I am digging in my blog archives and paddling memories …
17 years ago, in 2006 I was participating in Watertribe Ultimate Florida challenge – expedition style race around Florida including 40 mile portage between St Marys and Suwannee Rivers. My race didn’t go as planned. You can check my short story here. Nevertheless, I shot a lot of pictures and videos from this trip. I will be putting them back online. All pictures presented below were shot with Pentax Optio WP camera.
Fort Desoto beach a day before the race.
We arrived to Fort Desoto in the afternoon of this day after 32 hours of non-stop driving from Colorado. The original plan was to drive for 3 days and arrive two days before the race …
Sunset in Everglades near New Turkey Key
I believe that I did not miss to photograph any sunset during my paddling in Florida, except, perhaps, the first rainy day on the Suwannee River. I cannot really see sunset over water in Colorado.
Paddling along Highland Beach in Everglades
A paddling self portrait. Do I look tired? Well, I am tired. The entire day with a heavy headwind. A slow progress 1-2 mph.
The full moon
The full moon shot from the backyard of Karen and Matt Layden’s house at Jensen Beach. I spent several days in their house sleeping, resting and recovering after I dropped out from the race 10 miles short to Key Largo on the Florida Bay.
First sunrise on St Mary River, still well below Traders Hill
I didn’t see a good landing spot on swampy shores inhabited by gators, so I slept in my bivy sack on somebody’s dock. A few miles further upstream, the river shores got higher with many beautiful sandy beaches.
St Marys River
The second day of paddling on St Mary River, somewhere near Traders Hill. Very green, a lot flowers, springtime. A slow current, well, at least in comparison to rivers in Colorado. What’s the name of this flowering bush?
First day on the Suwannee River below Fargo
It was raining all day.To my surprise, the river was quite different than St Mary River. I enjoyed a view of cypresses and other big trees in water.
One bad thing …. Some parts of the river were heavily posted with “no trespassing” signs: the sign on almost each bigger tree. I couldn’t shoot a picture without having the ugly sign in my frame. This is environmental pollution!
The lower Suwannee River
A shot with partially submerged camera.
I didn’t have many opportunities to use my downwind sail during the cross Florida paddling. This one was not longer than a quarter of mile, but it gave some time to play the camera.
Mermaid’s Landing at Cedar Key
UFC stagepoint #4.
From WateTribe site “Water can be very shallow at low tide and some would even call it mud”. Well, I didn’t see any shallow water, just a really deep mud when I was taking this picture. I was lucky to arrive at the Mermaid’s Landing at high tide.
Vicksburg – bridges over the Mississippi River
The last part of my challenge: driving home to Colorado. This time we took almost 4 days with several stops in northern Florida, Mississippi and Kansas.
More pictures Florida Ultimate Challenge are coming soon.
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