Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – this is not the river run we love. This is slog through a canoe trail off one of the interminable canals that run through the ‘glades. Lots of gators and bugs. I say slog because it was hot and sunny and the canoe trail was full of lily pads and water plants. We got stuck good once. And the rest of the time was hard going. It’s hard to paddle when you keep hitting huge root balls and plant stalks. We did the 5.5 miles in about 2 ½ hours. The rangers said, “Don’t worry ‘bout the gators.” But why didn’t they mention the plant-infested canoe trail? Still fun but we won’t be going back.
We headed back to find Munyon Island… and found it. A relatively quick paddle brought us to a sandbar/beach on the northwest side. But then a swiftly rolling thunderstorm found us. So we hightailed it back to the launch. We made it as far as the bridge when the rain came pouring down and lightening came (not too close – but still). We chilled under the bridge for about an hour until it died down.
By the way, this was my mother-in-law’s first time kayaking ever. She did have fun. (Side note: the first time my wife and I took her camping – to the beautiful on the water Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge in the Florida Keys – we found ourselves in near tropical storm force winds the entire weekend. So we have quite a record when it comes to taking her on “adventures.”)
On the way we did see a group of two or three manatees poking their snouts out of the water for air. Awesome.
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – this is not the river run we love. This is slog through a canoe trail off one of the interminable canals that run through the ‘glades. Lots of gators and bugs. I say slog because it was hot and sunny and the canoe trail was full of lily pads and water plants. We got stuck good once. And the rest of the time was hard going. It’s hard to paddle when you keep hitting huge root balls and plant stalks. We did the 5.5 miles in about 2 ½ hours. The rangers said, “Don’t worry ‘bout the gators.” But why didn’t they mention the plant-infested canoe trail? Still fun but we won’t be going back.
