Fifth Annual TradGang St Jude's Kayak Trip

[elkken]

Gregg was like having an museum docent with you on the tour, he knew the names of every bird we saw.

 

 

 

[elkken]

The journey down the Ocklawaha was about 8-9 miles and other than a few other kayakers and a few boy scouts we had the river to our selves. The quiet, beauty and serenity was amazing. I kept waiting for one of the Thompson brothers to show up along the shore.

 

[elkken]

We did this in three day trips ... the second day was Silver Springs and the Silver River. We started our day with a tour of the Silver Springs Museum which was a fitting way to understand some of the beauty we would be seeing that day. The Silver Springs is the beginning of the Silver River pumping out 550 million gallons of water a day from the Florida aquifer. The water is crystal clear. Many Tarzan movies where made around Silver Springs.

Because there are more people on the Silver the wildlife here was very tolerable of our kayaks and you could glide right up to most of them. Gators included.
 
 

 

[elkken]

You could not fish the Silver River but man did we see some great fish in the crystal clear water. In some of the back water inlets you could see school after school of Gar, that was really cool because you don't see those in any river I have been on in Washington.

At the end of our Silver River tour we were fortunate to see a band of Rhesus monkeys. They were very accomodating for pictures.

 

 

 

My camera was a point and shoot Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 with a 12X zoom

[HARL]

Great Stuff !!!

[elkken]

Day three was a trip to Alexander Run, yes Run not river, not sure why. This was a day we could get the fishing poles back out and boy did we catch some fish. The Alexander was the only stream we had to paddle up stream all though the waters were very calm and slow moving. Lots of lily pads to fish and the Cyprus forest was echoing with the sounds of "fish on" ... Gregg had his new fly rod on it's maiden voyage and I was fishing a small ultalite spinning outfit Gregg had rigged up with a black and green stripe grub and spinner. It was a killer on pan fish, but I did catch a few nice bass and some good crappie on it too.

We stopped at a park to eat lunch and after lunch we went snorkeling. It is amazing to see the volume of water come out of the lime stone caves. The water goes from just a few feet deep to 50 feet deep in a matter of yards. It was also very exciting snorkeling along the shore line knowing that gators swim in these waters.

On the way back down stream we continued to catch and release a boat load of fish. Alexander Run had fewer folks on it and you easily got the feeling you were the only people there. Lots of wildlife again and plenty of sunshine. The weather for our entire trip was excellent.

If you participate in the Trad Gang St Jude's auction this is certainly an item to keep an eye on ... Gregg, Renee, Hanna, Reed and the rest of the Dudley clan are the best and central Florida by kayak is the only way to go. Pam and I had a wonderful time.

[Terry Green]

Great Post....Great to see Ken in action again.

Yeah Gregg, thanks for the paddle along.

   

[gregg dudley]

Great pictures, Ken!

Thanks for all the comments, guys.

[gregg dudley]

ttt one last time...

The auction will be here again before you know it.  Start saving!    

[elkken]

             

yes Pam and I are still smiling we had soooo much fun on this trip ....

[Greg Szalewski]

Thanks for posting this up here Gregg. I have been eyeing this trip up for years but knew I couldn't make the time for it. I think that will change. I made it a priority to get out on the rentals at the state park last week and was impressed beyond my expectations of the flora and fauna. Everyone else agreed and want to come back and make a bigger trip of it. That is pretty much the ultimate kayak trip in my book.
Thank you for your generosity and providing this special unique trip.

[Killdeer]

Got my attention!
This looks like a lot of fun. I bought a kayak last year and am loving it!

Killdeer  

[gregg dudley]

I'll be listing this trip again on the St. Jude's forum tonight when I get home.  My run of good luck hosting great people is what prompts me to keep on sharing this experience with others. I'm sure that I will luck out again with more great tradgangers.