Withlacoochee Weekend!

WITHLACOOCHEE

(MEMORIAL DAY)

WEEKEND

May 23, 24 and 25, 2015

Our trip begins as we pull into the Silver Lake Campground which is located in Hernando County, Florida, and is part of the Withlacoochee State Forest. Though JB mentioned he had seen hogs many times there, I never did manage to see any, but we did see many different types of wildlife during our three day stay. It started with a nest of young hawks in the trees adjacent to our campsite. They were loud little squawkers, but interesting to watch. They seemed to rely on their parents to bring them food even though they could clearly fly and seemed big enough to be able to catch their own food. I read somewhere that hawks will sometimes help supplement food for their young for up to eight additional weeks while they are learning to hunt. They would get so loud and excited when one of the parents brought food back to them in the tree that I got a little disappointed when JB didn't get that excited when I handed him his dinner that night. Maybe we should've had frog legs instead of barbequed chicken? Eww.

Anyway, JB backed the ‘sita (the Casita aka Marshmellow - misspelling intended) into the campsite (while blind folded, with one hand tied behind his back). I couldn't WAIT to go exploring! I also couldn't wait to return and relax by the campfire while being serenaded by the Rat Pack with a cold one in my hand. We never did get serenaded by the Rat Pack due to a technical glitch (forgot the power cord to the cd player), but "The Dove" radio station did a stellar job of providing entertaining music.I'm not sure why that radio station is known as "The Dove..." maybe because it's "Coo-l?"

Once the 'sita was set up, we ventured out to Hog Island and put in there. We decided to paddle to Silver Lake and then back to Hog Island. Wait...before you say to yourself, "Self, why didn't they just paddle from Silver Lake Campground to Hog Island and back since they were staying at Silver Lake?" The answer to that question remains a mystery....

(Where the Hogs like to hide!!!)

Beautiful, serene Withlacoochee

We noticed a little head that popped out in the water, but it was moving way too fast to be a turtle. It turns out it was a snake.  

Forest Gump feather blowing on a stick....

A log swallowing JB and his kayak

We ended the day relaxing by the warmth and comfort of a campfire while listening to The Dove crank out the tunes. The perfect end to the perfect day.

The next day we paddled from Nobleton to Hog Island:

An oak tree and a cypress tree that appear to have grown into eachother.

 

 

The sky began to darken and the rumbling of thunder was getting louder and louder. We had to make an effort to paddle faster unless we wanted to potentially become fried paddlers on the river.

The rain went away as quickly as it started....
 
After the paddle, we decided to walk on a trail by our campsite for a bit.

JB spotted this owl in a tree...

The next morning we decided to paddle from Nobleton to Lake Townsend and back. We saw many itty bitty turtles, a few alligators (mostly small ones) and a few different kinds of birds.

Another amazing adventure on the water and on the wonderful Withlacoochee!!!!