dle from Hell

 7.1 miles, 2:36 hours, Put in at Walsinghan Park, Take out at Econfina Boat Ramp

We drove almost an hour to paddle Econfina Creek as we had done the lower portion years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. When we got to the put-in, we saw signs that said there were obstacles left over from hurricane Michael. I looked up the date of hurricane Michael and it was 2018 so we figured they needed to update their signs and we would be safe, there was a great flow to the water and we thought it would be a wonderful day. Probably a half a mile down the river we encountered a tree down and had to do the limbo to get under it, no problem we got under. Then, soon after we encountered a tree down and we had to go over it meaning we had to get on the log and rock and rock until we can get our kayaks going. For the next dang 3 miles there was one obstacle after another. It was either sliding down into our kayak to get under a down tree or rocking to get over a down tree or going in between tree branches. It was unbelievable I’m very surprised that neither of us tipped. At one point we connected our two bungee straps and Scotty pulled me over one log, at another obstacle when I was stuck on top of the log, I was breaking away branches to clear a path for us to get through. Miraculously after about 3 1/2 miles we noticed the trees were cut and there were no more obstacles. But every time we turned the corner we held our breath thinking what’s up ahead. This first 3 miles we paddled at about 30 minutes per mile. The last 3 miles we were paddling at almost 16 minutes per mile , all this to say, the signs need to stay up and they were correct. And to top it off, this was the first time in a very long time that we forgot our lunch. And I never forget lunch.  It turned out to be a 7 mile paddle rather than a 10 and I was extremely happy  that Scotty was wrong for once on the mileage. Today Is was a BAD ASS (not bad for a 65 year old woman) and Scotty kept up with me! LOL He rode his bike back to the put in, and that also was not an easy ride. It was an 8 mile ride that took him an hour over A Florida red clay back road. He said he even got off his bike a few times to walk as it was just too muddy. An hour later, he made it back to me and the kayaks.

We drove just down the road where we saw Pitt and Willinger Springs. Florida has done a beautiful job at making the ramps accessible for people. The springs were beautiful.

To end the day, we stopped at North Shore Beach club which was right on the river. Scotty had a mahi fish sandwich with fries and I had fish tacos with fries. We sat by the window overlooking the river and sand just outside the window. It was a perfect way to end the paddle from hell.