Arbuckle Creek Weekend Paddle -

A few paddlers who hadn’t been here before declared this one of the nicest and most varied rivers we do. This despite a lot of dead vegetation along the shores, due to January’s extended cold spell, which also caused cold-stunned fish to die – and float. Didn’t bother the gators a bit, though, and we saw more, big and little, than we have in a long time. Both nights we were treated to the howling of coyotes, only about a mile away on Friday. The weather was perfect, with about four drops of rain right after dinner, and the group was varied and interesting; lots of paddling stories.

Host: Linda Leeds

The upper Arbuckle is such a wild creek in a part of Florida that is barely populated. If you are looking for serious Florida wilderness paddling and camping, the Arbuckle is high on the list. The water conditions were ideal since December of 2009 provided an unusal cycle of rapidly marching cold fronts. The USGS water level of 3.7 feet using Gage # 02270500 ARBUCKLE CREEK NEAR DE SOTO CITY, FL is a level that indicates compete passing even in the shallowest of areas. Clark Getz

ARBUCKLE CREEK Overnight paddle -

We spent the weekend as a group of friends, and not just as 15 paddlers going downstream together. This feeling can make any trip a successful one.

During the first mile, we were delayed about 1 1/2 hours, pushing and pulling though several jam-ups of waterweeds. This was already a long first day without these obstructions, and the extra exertion made for a bunch of tired campers by the time we reached our campsite late Saturday afternoon. After Happy Hour (dinner for some, including me), most everyone sat around the campfire for several hours thereafter, tired and happy. Sunday was shorter, relatively uneventful, and quite a bit easier than Saturday.

Unfortunately, several participants dropped off the trip following a spell of cold weather during the week. The weekend weather was almost perfect, a bit on the cool side on Friday night, then warming up very nicely on Saturday, certainly not too cool for comfort.

I sent the following e-mail to the participants, which reflects the spirit of this trip:

Hello All!

"I wanted to let all of you know that I truly appreciate your participation in the Arbuckle trip, and for making it a positive experience for all of us.

"It doesn't get too much better than this trip, I don't think. It turned out to be a fairly difficult trip physically, because of the time and energy we all spent getting through the waterweeds in the beginning. Still, I didn't hear any complaints from disgruntled participants, which can happen on any trip. It didn't seem to happen here.

"Our clubs focus on the importance of trip hosts or coordinators, and attempt to recognize or reward them in one way or another. Some think that trip hosts do the job out of the goodness of their hearts, but I don't believe that's true. Trip coordinators have the expectation, perhaps unrecognized, that their efforts will be well-received and appreciated.

"I believe it's the participants, and not the host, that makes a trip enjoyable for everyone. Translated: without positive participants, trip hosts will eventually quit doing trips. No happy campers, and trip hosts will just go away. See? - the "credit" should go to the participants, and not to the trip host.

"To see folks happy and content, even when a trip doesn't go as planned, is a wonderful way of saying "thank you for your efforts". That's a big payoff for a trip host.

"So - I want to thank and congratulate each of you, for helping not just me, but all of us, to make this a very enjoyable weekend. Please think about this just a little, and note that I didn't do this, folks - all of you did it, both singly and collectively.

"I hope you all drove home feeling the same way as I did.

Regards,
Jim

Host: Jim Ostrander

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In addition, Lynette had such a terrific time, that she enthusiastically provided her perspective of the trip by graciously sharing these details:

"We had a fabulous time paddling the Arbuckle Creek.

The first night of camping was a little chilly.  I was very impressed with the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest Tract campsite.  A little tricky to locate, it was clean, roomy, uncrowded, and the locals were friendly.  We had a gorgeous campfire, wine and cheese, and I had a great time getting to know 6 new BFF's (that is best friends forever).

Day 2 - we relocated and met up with 4 more paddlers at Williams fish camp on Lake Arbuckle.  The channel opening is under a bridge where there were lots of aquatic plants obscuring the view making it tricky to find the entrance.  With perseverance, we passed through and immediately found a patch of water hyacinths bunched up against a log.  We passed over this mess with difficulty.  In the next mile there were two more very thick patches of water plants, the final one overlying a very shallow log which gave us quite a lot of aggravation and resulted in two dunkings.  The subsequent 15-16 miles were characterized by some modest curves, a few fish and bird sightings, and a few gators.  I think the cold weather kept the wildlife out of site.  The water level was low and the current slow.  As a result of our difficulties in the first mile, we did not arrive at the campsite until about 5pm.

We camped on a very nice grassy field with the cows.  The site easily accommodated our 10 tents.  Again, we had a pleasant evening sharing food, wine, and a campfire.  It was a little chilly and I was reluctant to leave the warmth of the campfire for my cold tent; however, after falling asleep several times at fireside, I was forced to retire out of danger of ignition.

Day 3 - The weather was much warmer.  Three of us left the group at 9am.  Lots of birds including large flocks of migratory sandhill cranes, snowy egrets, ibis, oyster catchers, great blue herons, great white egrets, king fishers, tri-colored herons, little blue herons, cattle egrets, and an unusual sighting of a night heron eating a fish.  We found a small oxbow with no less than 5 alligators in full view at which time we beat a hasty retreat.  Near a set of abandoned railway trestles there are rocks, logs, and a sharp turn which I believe would qualify as class 1 rapids.  Very tricky to negotiate.  About half the group opted for a portage.  The other half made the passage without tipping, in the misted of drama followed by cheering.

The mileage for the day was 10.  We saw a few motorized craft closer to the end.

The take out spot is at Nyberg's fish camp.  Very nice clean campground with friendly folks and nice facilities.  Thank you to Jim Ostrander for organizing such a great trip and thank you to all the participants who with their good spirits and patience made this trip fun, even at the rough spots."

 Lynette Foster

ARBUCKLE CREEK Overnight paddle -

The Arbuckle trip was great on almost every front for the 23 paddlers. The negative first, to get it over with. The water was low but manageable. I remember the time we went when it was so awful, when the creek was dry at the top. Another paddler and I were working our way through the shallow water below the train trestle, in and out of the kayaks. I was about to give up and walk through the few deeper parts, when she commented that it was like walking through liquid manure.   With that thought in mind, I wasn't about to let the water get above my knees!

No, this wasn't anywhere near that bad. A nasty, muddy put-in, but okay after that.   Everyone got stuck on sandbars  at one [or several] times during the day, but most never had to get out of their boats. We even made it around the little rapids, with a little help from  Jay at the top end and Fred at the bottom.

Excellent weather, quite chilly  Friday night, and not so chilly on Saturday night.  The rain didn't start until about 10 pm, and ended about 6 am, never very heavy.

Great fun at the first rest break. The Sippeys brought Wags and were throwing a ball for him to run off some energy. It got stuck in a tree, so Jay decided to spear-chuck his paddle in an attempt to dislodge it.   That got stuck.   Finally, after a lot of waving around another paddle, it came down. A rock-throwing game followed, and finally the ball came down.   Great hilarity all around.

The evening's entertainment was Rick trying to assemble his new, $120 "great chair" ... perhaps he should have bought the tutorial along with the chair.   Funny thing, though ... one of the women did it in a heartbeat.   So much for men, who don't read instructions.

Host: Linda Leeds