Photos from Upper Suwannee

[Erica]

These photos are mostly from an earlier trip and were taken with a point and shoot digital camera. I am posting them now, so others can see what the river is like.

 

[Stumpknocker]

Thanks Erica!
I got to paddle 221 miles of that river in February.
Hoping to get back in a little over a week for the same length trip...hoping for a little rain so not as many shoals to deal with.

Here's one end of day photo from the February trip.

I fell in love with the Suwannee!!

 

[Erica]

Great photo. How did you like the part of the river that is downstream from Spirit of the Suwannee?
Erica

 

[yellowcanoe]

Very nice pixs Erica.. Maybe next year we'll go back to the Suwanee. I have paddled bits and pieces.. From mile 195 to 148 ( 2 night trip) and day trips scattered along the rest of the river
I liked the section between the music park and the Alapaha River very much. The section from Lafayette Blue Springs to Branford too but its not as sand bankey. We have done a bit below Usher Landing but boy can it get windy there.

 

[Stumpknocker]

Great photo. How did you like the part of the river that is downstream from Spirit of the Suwannee?
Erica

I enjoyed that part a lot because The Florida National Scenic Trail follows the river for about 60 miles or so.
I've hiked that trail before and enjoyed spotting the orange blazes of the trail.
Even camped at two nice camps along the river that are not listed for the river, but I remembered them from backpacking and was able to find them.

Some of the highlights for me were;
1 - Really enjoyed the wildness of the river from Fargo, GA to White Springs, FL. (started at Fargo, but would love to start on the east side of the Okefenokee Swamp)
2 - Only saw one boat on the river in probably the first 125 miles. (it got plenty busy near the Gulf of Mexico)
3 - Saw a beaver. Didn't realize we had them this far south.
4 - Saw an alligator snapping turtle whose head was the size of a cantaloupe. Heard they were over 100 years old when that big.
5 - The water level was 55' at White Springs, so I only had Big Shoals to portage. I'm hoping for substantial rain soon because it's 51' at White Springs now.
6 - And the best thing for this ol' backpacker and long distance bicycle tourer was that I fell in love with river tripping and will have hopefully many more trips coming up.

Below is the alligator snapping turtle. You can imagine his size compared to the paddle.

 

[yellowcanoe]

OK.. No swimming for me

 

[Erica]

That's a huge turtle. I have seen soft shells that big, in fact, one just showed up in our pond today. But not an alligator snapped turtle.

At 51 feet at White Springs, you are gonna be dragging a lot, especially upstream of Tom's Creek. Good luck!

Erica