11-03-01....

Introduction

I like rivers and Florida has over 66 of them. The Suwannee is the longest (paddling river) going from the Okefenokee to the Gulf of Mexico or a total distance of 213 miles. It is the trip of a lifetime. And if you can do it I would suggest that you do. If you want any good information about the trip then check out Canoeing and camping the Suwannee in the links section. It's Bill Logan's web. I have paddled the Suwannee with him several times. Now for shorter runs there is the Peace River that runs from the Green Swamp to the Gulf of Mexico and will take about a week to do it. If you start out in the Green Swamp watch out for the Skunk Ape or our answer to Big Foot... yes he does live there and has been sighted and is a Florida Legend. No, I have paddled and camped there without seeing it but was wishing that I would and have sure tried to see him or her. The Econlockhatchee is the river that I live real close to and have spent most of my life on. The Econ, as we call it, is a real good river to paddle and fish. You will go from the low land swamps to the higher lands with pine's then back down to the St. Johns prairie area. When you start your trip, there are the cypress forests then to a higher bank area with pines and oaks. Now you will be entering the area of the Oviedo Lights. This is the area where State Road 13 (Snowhill Road) intersects the river and a long time ago there were two Indian mounds there and double wood bridges. The center portion of the two bridges was the Indian mound. Anyway it is a local supernatural phenomenon that I have tried to see and have even camped there wishing to see it without any luck, or I was asleep at the time, one never knows how things work. Growing up in this area I have camped, fished and played in the area and on the Indian mound. By the way Econlockhatchee in Seminole translates to. "River of many Mounds", if you know where they are. Now as I said Florida has a lot of rivers and all of them are really great places to paddle. Also, you can do some in one day or a part of a river in one day. You also have the ability of spending a night or more on the banks of one of the rivers hearing all of the wildlife, owls, night birds, Chucks will's widow, armadillo's, and naturally the raccoons trying to get your food or just looking the camp over. If you would want to do a river for a day trip.... Have a great time and if you want to do an overnight or longer paddle, feel free to contact me at LOldsparkey@aol.com