3.1 mph Avg. Speed, 7.8 mph Max Speed, 3:11 paddle time
This is an absolutely beautiful river and I had really hoped to see manatees on this river like we did when we were here 2 years ago. But, we had no such luck. The water here is so very clear and with the sunny skies, the trees and the shore line provided mirror reflections for most of the trip. Again, the river was low and we saw the cypress knobs sticking up all along the shore. We paddled 4 miles to the take out and were quite disappointed. Apparently, some in the group had stayed up too late drinking a bit too much the night before (or maybe it was the guide) and this was going to be the end of our trip. Eight of us banded together and decided we would paddle further. Scotty and Dick shuttled a car to the end, came back to meet us and we paddled 6 more miles. We were so glad because this is really a beautiful river. The Ichetucknee then meets the Santa Fe River which is a wider river. Along this river, we enjoyed looking at the many different kinds of homes built along the shore. I especially enjoyed this section of the trip as I was able to talk with 3 of the ladies more (Tony, Angela and Beverly). Beverly is a kayak trip leader and leads trips into Crystal Bay to see the manatees where she also volunteers to protect the manatees. This trip was a perfect (but too short) end to our quick little Florida kayak trek.
