2010 Spring Paddle Florida along the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers is in the history books...
... March 18 through 25, 2010

Our Spring event this year began at Madison Blue Spring State Park where paddlers checked-in for the weeklong adventure to come.  We heard a presentation from Lars Andersen, a local author, historian and river guide, on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. 

In the morning, 45 paddlers awoke on a Friday morning to a haunting mist on the Withlacoochee River.  The river was near flood stage but receding.  Our intrepid group paddled the easy 12 miles to Suwannee River State Park, over a covered up Melvin Shoals. (View a map of the Withlacoochee River shoals — HERE —)  Our anticipated whitewater never materialized due to high water, which flowed at about 4 mph.  We were fed and then entertained by Magda Hiller, who made her record fifth appearance at Suwannee River State Park. 

Paddle Florida along the Withlacoochee/Suwannee Canoe Trail.

The next day was another relatively short 14 mile paddle to Advent Christian Village, where paddlers set up camp, had dinner and attended a lecture on ‘Why do those Sturgeon jump’ on the Suwannee River?  The presenter was Ken Sulak of the U.S. Geological Survey.  He has been studying sturgeon on the river for over 15 years on the river, and regaled his audience with data and anecdotes collected over that time.

On Sunday, the river took us to Suwannee River Rendezvous Resort and Campground.  This rainy day dampened the trip of 24 miles, but not the spirit of our participants.  Everyone handled the less-than-perfect conditions with good spirit and humor.  Most opted to spend the night indoors at the facilities there.  Rebecca Zapen put on a great show with her mellifluent stylings of old favorites and original material.  Her rendition of ‘Old Folks at Home’ on her violin and her interpretation of James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’ were real crowd pleasers.  The next day after breakfast, the sun shone and temperatures began to rise for the rest of the trip.

Our stay in Branford featured dinner and breakfast at the Branford Shrine Club and a presentation by Mike Devlin and Don McCumber of 21st Century Kayaks.  These kayaks are skin-on-frame boats that anyone can build themselves in a week.  The Shrine Club was a big hit with everyone as they showed us great hospitality on that Monday night and Tuesday morning.  A big ‘thank you’ to Charlie Daniel, the Town of Branford and the Branford Shrine Club.

The next day, we paddled 21 miles to Gornto Springs, a Gilchrist County Park.  The water level was sufficient to paddle right in to the spring.  Water levels hadn’t been that high since our inaugural event 2 years ago.  We had dinner and were entertained by Big Cypress Bluegrass.  Randy Slaughter, his wife Kim and the boys turned in another great performance.

We were welcomed again by a fog-shrouded river on Wednesday morning for our 20 mile paddle to Fanning Springs.  With the river and the weather cooperating, paddlers arrived between 1 and 3pm to set up camp, have dinner and await our final night’s show with Raiford Starke.  Raiford did not disappoint, as he played on into the night.  Thanks Raiford!

Our morning paddle on the last day lasted only nine miles.  When paddlers got to Manatee Springs, the facility lived up to its name.  As many as 30 manatees were in attendance at the end of the spring run.  We were treated to great hamburgers prepared by Jim and Cheryl Hollis, who catered most of the meals again on this trip.  A special thanks to Jim and Cheryl.  After lunch most paddlers departed, but a small group returned to Madison Blue Spring State Park to retrieve their vehicles, where the spring had almost returned to normal levels; another example of the ever-changing nature of Florida’s flora and fauna.  As the old saying goes, ‘You never step into the same river twice.’

The Florida Park Service, once again, did a fantastic job of playing host, as we stopped and stayed at several of their facilities.  We couldn’t do this event without the assistance and support of the Florida Park Service and the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail.