Itchetucknee River and State ParkMay 1, 2009
|
|
manatee and baby - best I could get
tree line for flooding is at least as tall as I am
turtles whispering to each other?!!
Mary told me this was a place not to be missed, so I decided to go today instead of on a weekend - less people. There were heavy rains here in April and rivers were flooded - this being one of them. An owner of a tube-renting company said tubing was just opened up yesterday! I found a "secret" south entrance where I could get my car closer to the kayak/boat launching area than the regular entrances. This entrance is closed when the tram is operational - from the end of May until November. The tram transports tubers between the north and south entrances so that they can get back to their cars after renting tubes to go 6 miles down river.
I traveled south first, as the park's boundary was close by and there have been manatee sightings. Manatee get up to this river to keep warm in winter and have babies, but travel back to the ocean in warm weather. I got lucky to see a young mother and little baby swimming downstream - probably the last ones in the river! The Itchetucknee River flows into the Santa Fe River which goes underground near my campground! Impressive travels!
Since tubing is such a popular recreation on this river, I was afraid it was a fast moving river. I am probably lucky to be on it now because it is flooded, therefore slower moving than usual. It was no problem to paddle upstream, but amazing how quickly I got back once I decided to turn around!
I saw many turtles, crazy people, wading birds, and even a couple of new ones for me! No alligators and no snakes, although people mentioned seeing them. There were many different kinds of fish - easy to see them because the water was so clear!
