Category: Travel

Instead of one long trip I took two shorter trips back to back this year. The first to Whitewater Bay was extreme in several respects. Significant wind, fog, mud, and traveling by moonlight. We were tripped up by low tide for several hours on the second day with only a Tricolor Heron for entertainment. The sunrise at North River was spectacular as small flocks of White Pelicans flew by.

The second trip to Gopher Key was a first in several ways: odd number of paddlers, canoe plus kayak, and a layover day for bushwacking. It turned out the kayak was not as desirable as we expected. Other than windy conditions, the canoe was preferred by all. New Turkey Key was disappointing due to extensive hurricane damage and sailboats with generators, but we made the best of it. On the third day we took a side trip up Charlie’s Creek to Gopher Key. It was strange, almost desert-like area, with large flocks of American Avocet and White Pelicans.

I dubbed this year’s trip Challenging the Elements for good reason. By pure chance this was the most difficult trip yet. We started by navigating in the dark on the first day. This was not as bad as it sounds and turned out to be rather pleasant. The next day started out warm and sunny, but the weather changed abruptly to rain, then cold rain with a headwind. We would fight the wind several more times before the end. At one point we were forced off a small bay and had to bushwack our way to the next river. All told it was quite the adventure!