Every Day Is A Good Day With Your Friends

Day 9

Today we went from mile 62 to mile 43 and, most excitingly Margaret joined us!

We pushed our kayaks out from Sims Landing and made our characteristic slow but steady progress downstream.  Without paddling we move at about 1 to 1.5 mph, with paddling we can get up to about 4. We didn’t paddle much.  Instead, we lashed our kayaks together and enjoyed the scenery and talked to Margaret about her time on the AT which she had just completed.  

At around noon we passed Bob’s River Place.  I had been here in the summer with my cousin Raewyn to check out Bob’s supposedly legendary collection of ropeswings, then, the water had been at a super low and there had been hundreds of people.  Now the water was relatively high and we were the only ones there.  We sat on the dock and at our lunches (tortillas with salsa, crushed potato chips, pre-cooked bacon, and some lettuce... aka portable BLT) and went for a quick swim.  Bob did not show himself so we could not congratulate him on his first rate rope swings. 

We kept going until we got to the Eula Landing ramp at mile 46.  We stopped to swim and make dinner.  We watched the sun go down while I sat on the dock and typed up a homework assignment to submit for school.  Even school work can be pleasant if you do it in the right place.  

When the sun was down we put our headlamps at the front of our kayaks and started paddling.  We had wanted to do some night paddling from day one to see what the river was like when it was dark out. 

I like to think I’m not too silly.  I like to think that I have a relatively logical mind.  However, all I can say is that kayaking in the dark and listening to animals and looking at the stars is a fairly magic experience and one that I hope everyone gets to enjoy at least  once.  If it is in your plans to kayak the Suwannee I would recommend making sure you get an evening trip.  The lower Suwannee is perfect for a late paddle because unlike the upper Suwannee when the river was narrow enough that if we lined our kayaks end to end we could block it off the lower Suwannee is, at some places, a hundred or more yards across.  This means that at night there is little to no risk of crashing into trees, something I barely avoid in the day light. 

At around 10:00 we arrived at the Hart Springs ramp and tied the three kayaks onto the dock.  We strung our hammocks up in a line on the dock’s posts over the water and curled up for the night.  I think I understand the appeal of piracy now if it means you get to sleep in a hammock that shifts in the water and listen to the water all around you.

convict springs rotating bridge