March 22, 2009

Peace River - Lettuce Lake


A few years back Sam and I did some fossil hunting on the Peace River. We were anxious to get back to see what we could find. We also wanted to paddle our canoes down this river.



Finding inexpensive campging space in FL is not easy but we found a Passport America park near the area we wanted to be - at least I thought so. At least it was right on the banks of the river!




We found out that the section of the Peace River that was good for fossil hunting was a good 30 or 40 miles up river.












We decided to paddle this section of the river to see what we could see. Dave and Sam would go in the tandem canoe and I would paddle in my solo canoe. It was a wonderful day for being out on the River....we launced right at the Park, making everthing easy. There were numerous fishing rigs leaving to try their luck in the crystal clear waters.

The river was adorned with many different types of trees and shrubs, including numerous forms of colorful epiphytes. Another unusal surprise came early in the paddle when Sam spotted a whole family of feral hogs. They seemed to be rooting clams along the muddy shoreline. At any rate, they didn't care as we glided slowly by!

They certainly looked like they had been eating well!

We saw a few unusual birds such as this black crowned night heron.










We saw evidence that this area was popular with the locals. There were quite a few river camps as we glided along the banks.



















As we came back to the launchsite, Dave & Sam enjoyed the various airboats that were also returning.....and in particular the sign that was on the truck of one of the boat's owners!
Hey, I guess that's one way to write off your airboat...
Althought we forgot to take pictures of the campground, we really enjoyed our stay there. If we ever get back that way we would more than likely spend more than a few days than we did this time.