不乏在佛罗里达州中部划皮艇或独木舟的好地方。快速的护目镜搜索可导致从宁静湖泊到多日河流游览的选择。两条流行的路线再次出现Juniper Run和亚历山大跑。两者都是从天然泉水中流过的河流奥卡拉国家森林。The Juniper Springs River Run is longer, faster, and rumored to be more exciting than Alexander, making it the obvious choice in our minds.
我们在最后一刻预订杜松泉营地,退出O’LENO SPsuper early on Saturday morning (left the dump station at 8 am!) and made it to the springs by mid-morning. Juniper Springs is perhaps that most well-known spring in the Ocala National Forest. With millions of gallons of water bubbling from the ground every day, the clear, 72-degree year-round spring attracts people in droves.
Over many, many years water from the bubbling springs has formed a narrow, winding waterway that eventually makes it way to the larger St. John’s River. While it is possible to make this a longer multi-day trip, most people only paddle the first seven miles to the take-out off SR19. Becuase the current in the river is fairly strong and there are lots of obstacles to maneuver around, paddling up-river is not allowed, which means you need a second car at end of the run for transportation. Fortunately, the campground not only offers canoe and kayak rentals but also a reverse haul out service that will transport you (or you and your boat) from the take out back to the spring. They charge $10 per person and $6 per boat. To save money, we unloaded the boats at the spring and Tim drove the truck down to the take-out point and then got a ride back on the shuttle bus. It only cost us $10 and the truck was waiting for us when we finished the paddle.
蒂姆(Tim)照顾运输工具时,我将船一对一地装在车轮上,然后将它们滚到一条长的木板路到河上。我有一些非常酷的木板路和发射点的照片,但不幸的是,我的手机几乎在我发射时就跌入了河。结果,我不仅丢失了那天早上的所有照片,而且毁了我的手机。糟糕。事实证明,如果您希望防水手机防水,则需要确保正确打开。我一直在使用相同的案例一年半,没有问题,所以我只能怪自己。巨大的bummer。
Fortunately, Tim had his phone和已经正确地提出了案子,因此我能够指挥它以记录目的。
当我们第一次发射时,这条河非常非常浅,我们担心当我们一遍又一遍地卡在底部时,这将是我们的O'Leno经历的重复。幸运的是,它很快就加深了,我们可以避免击中底部。
Despite the shallow water, the river moved very swiftly. So swiftly that we didn’t have to do much paddling — lots of steering — but much paddling. I read many reviews for this popular paddling route, and while most were glowing, a few people really hated the fast moving, obstacle-filled river. I can understand where some of the frustration comes from. This is not a lazy river by any means. You constantly need to be on the lookout for submerged logs, low hanging branches and bent over trees. It’s also narrow and better suited for shorter boats. Most of the negative reviews came from people who had rented a canoe and end up spending more timein水比在水。如果您要在这里租一艘船,我的建议是在独木舟上去皮划艇,因为在某些紧张的转弯处进行操作会更容易。皮划艇在水中的骑行也较低,使其更容易在横跨河流的众多原木下滑动。
杜松河穿过Juniper Prarie Wilderness禁止使用电动工具的地方。因此,当一棵树落在河上时,唯一的途径是用手动工具。简而言之,这意味着在大多数情况下,河流处于其自然状态,沿着树木和全部。
即使有许多障碍使我们保持脚趾,在树枝下有很多鸭子,当前当前将我们推入岸边时,有点疯狂再次,总的来说,我们喜欢沿杜松河河跑步的旅程。闪闪发光,清澈的水,头顶上方的棕榈树,鸟儿鸣叫,阳光照下来……什么不爱?
当我们接近路线的尽头时,河流扩大了,森林让位给了宽阔的草河岸。
It seemed to me that if we were going to see an alligator, now would be the place. Just look at that muddy bank perfect for alligator lounging.
There were no alligators anywhere — I was half relieved and half disappointed. It was on the chilly side with temps only in the 60s, so I suspect it was too cold for them to be out and about. Soon the river narrowed again and we came upon a very small section of mild rapids. The fun was short lived and soon we were back to dodging trees and branches.
我仍在扫描海岸的鳄鱼,但是当我突然来拐角处发现蒂姆疯狂地从银行划船时,并没有抱有很大的希望。他的船在河里侧身,我当然坠入了他。当我道歉并试图备份时,他指着我们面前,有巨人(好吧,他可能只有5英尺长)。显然,蒂姆(Tim)拐角处,被河流推到了银行,抬头抬头发现自己离盖特先生只有几英尺。这可能是整个Aligator照片历史上最糟糕的照片,但我不得不分享,因为它确实说明了这个故事。您不仅可以看到我们有多近,还可以看到蒂姆如何抓住我的皮划艇,以便我可以快速拍摄图片而不会靠近任何近距离。可悲的是,灿烂的阳光直射在我们面前,毁了任何机会。
您看不到的是他的巨型牙齿和小珠小的眼睛盯着我们。不用说,我们并没有坚持很长时间。这是我们唯一的鳄鱼发现。实际上,我们一直看到几乎没有野生动植物。最后的塔利是一只鳄鱼,两只海龟和一只白鸟。不是很令人印象深刻,但仍然是一个美好的时光。鳄鱼遇到后不久,我们在路桥下划船,在我们离开弹簧后几乎四个小时后拉到外卖码头。
Juniper Springs River Run在那里排名是我们有史以来最好的皮划艇旅行之一。我真的希望我们能在佛罗里达州的冬季找到更多这些更长的划桨冒险。
14 comments
这看起来很棒(除了手机灾难之外!)您希望看到但不要太近!
确切地!我们以与在熊国家徒步旅行时相同的心态 - 谨慎,常识和好奇心。
如此美丽的桨照片!这么多人与鳄鱼一起皮划艇和独木舟,我听说他们只有在交配季节被打扰时对人类的侵略性 - 是的,是的!仍然坐在薄薄的塑料包装纸里,那些大牙齿和珠子的眼睛仍然令人生畏:))))))期待在佛罗里达州看到更多的冒险经历。
我读了关于交配季节的同样的东西。另外,您永远不想在妈妈鳄鱼和她的婴儿之间来!尽管如此,怪异攻击确实会发生,因此保持距离是我首选的生存方法。
我们已经关注您的博客已经有一段时间了,期待几年的全职工作 - 我喜欢您的照片和描述!由于您在我们的冬季居住,我希望您能帮助我们找到甚至我们本地人都不知道的隐藏宝石。我看到您停在杜普伊斯(Dupuis) - 希望您借此机会将Loxahatchee皮划艇划入Jonathan Dickinson sp。这是另一个很棒的全天旅行,包括在历史悠久的宅基地停留。而且,如果您正在寻找鳄鱼,我们建议在Everglades NP的Shark Valley的15英里自行车道。我们在那里感恩节,看到数十个懒惰的爬行动物躺在周围!
Thanks so much for the kind words Shannon :) We didn’t have time to do any kayaking while at DuPuis and are now down in the keys, but will definitely keep that in mind the next time we’re in the area. Also, we hope to hit up the Everglades on our way north (we’re in the Keys now) and that bike trail sounds perfect for us. Thanks for mentioning it!
Hi Amanda! Hope you are enjoying warm FLA. Areyou going to be in the Keys for awhile? We head down there soon and would enjoy meeting up. Safe travels! Gail
是的,至少到2月,我们将登上钥匙。当您到达这里时,请给我们一个大声疾呼,希望我们能见面!
与鳄鱼一起划独木舟,而不是对我来说,你比我勇敢……..戴夫
When you are back in northwest Florida try Coldwater Creek and Blackwater river (both near Milton). Both are spring fed and you paddle downstream. I prefer Coldwater because it has a rocky clear bottom in parts.
Looks good. I am doing Juniper Springs tomorrow with a local group. It has been in my sights and on my list since retiring this past June. It has been my experience that for alligator paddling the Okefenokee is the place to go. I stayed at the Suwanee River SP there and they were my constant companions. If you go I recommend visiting Billies island and walking the short trail loop there.
玩得开心!
2年前,我划了杜松子,我们看到了几只鳄鱼。多达10。在3英尺至7-8英尺之间的尺寸不等。他们非常温顺,几乎没有发芽。水很高,由于低悬挂刷,我们的皮划艇翻了两次。我一生中最恐怖的时刻!
哇!