Happy Kayaker & Traveler

Sunday, July 9, 2017

The Great Smokey Mountains Adventure

The mountains are calling and I must go. John Muir
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/mountains.htmlT

The Great Smokey Mountain Adventure

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir

The mountains are calling and I must go. John Muir
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/mountains.html

Ad·ven·ture

noun

An unusual and exciting or daring experience.

‘her recent adventures in Italy’

Verb

· Engage in daring or risky activity.

‘they had adventured into the forest’

Saturday, June 24, 2017, was the beginning of our travels toward adventure in the Great Smokey Mountains. We left just around noon and drove at a leisurely pace until we reached Savannah, Georgia for an overnight stay. Once we arrived in Savannah, we located our quaint digs for the night…the Biltmore RV Park (NOT to be confused with the Biltmore Estate) which was a perfect location for the night for us.

We unhooked the Marshmallow (aka Casita) and took off for historic River Street in downtown Savannah. J had been to Savannah before, but this was a first for me and everywhere we turned was a feast for the eyes. So much history from the 200 year old cobblestones that run the length of Savannah River to the gas lanterns and stunning architecture of the buildings.

River Street was once the location of warehouses holding King Cotton (“King Cotton” is a phrase referring to cotton and cotton-growing considered, in the pre-Civil War South, as a vital commodity, the major factor not only in the economy, but also in politics). An epidemic of yellow fever took over the neighborhood and it never fully recovered after the quarantine of 1818. This area was abandoned for over a century and later rediscovered in the 1970s by local landowners and urban planners determined to revive old River Street.

We also visited one of the oldest Roman Catholic Churches in the South and the oldest Roman Catholic Church in the State of Georgia: The Victorian and Gothic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

The original building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1898, but quickly rebuilt using the original plans. Some of its impressive features include stained glass windows made by glassmakers in Tyrol, a western Austrian state, and installed around the 1900’s. It has been noted that in July 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Savannah and the Church of St. John the Baptist (the only Catholic church in Savannah at the time) became the Cathedral.

We didn’t have nearly enough time to explore as we wanted to, so we vowed that we would come back to Savannah again with more time to learn about this historical city.

As we were making our way past Georgia and into South Carolina we heard (and felt)a loud POP! The Marshmallow had a tire blowout on the highway!!! Luckily we weren’t being hugged by any 18 wheelers and J quickly manuevered the truck and camper to the side of the highway like a pro. One spare tire changed later and we were back on our way toward the mountains of Tennessee.

As soon as we spotted the makings of a mountain in the distance we began to get more and more excited….we were almost there!!! The roadway became more steep and narrow and our ears began to pop as we circled our way around the mountain roads higher and higher. We traveled through some tunnels –literally through a mountain - until we reached our exit.

Our first stop was to a little place called “Goodwater Vineyards” to find out if they knew where our campground was because we were, well, a bit lost. Turns out a “Wine Tasting Room” is not a bad place to stop and get directions! It was a small building which housed wine made by a family owned/operated vineyard in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains and we would later sample and buy the absolute BEST blackberry wine ever tasted!!!

Once we finally made it to our destination, we unhooked the Marshmallow and checked out our home for the week.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

The Big Bend: Wacissa and Aucilla

The Awesome Aucilla River, Wonderful Wacissa River

&

Weekend at Goose Pasture

1/29/2016 Through 1/31/2016

View from Goose Pasture Campground to the Wacissa River

Our trip to the Big Bend of Florida began mid afternoon on a Friday. It took us approximately 4.5 hours from our home destination to arrive at Goose Pasture Campground. Along the way we amused ourselves by listening to “The Big Jon” show on the radio. “Big Jon”plays oldies and laughs like Muttley from “Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.” I sent Big Jon an email from my cell phone with a request for a song. JB and I high-fived and burst out laughing when we heard my first name and email read on the radio followed by the song requested!

We drove the last hour or so in darkness. Along the way we saw the silhouettes of many deer on the side of the road out searching for their next meal. Our travels took us down long dirt roads surrounded by total darkness (described, at times during the ride, as "creepy") until we finally reached the campground where the rest of our group was warming up by a campfire. We couldn’t see what the campground looked like because it was so dark. However, pinholes of golden light from the multitude of stars above poked through the dark sky. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sky than here. The skies were crystal clear. We were told this campground was designated as a “Dark Sky Place,” though I can’t find any information confirming that, but I can tell you I have never seen that many stars in the sky with such clarity in my entire life. The sky was literally filled with stars.

Goose Pasture Campground

DAY 1: MIDDLE AUCILLA RIVER

We awoke to a very chilly morning, but that didn't deter our quest for paddling a new river! Everyone was up bright and early and ready to go. Since this was our first time in this area we weren’t very familiar with where we were going, but we managed to find the take-out and buddy shuttle to the put-in.

This railroad bridge was the first thing I saw as we slid our kayaks into the water - such a beautiful image to see first thing in the morning. We had no idea what to expect as our kayaks merged into the swift moving current of the Aucilla River and began to take us on a ride through natural wilderness beauty.

River Birch trees lined the banks and the bark was in various stages of peeling, curling like the shavings of a pencil just sharpened.

Every mile we continued to paddle did not disappoint. Everything the eyes took in illuminated the beauty of our wild surroundings.

Unfortunately, this river is known for fishing lines and hooks left to hang on tree branches. The casualties of this practice could be seen as we passed what appeared to be a Barred Owl that I assume must have gotten caught on the hook and drowned.

The star of this paddle was the scenery. We did not see much wildlife -only a few birds here and there.

Cormorant sitting high above us in a tree

The river was very deceiving. The waters could be calm and peaceful one moment and suddenly the loud roaring of fast moving water could be heard just around the corner. We rode through some small, fun shoals.

"Roxy"

We made our way back to the campsite for dinner followed by a VERY large campfire!!!

DAY 2: WACISSA RIVER

The next day we drove to our put-in at the Wacissa River. The Wacissa flows about 12 miles from its headspring before it joins the Aucilla River. It has been declared an "Outstanding Florida Waterway"and I can see why it has earned such a distinction. I have never seen water so clear for so many miles!!! From the moment we launched our kayaks, there were many different kinds of birds that could be seen: Cormorants, Moorhens,Great White Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Little Blue Heron, American Coots, Bald Eagle, to name a few:

Moorhen

American Coots


Snowy Egret

You can tell a Snowy Egret apart from a Great Egret by their bills, which are mostly black with orange at the base, their long, fluffy plumes and though it can't be seen in this picture, their yellow feet.