We have so looked forward to this kayak trip down the Silver River. Our new blogging friends Karen and Al had written about this river in their blog. (click on link to see entry). As we were finishing up our time in Indiana before retirement the thoughts of kayaking this river kept us focused on our goal of full timing and all the wonderful adventures that awaited us. I did a lot of daydreaming and planning as I read Karen's blog each day.
During our visit at Lazy Days they gave us lots of information about this river and where to launch. There are two choices 1) launching at Ray Wayside Park with an easy put in - 10 miles on river roundtrip 2) launching at the Silver Springs State Park carrying your kayak a half mile to the put in - 4 miles on river roundtrip. John pulled his back a couple days ago wrestling with our bike hitch so the easy launch seemed the best alternative.
We have canoed for many years and loved it, however, hauling the canoe would be too cumbersome. Just before we left we sold the canoe and bought an inflatable SeaEaagle kayak. It now is stored in the trunk of our Jeep and probably weights about 70 pounds with all our gear.
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| Ray Wayside Park Launch - John inflating the kayak |
This river is so amazing. It is very clear and is considered to be one of the most beautiful rivers with diverse wildlife in Florida. It did not disappoint. The river bottom is white sand and very pretty mixed with the tall grasses and hundreds of pond lillies. It can reach depths at times of 30 feet.
There is lots of wildlife. We tried to identify some of the birds when we got home. For all you experienced bird watchers out there...if we are wrong please let us know.
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| We saw lots and lots of turtles sunning themselves |
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Limpkin - This bird has one very loud call |
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| Anhinga drying out it's wings |
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| Great Egret |
One animal that you would not expect to find are these Rhesus monkeys. They decided that Florida seemed like a great place to live the 1930's. Several legends say they escaped after the Tarzan movie that was filmed here and others say it was a concessionaire who let some go. Whatever the reason they were a delight to see and entertained us for quite some time.
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Rhesus Monkeys |
Karen had "mentioned" that we would see alligators. This is our first encounter with the prehistoric creatures and one that had me just a little nervous. We had not been on the river very long before a very long one (10-12 feet at least) came down the river right beside our canoe. Sorry, there are not any pictures. We were too busy getting out of it's way and trying to remember how to paddle-yikes!!! All the others (23 to be exact) were on the shore snoozing in the sun.
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| Alligator snoozing in the brush |
The highlight of this trip are the head springs of the river. They are located at a theme park by the same name. Over 550 million gallons of water flow from the seven springs each day. There are many glass bottom boats tours that you can take if kayaking is not in your future. Many TV shows and movies were filmed here.
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Glass bottom boats - entrance to springs |
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| Silver Springs |
It was fascinating and so beautiful to see. We spent about 45 minutes paddling around the springs. Supposedly there are some statues in the water but we did not find them. Our paddle back to the launch went a lot quicker because it was downstream.
During our trip we saw several older men racing canoes back and forth along the river in some unusual canoes made of tevlor We found out later one of them was a world champion. It was interesting talking to them at the launch. They have been racing for over 40 years.
We were very tired kayakers at the end of this trip. It was certainly challenging and very rewarding. Thank you so much Karen and Al for writing about this river. It lived up to our expectations and so much more. We hope to inspire some others to give it a try.
The weather is now perfect for enjoying the river. On Saturday our next plan is to kayak the Rainbow River. Stayed tuned and thanks for stopping by today.
