Longleaf Trace - Epley to Lott Circle

Biking entry -- Did the trace again, and this time started at Epley Station which is as far as we went last time. This portion of the trail goes through more rural countryside, including farms with cows and horses. On the GPS track, the black is last trip, the yellow track is this trip. Although the weather was HOT and humid, quite a bit of the track was shaded, and we got a short thunderstorm and rode through it on the way back. One final treat was the snowcone stand at Sumerall.

Even on a Saturday, hardly anyone out there. You can't beat this for entertainment! Tyler loved it and rode strong the whole way. I keep wondering, who do I pay... Just can't believe you can have this much family fun for free.

Graveline

If I've never said it before, Graveline is pronounced 'Grav-e-leen' (make that an upside-down 'e') and is my favorite kayak spot. Graveline Bayou and Graveline Bay are a most unique and special part of the Mississippi coastline estuary. I got back in the kayak this past week and re-experienced 1) warm water 2) Mississippi birds 3) Mississippi mud 4) low tide 5) high tide 6) the feeling that alligators were close, but not showing themselves 7) the joy of paddling and cruising in this most awesome mode of transport. The kayak has advantages over the bike -- but what a good pair they make! One for the top half, one for the bottom half. I want to start a new bi-athalon sport event of biking and kayaking. Can't decide which should go first though. In tri-athalon they swim first, but I think the water would be more refreshing in the second half.

I don't have much in the way of pictures. Just a heron taking off from a pier. I was just happy to get back out in the water.

Ocean Springs Memorial Day

32 miles on Sunday and an easy recovery. I stopped by the MS Vietnam Veteran's Memorial before the day's ceremony, then went for a nice ride. There are still not many people out having fun, even on a Memorial Day with nice weather. I saw more people working on rebuilding their houses than were out on the beaches and out in boats. Let's hope they all took a break for an afternoon of relaxation for the holiday!

Longleaf Trace

Another bike trip... though I think this holiday weekend I might get the kayak back in the water. I'll have to do something to exercise the top half instead of the bottom! Dale, Tyler, and I went 22.6 miles on the bike trail in Hattiesburg this morning. I love this "rails to trails" concept, and this appears to be one of the top trails. I will definitely go back and intend to do the whole 42-mile trip (84 round trip) someday.

Tyler was such a trooper!

I've figured out this concept about working up to greater endurance. You go on a long trip, figure out what ails you the most, and purchase some new gadget or equipment to address the problem. At this point I've got the bike, the clipless pedals and shoes, helmet, water pack, the handlebar mount for the Garmin etrex. Waiting on the bike shorts I ordered the other day, and may need another pair of gloves as it seems Tyler is quite attached to mine. My wrists hurt but overall I'm in pretty good shape. Except for getting progressively more high-performance equipment, though, there really is a limited amount of gear that you need to do serious biking, and the same is true for kayaking. Once you're equipped, you just go out and enjoy it.


The Longleaf Trace bike trail is really nice, and today was ideal weather. The right side of the GPS track is the USM campus where the trail begins. The left side is as far as we went today, although the trail continues for another 30 miles. USM students are dispersed right now for summer, so there really weren't many people there - just enough to talk pleasantly to a few, including a UPS driver of 30 years who rides the trail several times a week. He had some good advice such as "you've got to learn the art of figuring out when you're half-tired so you can make it back to where you started" - a concept I'm quite familiar with from kayaking! The trail is mostly woods on both sides all the way, and the hills are extremely gentle grade from its days as a railroad. There are places where you feel you're completely out in the woods. Plenty of birds, a few woodland creatures, and nice scenery. Along one stretch there are about 20 trees with signs identifying what type of trees they are. It's evident that there was plenty of Katrina damage even in this area; there are lots of sections of trees that are pretty torn up. I think they had more tornadoes than we had on the coast. We went to a stop called Epley and talked about going to Summerall next time. I think there is a spot to eat lunch in Sumerall, which would make a nice day trip, though you'd have to remind yourself to keep it light.



Happy Memorial Day, everyone! May you have plenty of outdoor adventures, lots of BBQ, and family fun, and remember our fallen heroes... our ancestors, family members, loved ones, neighbors, and friends who fought and died for this country.

Biking

Well, obviously I'm not getting out in the kayak as much as I want to. The logistics continue to be an issue. Soon, our new boat will arrive and open up all kinds of possiblities, as we can transport the kayak to a choice spot; Dale and Tyler can fish while I go off paddling.

For now, the bike is my new love, so my tracks are land-based. I actually find many similarities between it and the kayak. I was thinking yesterday, a kayak is to a motorboat what a bike is to a motorcycle. Both, in my opinion, are more enjoyable without the motor! It's so much more of a rich experience, to me, when you experience the mode of transportation, AND you are challenging yourself physically.

Yesterday: 27.5 miles, approx 2 hrs, top speed 24mph.



Visited the OS bridge where the yacht club used to be. Hmm, can you tell which photo is pre-Katrina and which is yesterday?

Florida -- Wakulla River

The Wakulla is * clearly * a spring-fed river. Clear, blue, and beautiful! Peggy said it’s one of her favorite places to paddle, so I figured it would be a winner. We went first to the state park at the spring. There is a swimming area and a platform that looks down into the spring. Talk about blue!

They say it goes 300 feet down into an elaborate aquatic cave. Private boats aren’t allowed in this part of the river “a good thing”, one guide book says, “because the place is overrun with alligators.”


Dale and Tyler took put me in the river a few miles down under the HW 365 bridge, then they headed 4 miles farther down to HW 98 to meet me an hour and a half later.

The current is light and I found the water to be amazingly clear. I talked to one man in a canoe and he said its browner/greener than he’s ever seen it – on past trips it was clear as drinking water. Well nonetheless, I was impressed. It sure wasn’t Mississippi water. I could see the bottom at 10 feet; beyond that it was a little hard to tell if it was vegetation, rocks, or manatees on the bottom.

I spent the first half mile wondering if I would be able to tell a manatee if there was one below me. A mile later I spotted two on the right side of the river, and they were unmistakable in shape and size. I think I saw them on a trip to Florida when I was 11. Don’t remember seeing them when I lived in Ft Walton Beach in ‘89-‘91. I wouldn’t have guessed they would be so unconcerned about my presence. I stayed close to 10 minutes and drifted pretty close to them. Here they are munching side by side. Is that cool or what?

I remembered to take a video with the digital camera, and got a nice 25 second shot of them sticking their noses up to breathe, moving around a bit, and as a rare additional treat, emitting a stream of bubbles from the opposite end. Boy was Tyler impressed when I showed him a video of a manatee fart! :- )

There are quite a few private docks on the river. I bet that land costs a bundle.

The turtles were bold; they must get tired of plopping in the water every time someone goes by. I saw a few birds but not as many as I thought I would. Either Peggy’s really good at spotting them, or they were just elsewhere that day. There were a lot of fish, and I’d say other than the manatees, the gar were the most impressive creatures. The gar were huge, 3 or 4 or even 5 feet long, cruising around the river in all different directions like cops on patrol. I could have got a picture of one if I tried hard enough, but there was so much else to look at. I found myself wondering if I would see more above the water if I wasn’t so intent on looking IN the water.

We headed straight home from there and it took 5 ½ hours. Good chance we’ll go back some day. I’m interested in seeing the lower part of the river when it gets into the tidal area. Overall it was a really great place to paddle. North Florida has a lot to offer and provided for a great family trip.

Florida -- Merritt’s Mill Pond

Spring break trip mission: camping, fishing, and kayaking. Inspired by Peggy of paddletales we headed to Florida around Tallahassee for a few days, April 11-13th. We took the dog, Jazz, which limited our options somewhat but was fun. She’s a good boat dog and did fine in the john-boat. For the road trip, the kayak rode on top of the john-boat which we pulled on a trailer, and the dog rode in the Truck backseat with Tyler. We had the tent and all that ready and loaded in the truck, but we were trying to do a lot already so we kept it simple and rented one of the cabins at Merritt’s Mill Pond Arrowhead Campground. That turned out to be a winner because the highlight of the trip for Tyler was renting the paddleboats, particularly the barracuda which is like a jet ski and has a prop instead of a paddle wheel.

I did a kayak venture about halfway up the pond on Tuesday afternoon. Got to the power lines and just a bit beyond. There’s a strange humming in the woods just north of the power lines. Don’t know what that could be. Other than that it’s a quiet, peaceful place. A lot of houses and docks, but still mostly natural surroundings.


Very blue, clear water! There’s a lot of grass and algae and that covers half the bottom. It’s strange, makes you feel like you’re on a magic carpet floating 12 feet high, looking down on bushes, grass, and trees. Turtles and fish are easy to spot swimming around. Some of the plants make it hard to paddle through. Once my paddle snagged and I almost had to drop the paddle or flip the boat, but at the last second it let go. I didn’t have a lot of time before sunset so I headed back.


Wednesday we took the boat up to the top of the lake. The recreation area was closed, but we found one of the large springs (THE large spring?) on the west side under a rocky cliff. I was fascinated with the water coming up out of the spring and how it made kaleidoscope patterns with the rocks. Dang it -- my camera batteries died just before we got to it. New mission! I knew I had to make it back in the kayak later in the day. So a little while later I set off from the campground again, went all the way to the top of the pond, and visited the spring again. Got some good pictures this time.


It was a long trip back since I haven’t done any long trips lately, but felt great. The general conditioning I’ve done lately, jogging, spinning, biking, walking, seems to make a difference in stamina even though I haven’t been paddling much. Well, now’s the season, so I intend to paddle a lot if I can figure out the transportation challenges.

The pond was a beautiful place to camp and kayak.