Suwannee River Paddle Dec. 23: Day 9: Fanning Springs State Park (rm 34.2) to Anderson's Landing (rm 4)

Woke up at 6 AM. Despite trying to get on the water early it was 8:22 AM by the time we did. The river is placid and wide this morning. The riverbanks are so low. Since we had no stops we were able to paddle the first 4 miles in 59 minutes. The sun is out there are very few clouds and it’s hard to believe that the weather this afternoon is supposed to be so bad.
We saw a boat and a few canoes and kayaks out around rm 25. This surprised us. We thought perhaps we had finally found the other folks who had been at the river camps before us. But no, we had arrived at Manatee Springs State Park. Since there were manatees on the edge of the river at the spring run we paddled over for a quick look. There were a bunch and it was totally worth the couple of minute paddle to that side of the river.
We made a brief stop to use the bathroom at Yellow Jacket Ramp at rm 22.6. There is a county park at the ramp with primitive camping, but no restrooms. A really nice man staying in an RV at the adjacent Yellow Jacket RV Resort and Campground gave us directions to the restrooms at the laundry room and said he wouldn’t rat on us for using them. Since we were in a hustle to get in more miles we ate lunch while paddling. It was easier to do today because we had packed wraps at the cabin this morning. Eating lunch while on the water rather than making a stop is a huge time saver.
Around noon ominous rain clouds rolled in from the south. We got all of our rain gear out so it would be close to hand. It started raining before one. Fortunately, it was a light drizzle. We used the porta potty at rm 16.5 near Fowlers Bluff Ramp. Just before leaving we saw a woman at the Treasure Camp Restaurant and Motel. I had spoken to the owner on Saturday and told her we might need a room today. The woman came out and asked if we were the kayakers she was keeping an eye out for. We confirmed we were, but had plans to continue on downriver. Everyone at the Treasure Camp Restaurant were super kind and supportive of our trip. When I had spoken with the owner Saturday she had even offered to bring us any supplies from town we may have been in need of.
As soon as we got back on the river the rain really opened up. I got caught by surprise again and although much drier than our previous rain day, I got the seat of my pants soaked. Eventually, I got my rain gear better situated and continued paddling. The head wind that came with the downpour mercifully let up. The rain didn’t stop, but lessened.
I had heard that there were no good stopping places in the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge past rm 16 and it was absolutely true. The area was pure swamp. Beautiful and wild, but no dry land. The river just went into the vegetation lining the river. Since there were no places to sightsee today, we made excellent time paddling. There were breaks in the rain occasionally and they were very welcome.
We arrived cold and wet after paddling our longest distance (29.88 miles), but in great spirits at Bill’s Fishcamp at 4:45 PM. Luckily the rain had stopped for the time it took us to check in at the office and get to our room at the adjacent Anderson's Landing. Apparently, the state parks system owns the rooms at Anderson's Landing. The rooms at Bill’s Fish Camp have kitchens and are bigger and nicer. Slightly more expensive as well, but still a good deal. $85 or something like that. We opted for the cheaper room because our priority was hot showers and the room at Anderson's Landing fits that bill.
Everyone worked to unload the boats. We weren’t quite sure what to do with our wet gear. We managed as best we could and all took turns in the shower and getting into dry clothes. Everyone is so grateful to be dry and warm. There is a covered communal cooking pavilion, but we didn't want to go back out into the rain. We ate snacks in the room and all loaded into the Fit to drive to Gainesville to get the Tesla.
Our plan had been to get the car in the morning, but since we got in so much earlier to Anderson's Landing than we were expecting we decided to do it tonight. As we pulled out of the parking lot we heard a scraping noise. After pulling over and looking under the car we discovered the shroud underneath was hanging. There was also a scrape on the bumper. The car was parked for the week in a way that the front couldn’t have been hit, so what happened to the car is a mystery. It probably happened way before we got to Bill's Fish Camp. We continued on to Gainesville. It was a bit surreal because within a half hour we had passed many of the places we had paddled past over the past two days! Everyone is sore from the long trip, but feel accomplished and found the trip really interesting. The river was beautiful and this was a memorable trip. When I had asked John what he had wanted from this trip, he had said, "An adventure." He definitely got it!
Tomorrow we will deal with the Fit, pack up, and head home.
29.88 miles paddled (our longest paddle!)

Suwannee River Paddle Dec. 22: Day 8: Zero Day at Fanning Springs State Park

In the morning John and I walked down to Fanning Spring. We saw 5 manatees, including 2 babies! After eating a couple of breakfasts, John and I walked over to Historic Fort Fanning. There were no remnants of the fort remaining and a kind of lame sign that didn’t really delve into the questionable history of Seminole Deportation and the Second Seminole War for which the fort was apparently built.
The predicted rain hadn’t really started by late morning, but came in in the afternoon. I worked on finally updating the blog write ups for the trip. We made a huge lunch and then the kids went to lay down while John and I worked on organizing our supplies and our plan for tomorrow. We decided to get a room at the end of the river at Anderson's Landing since rain is predicted again tomorrow all afternoon and evening. The morning is supposed to be good weather, so we don’t want to waste it by not paddling. My sister plans to come visit us in the evening so we picked out some nonessential items to send with her back to our other car.
We all enjoyed eating lots and resting today. My sister arrived in the evening and we played Cards Against Humanity and ate more. It was a fabulous, restful, and filling day.
Items that have been extraordinarily useful on this trip are: a cell phone on the Verizon network (you have to pay Verizon for your calls to go through if you are on a different network), toilet paper, Suwannee Wilderness Trail Paddling Guide downloaded onto my phone, cash, enough quick cook food for the trip (and lots of it), 3 plastic gallon water jugs with screw top lids (4 would have been better and even more during warmer weather), a quart size camp pot/French press combo, single burner propane stove, raincoats, 55 L dry bags-7 by the company Earth Pak, ropes, waterproof cell phone bags (wish we had a few more of those to put portable power banks in), portable power banks, anker charger, grocery bags, a bright light for the boat at night and for camping, paddling gloves (fingerless and neoprene for wet/cold weather), and a microfiber towel for wiping out the canoe. We wish we had bought a few more dry bags, smaller in size for each person to store their personal day items. Also wish we had downloaded google maps earlier, but we eventually did. We had a camping permit from Suwannee River Water Management District (free- Edwin McCook issued it and he needed 7-10 days to send it out). I could have packed even more trail mix and bars of various kinds, even though at the outset it seemed there would be no way we could eat all of the food we were packing.
It was essential to have someone off the water to help with weather updates and car drop offs etc. My sister, Alee was invaluable on this trip. It was also super helpful to have my dad give us weather updates and phone numbers of potential lodging. I should have brought the phone numbers of all potential lodging.
Throughout the trip we used the Runtastic app to keep track of our miles. Every mile it has a voice coach tell the total miles paddled, total time paddled, and pace for the mile just paddled. It can be paused for shore excursions. It has been super useful to find landmarks. Generally, it is motivating, too. Although I sometimes wondered if it had broken when I felt like I had been paddling forever and no voice coach called out to confirm I had paddled another mile!
No miles paddled.

Suwannee River Paddle Dec. 21: Day 7: Riverbank Camp (rm 49?) to Fanning Springs State Park (rm 34.2)

I woke up early this morning. It was a bit difficult to rouse Edon and Ezi. They were awake around 7 AM, but didn’t get up and start helping pack up. They laid in their sleeping bags and listened to Edon’s podcasts. It was warmer this morning and fortunately the tent and rain fly were dry, which was nice because we didn’t need to wait for them to dry out before wrapping them up. Apparently we didn’t reach the dew point last night. I made a warm breakfast for John and I of beans and rice.
It was really peaceful to camp and wake up all alone in the woods. I had never understood the desire of people to camp away from a campground and away from running water. However, after this experience I totally get it. It is so awesome to not worry about other campers or noisy rv’s or tiny, rocky campsites. If you haven’t gone real off the grid camping, go do it. Do it for a couple of nights, so you can get used to it. You will be so glad you did.
We eventually got everything packed up and headed out at 9:07 AM. I am pretty sure we camped right around rm 49. Fanning Springs State Park is at rm 34.2. I had hoped to get going early because rain was predicted. I couldn’t access the internet and wasn’t sure when the rain was supposed to begin. When I had previously looked it up, estimations for rain beginning ranged from 1 PM to 7 PM
We paddled. The riverbanks are so much lower than upriver. The river is often wider than upstream as well. There haven't been too many animals along the river. Turtles and birds are the primary animals we see, but fewer of those than I was expecting as well. We did see a bald eagle and some hawks flying over the river.
There were a few boats out today, but only about 4. Still many less than I would have expected. I am really grateful for the lack of motorized boats on this trip. They are so noisy and make wakes that rock the canoes and kayaks. Plus, they make paddling feel kind of futile.
It has been difficult to write about this trip. My hands are always busy paddling and at night I have been too busy setting up camp, eating, and preparing everything for the night that by the time all that is done I need to go to sleep.
John and I paddled up Sun Spring Run for a bit before realizing it was too long to fit in more exploration. It was pretty and we saw lots of different fish, but the spring run was surrounded by houses so we couldn’t get out of the boat anyway.
We needed fresh water, so before we left I picked out a few potential boat ramps/parks that might have water. It was fortunate that the first park we stopped at had good water. It was called Turner Point Landing at rm 44.5. We filled up on water and the kids played a parkour game of STICK. They were surprised when Edon stuck a jump and looked down and saw a snake. Fortunately, it was a full, lazy, non-aggressive snake and nothing bad happened.
There weren’t too many springs on the banks to tempt us today and we just kept paddling. There was a neat spring called Copper Spring at rm 37.8. The iron in the spring water left a coppery residue on the vegetation surrounding the spring. This spring was also surrounded by private property, so we couldn’t get out of the boats. We enjoyed the scenic run, though.
Unfortunately, just after this we encountered a head wind. It was SO difficult to paddle for about a mile and then pretty difficult to go the next 2.5 miles to Fanning Springs. By the time we got there, around 2 PM, everyone was hungry and exhausted.
I was super grateful that we were able to get the key to our cabin right away, rather than waiting until check-in at 4 PM. These state park cabins are amazing, more like 2 bedroom, fully-stocked houses than cabins.
The cabins are not super close to the canoe area and it took a couple of trips to get everything to the cabin. Our gear and clothes and bodies smelled quite rank, so we put as much as we could to air out on the ample wrap-around screen porch and took turns in the shower.
The only grocery store around is a Dollar General. It is about 1 mile from the cabin, so after showers we put on backpacks and walked to the store. It was exciting to pick out fresh food, junk food, and meals for dinner and tomorrow. We went a little overboard and ending up buying about $83 worth of food!
Everyone cooperated to make a pound of fresh strawberries, 2 pounds of pasta, 2 pounds of frozen broccoli, 2 onions, garlic, 2 jars of pasta sauce, and a full package of frozen Checker’s Fries. All of the food was eaten, as well as a few cookies and part of a bar of chocolate.
With full bellies we laid around the rest of the evening. John went to bed at 8:30 PM. Ezi kept going outside to get WiFi on his phone, because it didn’t reach all the way into the cabin. It was satisfying that rain did start falling on our way back from Dollar General. It makes this luxurious stop worth it, since the prediction of rain was what made us reserve the cabin.
16.02 miles paddled.