Wekiva Springs Hike -
Eight of us met at Wekiva State Park in the early morning for about three hours of hiking west of the Sand Lake parking lot. We started out in the cool of the 8:30 am temperature but as the sun warmed the air layers, we peeled off our clothing layers. There was said to be standing water on the white blaze trail so we wound our way around using the red, green, orange, blue, and white blazes for a varied hike. It was cool and crystal clear. There was not much in the way of wild life although it might have been because we were chatty. Eric saw a couple of deer and a gobbler. We, as a group, did identify some animal tracks and found a set of tracks that left us puzzled. There were always birds to hear when we dulled our personal sounds. Erica dropped us by a sink hole and we also wandered through a couple of beautiful hammocks. My personal favorite was a huge longleaf pine tree with a massive number of pine cones layered deep in a circle at its foot, obviously undisturbed for many years. For me it was a powerful visual of life over time or life's continuance.
We set no time records as we hiked. Plenty of conversations were started and half finished. The camaraderie was abundant. It was a relaxed and enjoyable hike.
Afterwards, most of us ended up at the 'Riverfest' held at the Springs and picked up much shared environmental information from various earth protecting organizations. There was also music and art work in the making. So a whole other way of enjoying Mother Nature was close at hand. Good day all around!
Host: Lynn Van Horne and Co-Host: Sue Boardman
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 Another cool and clear winter morning in Central Florida
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Lower Wekiva River Paddle -
From West High Banks Road on St. Johns River, we started paddling for 1 ¼ mile 'til Wekiva River. We went on for couple hours 'til we stopped at a campsite, unnamed but quite popular. We continued upstream for about 45 minutes to Katie's Landing which is owned by Wekiva State Park. They will open up the park on September 12th allowing kayak/canoe launch. We enjoyed the 14 mile round trip, a beautiful run.
Mariam
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Lower Wekiva River Paddle -
Twelve Wilderness Trekkers met at the Highbanks boat launch in Debary on the east side of the St. Johns River for a 9:30 upriver launch toward the mouth of the Wekiva River. Mariam gave out geography and destination details, Ken covered the safety issues and Mabel warned us about the fat-daddy gator that has known to harass kayakers. We paddled about a mile and a quarter upstream on the wide and boat laden St. Johns River. Typically a boat on this river meant cabin cruisers and ocean going class rigs that from their perspective, probably had a dozen kayakers looking like fishing bobbers rocking up and down in their wake. Because of the speed and size of the boats, Ken kept us way to the side of the river. We crossed to the west side of the river in a safe and timed fashion to minimize our exposure to the traffic channel. Ken and Mariam are extremely safe trip host and no issue goes unnoticed or without thoughtful consideration.
Entering into the mouth of the Wekiva did not seem to change the water quality at first and in fact, the cypress flats were not much different than along the St. Johns, it was just that the river was not as wide. As you enter the Wekiva, you have Volusia county behind you (east bank of the St. Johns), Seminole county to the left of you and Lake county to the right of you. We started out with low hanging cold-front type clouds; but as the day progressed, the low clouds gave way to higher clouds that began to break up as the sky cleared in the course of the day. The lower Wekiva varies from wide-open, to very narrow and almost canopied. In many places the head-on current was swift and paddling was constantly purposeful for steering and upstream progress.
It was a good group, plenty of comaraderie and conversation. Birds of all types were abundant - limpkin, ibis, egrets of all size and color, vultures, red-tailed hawk, kingfishers, woodpeckers and wood storks. The first 2 hours of the upstream battle revealed few alligators, but as the sun broke out, it became gator garden, gator city, gator nursery; most under 4 feet in size. No otters were observed. You could see the high water mark on the trees, about 45 inches higher than the current level, which is nearly at normal.
We lunched at "the" one and only sandy out cropping slightly past noon. The relatively high and sandy plot was ideal and there was plenty of evidence of prior camping. It was next to a small stream of considerable sulfur odor. From there we pressed on upstream to Katie's Landing. Mable had comeback from her race to Katie's Landing and said it was closed with clear warning of no trespassing.
At about 1:30, the whistle was blown for turning back. On short winter days, you can't risk staying out too long as the sun can disappear on you in short order. The paddle back was about 1/2 as long in time. We made a quick stop on the sandy outcropping as the last chance to stretch out legs and whatever. The St. Johns was considerably busier boat-wize and the one and quarter mile leg back to the ramp seemed more like a long 2 and half miles.
Host: Mariam Mohsenin Trip Author: Clark Getz
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 Ken and Gil all ready to go
Mabel expressing serious concern regarding aggressive gator at the mouth of the Wekiva
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