Hey! Just in case anyone finds this site that was all about kayaking and geocaching in and near Tallahassee, Florida, I have sort of merged this site into my new motorscooter site, which is all about motorscooters in Tallahassee. Here is the link:
Tallahasee Motorscooters!

Well, hey, what's this?

Yes, this site has been neglected for a long, long time. But with a renewed interest in both geocaching and kayaking, it is time to start posting again.

So, check back soon to see more links, more caching, more kayaking and in general, more.

Geocaching is a blast.

A few days ago, Shelby and I went out geocaching. We had four we wanted to do but only made it to three. We found all three, though, and they were all nice caches, each offering soemthing different.

The first cache we hit was closest to our home. Dead wood is a cache located on TCC. It was a suprising hike. Well, most of the hike was following the road but the fifty or so feet off the path was not so easy. It is a very nice cache.




We found and took our first Travel Bug,.Blueberry Pig . A TB is an object that has a Travel Bug tag attached to it with a serial number. The owner of the TB decides where he wants the Bug to go and puts it in a cache. Hopefully, other Geocachers will find the TB and place it in other caches closer to its goal. The TB we found wants to make it to the Smithsonian Museum.

Next on our hunt was
Palmer Munroe Park, a cache located in .... Palmer Munroe Park. This was a nice easy walk to a nice easy find. This wasn't one of the caches that flip hides that make me want to cry. Still, it was a nice walk in a park I used to play basketball in when I was in high school. We took yet another travel bug, Southern Comfort, who wants to make it to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here is a picture of Shelby at the front of the park:



The last Geocache we were able to do that evening was Chief Osceola. This is a microcache, which usually means a 35 millimeter film cannister. This one was a bear. We looked and looked and looked some more and finally found it just as I was about to give up. Shelby had already given up and was staring at the stadium, or the cars pulling up, or the sorority girls walking into the stadium, screaming and yelling the whole time. Microcaches are fun but they can be hard to find. Of course, this one is the hardest micro I have yet to find.

As you can see in this picture, it was getting late so it was time to head home.

Well, I found a new hobby...






I've recently been absolutely sick of TV and the general idiocy of famous people. Michael Jackson. Paris Hilton. Tom Cruise. Britney Spears. Etc. Etc. On and on. That was one of the reasons I originally got into kayaking, but it didn't really work out so that kayaking was a family experience.

I really enjoy kayaking, but it is a one man show here in my home. One of the posts on Paddling.net was about Geocaching. I had heard about it a while ago and it seemed kind of cool, but I never really thought too much about it. However, I was sort of kicking around the idea of buying a cheap GPS unit for camping and kayaking trips and I decided to take a look at the site.

Basically, Geocaching is a high tech treasure hunt. Someone hides a cache (which vary in size) and then posts the coordinates and some clues on the Geocaching web site. You enter the coordinates into your GPS unit and go find the site. Once there, you then have to find the actual cache, which can be located and hidden in some really ingenious ways. Some of these caches are smaller than a 35 mm film canister. Some of them are very well camouflaged. Some of them are hidden in very busy areas, such as Lake Ella or the parking lot of a super popular megastore.

Anyway, if you are lucky enough to find the cache, there are usually some assorted stuff to trade and a log book. The 'treasure' usually isn't anything all that super, but that isn't the point. The way you are supposed to trade is to trade up. That is, take something but leave something a little better in the cache. Nothing in the caches I have found have been all that valuable, although the foreign coins were cool to trade for. Shelby and I have started collecting those. After you are done caching for the day, you go back to the website and log your finds. Some of the local Tallahassee caches (122 in a 3o mile radius from Tallahassee) have been around since 2002 and have logs of over 50 visits.

So, I bought a cheap GPS unit; a Magellan Explorist 100. It's ok for geocaching but is pretty basic. I went out on Father's Day and found two caches, I was the first to find (FTF) on both of them. FTF is kind of a cool designation. One of my caches was a quick .10 mile walk down the bike trail. The other was a 4 mile walk around Lake Lafayette. Neither of these places have I ever seen.

That is what geocaching is all about. Seeing cool places in your area (or anywhere) that you wouldn't see otherwise.

So, Saturday, the whole family loaded up and went geocaching, my 18 month old included. We found six out of seven caches we tried and were even lucky enough to be FTF on our first cache.

So, mission accomplished, we as a family have a hobby that takes us outside, gets us some decent exercise and gets us away from TV.

On the last cache we found, we were in a park in a neat area of town and came across a pagan altar or shrine. Interesting stuff...

The Wacissa River...

I finally had a day where I could get out for a paddle. I've become a little apprehensive about trying new places to paddle sinc the demo day where I learned I wasn't nearly as skilled as I thought I was. But I really didn't want to paddle the Wakulla again, since that's pretty much all I do when I get a chance to get out on the water.

I also don't have someone to paddle with, nor do the local paddling groups have much planned in the next few months. Add to that I don't have anyone able to shuttle for me and I need to find areas with the same entry and exit points.

That still leaves me with a lot of choices and today I chose the Wacissa River. Growing up, I swam at the River a lot, but it had been at least twenty years ( ouch, I am getting old!) since I had been there.

Suprisingly, it looked much the same, although the boat ramp has moved about 30 feet. I got in the kayak and was looking forward to a nice little trip.

What a trip it was. The Wacissa is absolutely beautiful. The water was very clear and there were many fish of all sizes swimming by. Several times, mullet would jump out of the water. There were many birds about and lots of wildlife sounding off in the near vicinity.

A mile out, there is a small offshoot that leads to what is called Blue Spring, one of the springs that feed the river. Over the spring, someone has hoisted a huge American Flag. I had read about it and wanted to see it and it was quite a site. There were many boats at Blue Spring; there is a dock and swimming is possible. I sat for a minute and then headed back out to the river.

I paddled on for maybe another mile, enjoying the scenery but after the second air boat thundered by, I decided to turn around and head back. I took only a few pictures but will definitely be back. Soon.

Also, I see a lot of you find this site while searching for paddling info about local rivers. It would be great to find a small group to paddle with consistently so feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

I think next on my list is a return trip to the Ochlocknee State Park, so I can explore Dead River and the Ochlocknee River. This time I'll take the kayak and the camera.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

This is the entrance to Blue Spring. 

This was an impressive site to see. 

This shot is from a little past Blue Spring. 

The Wacissa was beautiful...even with Air Boats and Power Boats roaring past. 

That bird was pretty big. I really need to learn a bit more about the local wildlife... 

It's a conspiracy...

I was all set for a trip with a local canoe and kayaking group (Apalachee Canoe and Kayak Club...no link, they don't have a website) set for 8:30 today from the Wakulla River to St. Marks, stopping at the Riverside Cafe for lunch. I was excited to go since I wasn't able to get out last weekend and it would be cool to see a part of the Wakulla I haven't seen and to meet a group of like minded people. Another reason is I had a closing Friday (I'm a Realtor) and wanted to take a few hours to have fun.
So, Friday morning, even though the weather reports say it is going to be storming with severe thunderstorms by 8am Saturday, I go to The Wilderness Way and rent a Wilderness system Pungo 120 for the trip.

I did this for several reasons. The first is that I really want a one person kayak. I have demoed this one and it was really nice but I wanted to go on a longer trip and see if there was a dramatic difference between this kayak and the Perception Acadia II that I own. If there isn't, I'll stick with the kayak I have and enjoy the extra storage.

The second reason is I didn't want to meet this group and then spend the entire morning flailing around in my kayak like I'm having a seizure while trying to get an aggresive beaver out of my boat. This is otherwise called (by me) paddling my kayak down the river.

However, Friday evening, I got a call from the trip planner, understandably cancelling the trip. This is the forecast for earlier this morning and this evening:


Saturday: Periods of showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Some of the storms could be severe, with damaging winds. High near 82. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to between 15 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Saturday Night: Periods of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8pm. Some of the storms could be severe, with damaging winds. Low around 61. West wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Of course, when I woke up, it hadn't rained a drop and the skies were only slightly overcast. But, instead of brushing my teeth, kissing the wife and kids and heading out for a paddle anywhere, I figured the storm was probably only minutes away.

8am: Look at the campmobile with the Pungo strapped to the roof. Glance at the sky, note there is only a faint breeze.

8:10am: My son wakes up. I spend the next few minutes sitting with him, looking out the window at the Pungo, strapped to the roof of the campmobile.

8:30am: Wife and stepdaughter get up. They silently pray for rain so they won't have to listen to me all day complaining about not being able to go out in the boat.

8:40am: Wife makes an excellent breakfast. I'm still glancing out the window at the Pungo strapped onto the Pungo strapped onto the roof of the campmobile. The sky is still cloudy, there is still no breeze to speak of and I'm still expecting torrential downpours at any minute.

9am: The Pungo is still strapped onto the campmobile. There is still no wind or rain. I am getting grumpier.

10:30am: Wife and stepdaughter deicde they really need to go to the store for birdfeed. Birdfeed. Really.

12:30pm: Son finally gets tired of me moping and goes to sleep.

12:45pm: The wife and stepdaughter come home. I am still sitting in the living room, with the Pungo strapped to the roof of the campmobile framed by the bay window. I have now developed a serious dislike of weather forecasters.

1pm: Check on the Paddling.net forums and see trip reports from people in New England and worse, out enjoying the weather and paddling til they die of sheer exhaustion and happiness.

2pm: It starts to sprinkle.

2:30 pm: It finally rains enough that I wouldn't be very comfortable out on the water.

2:35pm: Lightning and thunder start.

Bah!

But, on a brighter note, I called The Wilderness Way and they graciously told me to keep the Pungo (which is still strapped on top of the campmobile) for an extra day. Good shop, there.

Tune in tomorrow.... either for a happy post about paddling in the beautiful Florida Panhandle or a post much like this one.

How cool is this?

I bought a copy of Canoe and Kayak 2005 Destinations magazine today, since I wasn't able to actually go kayaking today or tomorrow, for that matter. I like this special edition because it lists a large number of excellent spots for canoeing and kayaking. I was sitting in the living room and the TV was on so I was skimmimg over the magazine and came to the section where they list the issues choices for the Southern US. I skimmed over the names; Mobile-Tensaw (Ummm, Mobile, Alabama...), Calusa Blueway (where?!), Chatooga (Whitewater in Georgia, right?), Wakulla (somewhere else...wait a second, WAKULLA?!)

How cool. I usually think of the trip reports in the paddling magazines as really far off locales with rivers or oceans that require a top of the line boat or a lot of paddling experience, or at least a long trip to get to, but the Wakulla is 'my' river. Scroll down a little and my pictures look exactly like the one in the magazine. How cool, indeed.

But then I got to thinking. The Wakulla river is fairly exotic for many reasons. You have the manatees and alligators, which are fairly unique to the South, at least. You have one of the largets springs in the world, in which a Mastodon skeleton was found, along with eight other Ice Age remains. This is also where some of the old Tarzan movies were filmed.

So, I guess this fairly short river I had decided I was 'tired' of paddling down isn't so mundane after all. I suppose it, along with it's history and the local area, is worthy of a trip for people who aren't lucky enough to live a short drive away. The Wakulla is definitely worth including as a destination in a paddling magazine.

I still really wish I had been able to get out on the water today, though. But the campmobile needs a new alternator belt and since the weather said there were going to be 25 mph winds, I decided not to push it to get on the water.

I have gotten a little tired of paddling on the Wakulla, though, so I started looking at other potential rivers. My Mom, Aunt and Grandmother rented a house on St. George Island (the most beautiful beach in the world, in my opinion) and I took my son down to stay for a few days. On the way back, I went a different way, mainly because the state park my stepdaughter camps with her Dad was only seven miles north on the detour. So, I drove by the park and passed over the Ochlocknee River. Then a few minutes later, I passed over the Sopchoppy River. They were both beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The whole way back, I was wondering if there were good trips to be had on those two rivers.

When I first got into kayaking last year, my wife bought me the book,
Florida's Fabulous Canoe and Kayak Trail Guide , and I had skimmed over most of it. When I got home, I pulled out the book and took a look at the two rivers.

The Ochlocknee is 102 miles long, including a 14 mile long lake, Lake Talquin. It has a lot of free camping sites and can be broken up into smaller day trip sizes. Hmmm. Needless to say, although I'll still paddle on the Wakulla a lot, I think I am going to do the Ochlocknee. All of it.

It's funny how you never realize how cool your own backyard is.