters and was close…hogs and squirrels…my kind of people. I had asked the group where to go to register when I came in so they had seen me straight off the water in all my paddling clothes which is quite a sight to the unaccustomed eye. They had a few questions as to what exactly I was up to and when I told them about my trip they offered up a beer and food if I was interested. At this point in the trip I absolutely never pass up on the offer of food so as soon as the guys returned from this evening’s hunt I walked over to visit and see what was cooking…hey, they offered. The hunt had been successful and they brought back a couple squirrels and an Armadillo. One of the group had eaten one before and said it was great so the others were curious enough to give it a try. It was an ordeal watching them try to skin the armored beast but once they were finished it yielded quite a bit of meat. They seasoned the carcass, triple wrapped it in tin foil, and put it on the grill to roast.
After I finished getting cleaned up and dried out I walked over to a camp site that was populated by huge pickup trucks and men wearing camouflage. I guessed deer hunters and was close…hogs and squirrels…my kind of people. I had asked the group where to go to register when I came in so they had seen me straight off the water in all my paddling clothes which is quite a sight to the unaccustomed eye. They had a few questions as to what exactly I was up to and when I told them about my trip they offered up a beer and food if I was interested. At this point in the trip I absolutely never pass up on the offer of food so as soon as the guys returned from this evening’s hunt I walked over to visit and see what was cooking…hey, they offered. The hunt had been successful and they brought back a couple squirrels and an Armadillo. One of the group had eaten one before and said it was great so the others were curious enough to give it a try. It was an ordeal watching them try to skin the armored beast but once they were finished it yielded quite a bit of meat. They seasoned the carcass, triple wrapped it in tin foil, and put it on the grill to roast.
The guys were curious enough to give Armadillo a try for dinner
In the mean time they offered me a steady flow of all manner of food, potato salad, smoked mullet, steak, and oyster stew. I ate until my stomach could take no more and while country music blared from one of the truck stereos, I listened to the guys talk. Oddly enough the main topic of conversation revolved around cooking. Judging by the amount and variety of food in that camp it shouldn’t have been a surprise.
I tried to hang on long enough to get a taste of the Armadillo but it was already late. When an electric space heater in one of their huge tents tripped a breaker and put the lights out I called it a sign that it was time to go. So I bid the gentlemen farewell and floated back to my tent clean, warm, dry, and with a very swollen belly. It felt good.
I tried to hang on long enough to get a taste of the Armadillo but it was already late. When an electric space heater in one of their huge tents tripped a breaker and put the lights out I called it a sign that it was time to go. So I bid the gentlemen farewell and floated back to my tent clean, warm, dry, and with a very swollen belly. It felt good.
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