Weeki Wachee Kayaking. LOTS of PIX!

[SoCalli V8]

Its funny that you should mention that astronut, as I am flying out to FL again on the 29th March for 2 weeks to hangout with my family visiting from England. I would love to have another meet with all the FL members again......

[dumb lady]

Hey, that would be FUN!

[9dawgs]

Ok, DL now you went and spread the secret to EVERYONE!! Man, now it'll be too crowded to enjoy...just kidding. It is a beautiful river isn't it. The fact is, most spring fed rivers in Florida look just like it. The blue comes from the reflection of the sky (don't ask me why the sky is blue...) in the crystal clear water. The trees you see are Cypress. They are very common in the swampy lowland areas of Florida. I wouldn't cut on them though as they are protected by SWFWMD (South West Florida Water Management District) ohterwise know as SwiftMud. They regulate all the wetland areas and you can get into MUCHO trouble for cutting down anything they manage without a permit from them...

[WVKayaker]

Those pics of the Weeki Wachee are amazing. Beautiful!
Thanks for posting!
In Maryland BTW we have the northernmost Cypress forest on the East Coast.
Floating in a Canoe or Kayak is great!
Thanks again!

[dumb lady]

Wow, that's pretty neat you have them in Maryland Mr Kayaker. I've never seen those trees before coming here.

Mr dawgs, are you sure it's the sky? The blue color is so patchy in places. And I see it in the shade here too.
(I took a zillion pix!)







And here you can see the blue sky reflecting, yet the water looks turquoise deep down. I found this so curious. I have asked many many people. No one knew. You are the first to give me a good guess, but somehow I'm not really convinced it's the sky either. I have a feeling there is something more to it. Hmmmm. Most curious.

[phr1$k37]

Oh wow! That looks like it was very relaxing and beautiful! Thank you for sharing. Makes me hate winter right now heh he but I enjoy my snowboarding There are a few places up here BC that is gorgeous and clear water as well. A pity a few was wrecked by young 4x4ers :(

[WVKayaker]

Awesome D.L.

[9dawgs]

Yes, it's the sky DL. The water reflects light even in the shady areas. The white sand below is what makes it so brilliant. If you get into muddy or water with a lot of tannin (ie; lakes or ponds) in it you won't see it. But anywhere there is clear water (fresh or salty) this is what you get. Look at the photos of the islands in the Caribbean and you'll see the same thing

[dumb lady]

That makes a lot of sense Mr dawgs. Have you gone kayaking in other blue colored spring fed streams? I can't get out much at this point in time. I love the Weeki Wachee thing & hope to do it again soon. But eventually I'd enjoy doing this in other parts of the state.
I know about the black waters too. I've seen that out at Withlacoochie State Park I don't like it. Looks like a bottomless pit. That creeps me out kinda.
This is my daughter at Withlacoochie. She'd be mad if she knew I posted this so, shhhh! She & I drove out there to check the place out. We didn't kayak here, just walked around exploring. The water level is way low. See how pitch black it looks?? You can't tell how deep it is. That's sooo creepy.

[9dawgs]

Yes, there's a lot of spring fed rivers around here. Rainbow River up in Dunellin is very nice, Chasawitzka (sp?) is also a great place to go. It's up in Hernando County. Then for the State Parks, you'll find all you need here http://www.floridastateparks.org/FindaPark.cfm

Up in the Ocala National Forest is Alexander Spring's http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/recreat ... shtml#alex. It's run by the National Forest Service. They have a great campground and a 5hr canoe/kayak run that's absolutley beautiful.

Hope this helps :>)

[dumb lady]

Mr dawgs let me tell you a story about Chassawahitzka...

Before my family moved down I was living here alone for a year & caring for my mother. I got 2 respite days a week. These were usually used for errands around town. But I was bored to bits from all that so I tried to use one now & then to go off exploring. I'd bring my camera & document my adventure to share with my husband & kids.
I used one of my 4 hour respite days to venture over to Chassawahitzka. I saw it on a map, & it was within my reach both time & distance wise.

The place is some kinda wildlife management area but I had no clue what that meant. When I got there I was kinda disappointed. It was a bunch of long sandy dirt roads that looked like they went off into infinity, through some kinda weird barren wasteland. I was completely alone, but still wanted to cautiously take a look around. I barely got out of the car when I noticed a sign for hunters. (!!!) I set my camera on a fencepost to take a stupid picture quick-quick to send back home to Mr D/L.

Suddenly, I see a pick-up truckload of local 'gentlemen' in the distance & they're headed towards me. And I mean truckLOAD. (!!!) Well, this daffy broad never jumped in a car so fast!! I spun that car around & hightailed it outta there so quick they only caught my dust-cloud. ...And I ain't been back there since!!
Maybe I missed something, but that place I was at didn't have any appeal at all to me.

(Is that not the dumbest pic?? See fellas, I am NOT HOT!!) Oh my gawd, when I think what may have happened to me that day...
In any case, I'm so glad I'm not alone anymore.

[SoCalli V8]

You are a "Bubbly Girl"..... with a WONDERFUL Family!..... I felt Truly Honoured to meet you and Bob, when I was welcomed into your home, to visit in `07.......

I would LOVE to cook again with your family, All together again.........>> That was Sooo Much Fun!

[dumb lady]

Thanks Mr SoCalli! You are very sweet to say that.
We had a lot of fun when you visited. Not only are you fantastic cook, but also a marvelous eye-candy with a Cockney accent to boot! Any girl (or crazy old bag) would be bubbly with that in her home!! We all enjoyed your company very much. You are always welcome here!!

[9dawgs]

Haha! Wow, you got off into the management area. That's a great place to hike (with other folks), but I was talking about the campground down by the river. Don't let the local "wild" life scare you away from a beautiful place. Check out this link: http://www.bocc.citrus.fl.us/commserv/p ... ground.htm

It will give you directions to the boat launch and campgroung

[dumb lady]

Can you hear me laughing??? I just KNEW this all had to some how be my own fault!!! Lolol!!
You see Mr dawgs? I earn my screen name every day!!!
Thanks for the link. That looks wonderful.