Seeing the River Rise

Sunday March 31, 2013
Site 28, O’Leno State Park
High Springs, Florida

 

Remember the river sink with all the green duckweed?

 

*if you missed it, click HERE to read that post

 

I want to hike over to River Rise today and meet back up with all the water that sank.  A sort of pilgrimage. But I can’t get any solid information about how far it is.   The written information says that the river rises 3 miles away from the sink.  No problem.   The ranger on duty says it is a 6 mile hike one way.  We probably aren’t up for that.  How can it be double the distance?  We can’t find any printed information about the length of any of the trails at O’Leno.  One of the problems at this park is lack of information and lack of friendly helpful rangers.  This is the first park I’ve come to where it’s like they don’t want you to do anything or bother them.

 

So we go up to the ranger check in and bother them again asking how else we can see River Rise.  We can drive we are told but we’ll need the gate code because it is kept locked.   There is no ranger presence there at all.  OK.  We get the gate code.  But are then told that unless we have a truck or a 4 wheel drive, we should walk in 2 miles down the road.  OK.

 

We are not organized religion or church going people but we are spiritual people and on this Easter Sunday we drive down the road, pull up to the gate, unlock it and drive a little way down what seems like a fine sandy road.  We leave Ruby at the “horse trailer” parking lot. 

 

 

 

 

This map of the Santa Fe River shows its source lake in the lower right and if you follow the river you can see it end and then start up again within O’Leno/River rise Park as it flows in its way to the Suwannee.

 

We set out on foot over a sandy road that Ruby could definitely have driven.  But that’s OK too since we originally wanted to hike here anyway.   There are no other cars parked in the lot.  It’s possible we are the only ones here.  Cool!!

The birds are singing.  It’s a beautiful morning and we don’t see another soul except this beautiful coral snake who scurries away before I can get more than this little shot of him.  Hope you can spy him.  He was beautiful.  I’m so sorry I frightened him.

    

 

We arrive at a horse tie up spot at the end of the road and then at River Rise which is just exquisite.   I’ve been in other beautiful natural places but few so pristine, so ancient feeling.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

We spend a lot of time just sitting and being at River Rise.  You can see the spring like movement of the water coming up and then flowing gently and broadly down to the Suwannee 35 miles away.

 

  

We take a path that goes off to the right along the bank.  All the banks including the shore where you could walk into the water are all totally natural.  The only evidence of human activity here is the water height measuring stick which says 3.2 feet.

 

 

 

 

The path dies and rather than walk through the grass we return to the shore of the rise and walk down the other side of the river.  

 

 

 

 

Here we find the BIG TREES.   Amazingly big trees.   This area has been under some mighty fine caretaking for a long time.  How wonderful!

 

This is the biggest shagbark hickory either of us has ever seen.

 

  No wonder this red bellied woodpecker likes it.

     

 

 

 

 

 

It is wonderful being here all alone with such beauty and serenity.  This area is a Cathedral for me.

 

 

 

 

 

NO CAMPING signs are everywhere.   I could spend hours here.  Would that be camping?   Next time I’ll bring my backpack chair and stay all day.  But for today,  it’s time to start back.  

As we reach the beginning of the path out, the first other person of the day appears.  I think we definitely surprise each other.  We are all being very quiet in honor of the holiness of this place, he entering and we leaving.

 

 

As we walk through the horse hitching area, off to the right, I see yet another answer to the question of “how far is it to hike from O’Leno to River Rise”? 

 

 

 

 

If this one is the truth then next time, I’m walking all the way in.  It will be more like a pilgrimage to walk 9 miles through the forest with River Rise as the goal in the middle.

 

 

 

 

Part way back the sandy road we come upon more folks visiting River Rise.  They look like they are enjoying themselves on this beautiful Easter Sunday.  But I’m glad we were here early and before they arrived.  It is a very powerful experience having this place all to ourselves.   The quiet added a great deal to the majesty.

 

 

 

To complete the circle of the day, the coral snake as we came and this little rough green snake hooks our attention as we leave.  He wouldn’t show his face but he sure is cute.   It has been a magnificent day at River Rise.

 

 

THE END

Checking out Ichetucknee and a 9 month check up at Moffitt

Thursday March 28 & Friday March 29, 2013
Site 28, O’Leno State Park
High Springs, Florida

 

Checking out Ichetucknee Springs

 

 

One of the main things I want to do while at O’Leno is to swim in the Ichetucknee Springs.  Gotta check em’ off my list you know.  So today we go over to see about swimming and kayaking. 

 

Ichetucknee is either 12 or 14 miles from O’Leno depending on which end of the park you go to. The park has no campground.  It is a day use area and REKNOWN for its summer tubing.  They offer tubing between memorial day and labor day only and limit the number of people going down the river to 750 A DAY.    After seeing the river, I can’t even imagine that many people on this gorgeous stretch of water.

 

During the rest of the year it is supposedly no tubing, only swimming canoeing and kayaking.  Although today we see tubers getting in at Mid Point.  There is a noticeable lack of park staff here.  Hardly any presence at all although someone had to have unlocked the gate at 8am.  But no one is collecting entrance fees at either the north or the south end.  They trust you with the iron ranger.   We have an annual Florida Parks pass so it is free to us anyway.

 

 

Ichetucknee Springs has two entrances

The North end of Ichetucknee contains two springs, the Main Spring and Blue Hole Spring.  It also contains the tube launch spot below the springs.  No kayaking or tubing in the springs.  Only swimming thankfully.

There are 3 landings at the South end of Ichetucknee.
They are the take outs or re-launches for tubing.  A tram runs from the last take out up to either Dampiers, the middle put in , or Mid Point the most Northern (in the south end of the park).  As you can probably guess, Mid Point (although the northern most launch in the south end of the park)  is about midway down the State Park’s 3.5 mile section of the river which begins at the North end springs.   Confused yet?  You actually had to be there.   Just picture a river with a bunch of folks getting into it in tubes near the North end and floating down 3.5 miles to the south end and then boarding a tram back to either the middle of the river to go again or to another spot further down to go again.   Clearer??

There is no internal public park road running between the north and south sections.  So you cannot go back up to the very beginning to tube again without paying again.  And you can’t go up to go swimming in the spring without driving up there.  The middle of the park is totally wild.  No stopping on the river there.  Only at the take out spots.

 

 

We park at the main building which houses the snack bar and restrooms to walk down to Dampiers.  Boardwalks make the trip easier on bare feet.  Not ours now, the tubers in summer.  This park is really all about tubing.

 

 

A passel of kayaks is putting in at Dampiers.  Looks like college kids.  In Florida, it’s some school’s spring break through the entire month of March and through the week after Easter if like this year that is the first week of April.   The spring breakers are EVERYWHERE.

 

Food and water are allowed in kayaks but not tubes and only if in non disposable containers.  Although with no one checking, what good is the rule?  I’m sure they do check in the big summer rush.

 

 

There is a “nature trail” from Dampiers to Mid Point  so rather than walk on the closed tram roads, we set off through the woods.  It seems like a long walk before we get to the boardwalk down to Mid Point put in.  We are being watched.

 

 

 

 

 

Scenic views abound around the boardwalk while you wait to get in the river.

 

 

 

While we are enjoying this lovely spot illegal tubers come to get in the river.  Well I don’t know if they were illegal but the signs say tubing only from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  All other months swimming, canoeing and kayaking only.

 

 

Having a bottom in your tube might be nice on a day like today where the high is predicted to be 71, the water temperature is 72 and you are floating along in the shade.  We have on long sleeves and long pants.  But we’re old fogeys.   And it isn’t 71 yet.  That won’t happen for hours.

 

 

 

No chance of drowning, at least not at this spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll save the other photos of this spectacular river for our kayak of it later in the week.

 

We close out our look at the South end of Ichetucknee by going down to the last take out which will actually be our put in for a kayak paddle.  We’ll paddle up stream to the tube put in at the North end and then float back down.

 

 

 

From here we drive up to the North End to see the springs.

 

 

 

First we see the Head Spring which actually is not the bigger of the two.  It is a second magnitude spring.  But it is beautiful and has been left mostly natural.  Only stone steps and decking on one side have been added. 

 

 

 

 

Next we walk on to the Blue Hole Spring, the only first magnitude spring of the nine named springs that feed Ichetucknee River. Its average discharge is 67 MILLION gallons a day.  Old Timers call it the Jug because of its shape.  The water of the spring passes through the neck of the jug as it flows out into the spring run.  The body of the jug is 40 feet deep and leads into a complex 580’ underwater cave.

It’s down another boardwalk and then a trail.  Only for the truly dedicated.  There is a small pretty tributary along side the board walk leading into the spring viewing platform.  It is a large spring and other than the viewing/entry platform is totally natural.  There is a barrier to the spring run at the jug neck which keeps non abiding kayakers from entering.

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

Who’s watching us here?

 

 

 

 

 

No ranger, no stamp but we were here so today’s date and the date of the forthcoming paddle will also go in my Florida State Parks Passport book.

Now we know all we need to come back for an all day paddle of the Ichetucknee River.   Stick around won’t you?

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY

Today we spend the entire day driving 150 miles one way to the Moffitt Cancer Center for David’s 9 month post stem cell transplant doctor’s visit.  We are on the road at 9am for his noon blood draw appointment.   At 1:30 his doctor looks over the results that they have to that point from the morning blood draws and  urine analysis and says things still look fine. 

There are more numbers to come but things appear to be just as they were at his 6 month appointment and he is still in complete remission.  Needless to say, this makes the 300 mile round trip more than worth while.  

I leave at that point and spend an hour driving 12 miles to stock up at our last Whole Foods Market for a long time.   Traffic on this Friday afternoon is ridiculous.  I am not surprised.   It takes 3 hours for me to go there, do the shopping and return.

While I am gone, David checks in at the infusion center and gets his infusion of Zometa. This takes only two hours.  :-)

On the way home, we stop at the Wesley Chapel Brusters for a reward.  Unfortunately they do not have Jamaican Me Crazy so we get Almond chocolate coconut for the first and last time.   The ice cream is good but just not quite good enough.  :-)   No pictures unfortunately.  I didn’t bring my camera since I couldn’t imagine wanting any more pictures of Moffitt