Okefenokee swamp 5 day paddle
Page 4
After we got out of Floyd's east canal, and turned right . . . it was better, but still extremely shallow. We worked our way through lily pads and shallow water, sometimes grounding entirely . . . requiring us to back up and search for a deeper channel . . . but most of the way across the upper western edge of Chase Prairie . . . was mostly pole and push in inches of water rather than paddle.
We did see a few more 'gators here and like before, they were not about to get in that cold water. Every one of them stayed put as we passed close by.
The cold made for better subjects. They stayed put for photos.
Crossing Chase Prairie . . . very shallow and
lots of "pushpole and paddle."
Finally, we came to the Suwannee Canal. Far easier paddling.
Around 11:00 o'clock we found the Suwannee Canal. we said "Hooray" and took a short break. What a relief. FINALLY we could again paddle. I was surprised that the canal did not look anything like I had previously thought. It was wide and rimmed by tall trees. In general it was much deeper than our paddling that morning, though occasionally my paddle did touch bottom.
Canal Run Shelter is off on a canal to the south,
roughly a half mile down,
on the left.
We arrived about 1:15 and were glad we had an early campsite which would give us more of a breather. We leisurely set up our camp and kicked back for a change, savoring every minute of it. That shelter was not nearly as large as the others . . . only room for one tent, the others set up on hard ground outside. However, it was in fairly good shape except the flooring nearest the outhouse has popped up and is loose. It sticks up about 3/4 inch above the rest of the floor. We had to walk around it with care lest one of us trip over it. Other than that . . . it was a great stop. We even were able to get our canoes up on a little sandy area. We enjoyed the company of two otters playing at the end of the slew and a small 4' 'gator right across from us who watched with interest what we were doing.
Dirt Daubers been busy. Normally I would bother taking a picture of something like this, however,
these dirt daubers have been building condos. Most
of the underside of the roof was covered, almost 4 inches thick in some places.
I have seen dirt daubers most of my life - but never have I seen such
a thick colony - built one on top of the other. Look closely. These guys
were architects of mud.
Chuck and his "home built" Pirogue.
Light, shallow draft, flat bottom, stable.
Excellent swamp boat.
We ate breakfast and loaded and were on the water about 9:45 About noon, we stopped at a Day Shelter for a stretch and snack. It is a nice and well built structure with an outhouse about 200 feet down a wide and clean trail. It was good to get out and walk a bit. After a 20 minute break we hit the water again.
John and Me relax after taking a short walk to stretch.
No point in discussing the canal coming in . . . since it's the same all the way in . . . as already described. Great paddling. We sure were glad we didn't have to do any more "pushing and poling."
Wildlife:
Surprisingly, we saw very little for a trip covering this distance.
Except Sand Hill Cranes. There were lots of them __ from Maul all the way down to past Floyd's . . . In one in flight flock we counted eight. Lots of two's and three's. Didn't see but two small 'gators, until we left Floyd's Island. Saw the most on Chase Prairie and Suwannee Canal. Most were small except for one old gal who was about 8 foot on the S/Canal. However, due to the cold weather, they did stay put for photos. They didn't want to go in that cold water. One little guy really surprised me. While trying to take his picture, my canoe drifted into shore faster than I expected. I ended up with him at 3:00 o’clock within paddle length and he still stayed put. I wished him good luck (grin) and shoved off __ and he still didn’t move. No way was this little guy going to get in that darn cold water. (grin)
We saw at least a dozen river otters, only one big Blue Heron, five or six White Ibis, no more than three or four turtles, and there was a noticeable absence of owls. Heard almost none until we got to Suwannee Canal shelter. And then only a few. Guess the cold bothered them also.
Saw only one hawk on the whole trip though we heard a couple, and he was also on the S/Canal. Too far to tell what kind. No osprey seen!
I'm sure the above wildlife info is of little interest . . . however, the point here is that we saw very little wildlife on this trip. Probably 10% of what could be expected normally.
End of the line. Suwannee Canal Marina.
We pulled out at Suwannee Canal Marina at roughly 2:30 P.M., tired, glad it was over, But pleased that we had made it . . . even though it was cold and we had worked our fanny off.
One heck of an experience . . . and one we will remember for a long time.
After seeing how shallow it was on Chase Prairie __ and surmising that my March 31st trip would be even longer and worse "push and pole" . . . to get into Round Top Shelter . . . and not wanting to have to go through that "Peanut butter" on the east side of Floyd's again . . . or carry my gear and canoe 150 feet or more to put in on the west side . . . I opted to cancel that trip. Judy took care of it for me. No way I want to have to go through all that "push poling" in shallow water again. ESPECIALLY if I were alone.
I do appreciate Judy at Administration . . . sign in office - giving us the heads up on the problem areas . . . she was very helpful. It is for that reason I'm posting this young "BOOK" ( grin ) Hopefully, it will be helpful to others to better know what they are getting into, or keep them from having problems.
Last, I again remind you — My opinion -- I doubt a tandem canoe . . . loaded . . . would be able to go where we went, due to the weight of two people and two loads of camping gear. Especially . . . Ohio Lake, the "stump farm" and the canals coming into and out of Floyd’s Island.
Best of luck to you. Should you have questions, feel free to contact me.