Drifting down the Ichetucknee

                      

The spring fed  Ichetucknee River flows 6 miles  to the Santa Fe River in north Florida. 

  One of the best places on a hot, Florida day is the  Ichetucknee River where the water is always a cool 70 degrees.  It is fed by several springs which spew forth 234 million crystal clear gallons of water daily.  Tubing down the river is very popular and many tubing vendors line  the roads leading to the Ichetucknee State Park.  For about $7, you can rent a tube for the day.  I floated the entire 6 miles last weekend with my out of state Florida visitors.  It was relaxing and fun.

                                Tubes are large with a bottom and some with backs like the

                                 ones in this photo.  Here I am impatiently waiting for the return

                                 of the car driver and those who ran into the woods to see a spring.

After renting a tube and lashing it to your car, drive into the park. One of your party must drive the car to a parking lot near the end of the run and get a park provided shuttle back to the starting point ( When your tubing is over, leave the tube at a designated spot and be on your way without having to return the tube to the rental vendor. ) 

    

Now all you have to do is spend the next few hours floating down nature's paradise.  You'll see much wildlife unless you're traveling with a noisy group that scares all of it away.Turtles, otters, many water birds, deer, raccoons can be glimpsed if you're lucky.  Are there alligators?  Well, yes.  This is wild Florida, but I've never heard of anyone being attacked.

You leave them alone; they leave you alone.  Never feed any of the wildlife.  

The water is clear enough to see bass and catfish, and mullet are constantly jumping above the surface,  the way  mullet do.  People tubing are asked not to swim in the river.  There are some springs near the entrance for that.  The no swimming is to protect the river.  Many people travel down it. The ecosystem is very fragile. The river bottom is covered with grasses that feed fish and birds.  The grasses can't be disturbed.  Eating and drinking are not allowed on the river.  You can imagine the debris of cans and bottles if they were allowed.

Turtles on a log are a common sight.  Unless you get too close 

they don't seem to be afraid.

If you don't want to glide down the whole 6 miles of river, there are several getting off points, but you must plan that ahead, or you'll have a hike to find your car.

Cypress trees line the south end of the river.

Most people tie their tubes together as these two are doing.

Tying them keeps you from drifting from your party and you have

someone to help if you get too close to the water plants on 

the sides.  We were afraid they might harbor snakes or alligators.

Lovely trees, reeds, and other wild Florida plants line the banks and are part of the river's forest.  I noticed that the north part of the river was mostly reeds and other water plants with trees on the banks.  Cypress trees were most noticeable on the south end of the river.  

If you decide to go, check the website for lots of info about costs, hours, rules and regulations.   I highly recommend a little cruise down the river.  It's fun, cool and entertaining.

Young teens especially enjoy it.  

                                   This is a difficult to read map of the river and springs.

                                    The website (link in the paragraph above) has a clear

                                    version.  The river is near Ft. White FL and about 40 

                                    miles from Gainesville, FL.  The website has directions.

Where have all the toads, bees, lightning bugs, crickets. . . gone???

Kitties can play safely in the yard, free of harmful chemicals.

(Click on photo to enlarge)

           
       Here in Florida, there's no shortage of insects and other small creatures, but some that were quite common a few years ago seem to have disappeared.  We've probably all heard that  farmers worry about the pollination of certain crops because there is a drastic decrease in bees.  
            How long has it been since you've seen a cricket?  They use to sing in the trees and grass, but I haven't heard one in ages.  When I was a child we spent many early evenings chasing lightning bugs (fireflies).  I've seen a few in North Carolina when I visit my daughter, but in the past ten years, not even one here in Florida.  Toads and frogs are in very short supply, and  lizards that used to scurry off the sidewalk when I walked past are just not here this year.  
          Maybe this disappearing is happening only in my city in Florida and there is a bountiful number of creatures in other places.   In my neighborhood, I think the small wildlife have been poisoned into oblivion.  Hardly a day goes by that a big truck with hoses and tanks full of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers does not pull up and spray every inch of someone's yard on my street.  
        When I see the truck, I grab the cat and we both go inside.  I never poison my yard and quite honestly, the grass looks as good as that of most of my neighbors. In the back yard, several of us share a pond where turtles, water birds and fish live.  I've seen the sprayers go right to the edge of the pond. That can't be good.  My personal crusade is to get rid of yard poisons.  I doubt if any of the aforementioned insects and small reptiles will come back, but maybe other species will be saved.  The sprays aren't good for humans either.  Maybe that is one reason more cancer and weird diseases are present now.
        I won't even discuss the zillions of Florida golf courses that spray and use massive amounts of water to keep the greens beautiful.  They are beautiful, but it is a large price to pay. How about fewer golf courses.  That's a start.  
         Okay, you say, what's a few crickets and bees in the great scheme of the world.  Golf courses entertain thousands and provide income for many others.  But when do we draw the line?  We can't wait until all life has disappeared. We might be next.
         I enjoy plants.  Even when I'm driving down the road, I study them, the weeds as well as the cultivated ones.  I also like beautiful lawns and landscaping, but rather than take the quick spray-them-to-death attitude, we need to work with nature and provide natural insect deterrents. We need to plant native trees and shrubs that are local to a region and do not require over tending.  

Unsprayed, my lawn looks as good as my neighbors.

Chemicals sprayed near the water are harmful to these ducks.

Bella can play safely in the yard.

        

Bogs and swamps and other lovely things

   Today, the third day of March,  a lovely spring day, temps in the mid-seventies, sunny, breezy, we decided to take a walk through the University of North Florida nature trails.  These trails are on the edge of campus and border a small lake.  The trail we took, the Golden Rod, wended through several environments, swamp to hardwood.
  A Florida swamp has wonderful diversity.  At first, you might think it is all the same, water, mud, and a tangle of trees, palmettos, and vines, but looking closely, you see small flowers, a great variety of ferns, fallen trees covered in lichen, cypress knees, water brown with tannin from the cypress.  It is enough to make you want to get out your notebook and write a poem.   Today, I took photos. Admitedly, they were taken with my iphone and may not be art quality, but here are a few.

                                                A pine needle path leads into the woodland.

A small stream runs out of the swamp.

One area of the swamp.  This is the way the early

                                             explorers must have first seen Florida.

Blue sky reflected in swamp water.

.

Cypress knees sprouting above ground look like gnomes.

A tiny blue violet hiding in the pine straw.

Wild yellow jasmine runs up the trees and

bushes.