Journey of a River Walker by Whaley Ray;

Author:Whaley, Ray;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Published: 2020-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chances are good you will see these guys in the water or on land.

Another creation of nature in plentiful supply were cattle. Apparently, this section of the river runs through ranch land and protected state conservation areas. The shallow, narrow water coupled with flat land is a preferred spot for cattle to graze and get water. On previous legs, I had seen a few cattle close to the water, but not nearly in the numbers I saw this day. There were hundreds of them. We saw bulls, cows, and calves grazing or cooling themselves in the water. We had to be careful of the cattle close to the river, as sometimes they wanted to move as a herd across the river. If this happens, it isn’t just one animal to encounter, but a large mass. If for some reason you are in their way, they will have no problem stampeding over you and your kayak. So as a safety precaution we stayed at a comfortable distance when we saw groups of cattle moving about.

We took only one short break during this day’s leg. We wanted to get to Possum Bluff shelter early, so we could make camp and get firewood before the sun went down. Before we reached the shelter, Jim had us stop at a place called Dead Cow Mound. It’s nothing more than a high spot on the river, but the view from there is nice. Once we reached the top of the mound and could see over the high grass on the braided river, we were able to see our starting spot miles away and even see our destination. Jim had been at this mound during the high-water levels of Tropical Storm Fay and the low-water levels earlier this year. Even though he’d seen the river from this mound several times before, he was still amazed at how fast the river could change with just a little bit of time and rain. We took a few pics of the area before we returned to our kayaks. The observation of a soft-shelled turtle laying eggs there was an added bonus. We almost stepped on her as we hiked through the vegetation on the way up to the mound.

As we approached Possum Bluff shelter we saw an airboat parked on the shore with four passengers casually hanging out and drinking. We determined they were not staying at the shelter, so we were able to unload our equipment underneath the roof and start setting up camp.

On a positive note, the location of the shelter was beautiful. We had waterfront camping at our disposal. The site was pretty remote, with no access to the shelter other than from the river or from a lone dirt trail. We had a picnic table and a metal roof over us with a wooden deck below. Overall, this is a relaxing place to be.

However, on the negative side, there was a lot of trash. Not just in the trash bin, which looked like it hadn’t been picked up in months, but all around the camp as well.

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