Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is unknown. Make today meaningful, and life is worthwhile.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Munching the Miles: Chassahowitzka River

Chassahowitzka River

Today's another gray day, as we pass through beautiful places but do not really see them. Unless the sun is bright, the water is dark and hides it's treasures. The area is flat, with marsh grass and meandering streams at the Chassahowitzka delta and some sandbars high enough for trees.

Campsites are scarce in this stretch. We hoped to find something to avoid paddling 5 miles up the Chassahowitzka River to the county park. We bypassed the primitive campsite on the north shore at the mouth since it is in the National Wildlife Refuge, and head upstream.

For the third time Rod has a manatee explode under the boat, creating enough ruckus that a resident upstream a half mile came out onto his dock to see what was going on. This was the most dramatic ride yet, fully lifting the boat out of the water in an explosion of water and mud.

We find a nice primitive camp just a half mile before the county camp, again with an easy landing and no haul. It is private land with a welcome sign inviting us to camp, and asking us not to litter. Excellent.

I reworked the itinerary, since it has had some errors in distance, and the next two nights are in hotels. The databook mentions an unofficial campsite we could aim for instead, and then we could push to Werner Boyce Salt Springs to skip two motels and reduce one day.

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