Boiling Creek and Little Boiling Creek
Saturday, March 25, 2006 brint.adams@us.army.mil
A SPECIAL PLACE
by Gary Worob
Boiling Creek has always been a special place to me as well as almost everyone who has ever been there, but Saturday was even more exceptional. I purposely canceled for the first time, as far as i can remember, the camping/paddling trip with other activities when i saw the weather forecast for freezing and near freezing weather. Who wants to camp in Florida at the end of March and freeze, not this old bird.
Anyhow, Harriet led the charge, triumphantly, to carry the flag to one of the greatest paddles i ever experienced. I decided at the last minute to go and shuttled with Ian and there were eight of us who were treated to a wonderful experience. We decided to honor Brint for the extra hard work he did in clearing the trail on Little Boiling Creek and did a quick shuttle to the "lunch spot" right before Yellow River. We then carried boats across the road to the upper section and paddled up into an area that none of us ever were in before. It was like a scene from the original Tarzan movies, really deep crystal clear water with submerged logs and huge fish. We were all amazed at the serenity and beauty there and went much farther than i thought it would go, weaving in and around the many stumps and branches but awed by the depth and clarity of the water.
We had a real treat on the way downriver as we got to run the chute under the road and scream through the tunnel. Then we went on the Brint Trail and wove our way through the many narrow channels and laughed as we had to get out several times in the pristine water to drag boats around and over and through different scenes. At one point Harriet pointed out this huge snapping turtle and it was amazing to watch it make choices in directions with our boats around and then disappear. Brint had done a wonerful job of clearing and we could easily see all the hard work he put into the underwater trail and then we came to the open water, or so we thought only to be surprised at two downed pine trees that i think were beaver cuts, nothing else made sense. But Brint dispatched them with his hand saw and we were once more on our way to Boiling Creek and lunch.
The pitcher plants were in bloom and they were as beautiful and welcomed as ever. We stopped at the wooden bridge for lunch and then went downstream and were treated to a rare site. There were 5 cottonmouths sunning themselves all in a ball on a dead fall across the river. Fritz and I, with appropriate caution, got close and took pictures of the lazy group and you almost, but hardly, could feel sorry for the frozen critters, trying to warm up after a real freezing night. I won't look forward to ever seeing them again. We saw more large birds than I have ever seen on Boiling Creek and we experienced more of the area than ever before.
What could have been a disaster turned into a group effort as we had to push Brint's and Fritz's vehicles out of sand bogs. The grader guy had turned the road into a disaster while we were paddling, making it extremely hard to drive on the road to the lunch spot. I don't reccommend going there without scouting and definetely not alone. It was fun having all of us push and work together to help each other. It reminded me of why I never want to live in the snow belt again, not to ever push another stuck in the snow vehicle again without tons of friends.
So, thanks to Brint and Harriet for the absolutely wonderful day a day dedicated to the great efforts of Brint to make this club and the paddles more than wonderful.I don't recommend the Little Boiling Creek trip to anyone who is not prepared to drag and walk their boats. If you are looking for a lazy day paddle, this is not it. It took a good part of the day for this trip and was worth every minute, but not for long boats and fragile limbs.
A SPECIAL PLACE
by Gary Worob
Boiling Creek has always been a special place to me as well as almost everyone who has ever been there, but Saturday was even more exceptional. I purposely canceled for the first time, as far as i can remember, the camping/paddling trip with other activities when i saw the weather forecast for freezing and near freezing weather. Who wants to camp in Florida at the end of March and freeze, not this old bird.
Anyhow, Harriet led the charge, triumphantly, to carry the flag to one of the greatest paddles i ever experienced. I decided at the last minute to go and shuttled with Ian and there were eight of us who were treated to a wonderful experience. We decided to honor Brint for the extra hard work he did in clearing the trail on Little Boiling Creek and did a quick shuttle to the "lunch spot" right before Yellow River. We then carried boats across the road to the upper section and paddled up into an area that none of us ever were in before. It was like a scene from the original Tarzan movies, really deep crystal clear water with submerged logs and huge fish. We were all amazed at the serenity and beauty there and went much farther than i thought it would go, weaving in and around the many stumps and branches but awed by the depth and clarity of the water.
We had a real treat on the way downriver as we got to run the chute under the road and scream through the tunnel. Then we went on the Brint Trail and wove our way through the many narrow channels and laughed as we had to get out several times in the pristine water to drag boats around and over and through different scenes. At one point Harriet pointed out this huge snapping turtle and it was amazing to watch it make choices in directions with our boats around and then disappear. Brint had done a wonerful job of clearing and we could easily see all the hard work he put into the underwater trail and then we came to the open water, or so we thought only to be surprised at two downed pine trees that i think were beaver cuts, nothing else made sense. But Brint dispatched them with his hand saw and we were once more on our way to Boiling Creek and lunch.
The pitcher plants were in bloom and they were as beautiful and welcomed as ever. We stopped at the wooden bridge for lunch and then went downstream and were treated to a rare site. There were 5 cottonmouths sunning themselves all in a ball on a dead fall across the river. Fritz and I, with appropriate caution, got close and took pictures of the lazy group and you almost, but hardly, could feel sorry for the frozen critters, trying to warm up after a real freezing night. I won't look forward to ever seeing them again. We saw more large birds than I have ever seen on Boiling Creek and we experienced more of the area than ever before.
What could have been a disaster turned into a group effort as we had to push Brint's and Fritz's vehicles out of sand bogs. The grader guy had turned the road into a disaster while we were paddling, making it extremely hard to drive on the road to the lunch spot. I don't reccommend going there without scouting and definetely not alone. It was fun having all of us push and work together to help each other. It reminded me of why I never want to live in the snow belt again, not to ever push another stuck in the snow vehicle again without tons of friends.
So, thanks to Brint and Harriet for the absolutely wonderful day a day dedicated to the great efforts of Brint to make this club and the paddles more than wonderful.I don't recommend the Little Boiling Creek trip to anyone who is not prepared to drag and walk their boats. If you are looking for a lazy day paddle, this is not it. It took a good part of the day for this trip and was worth every minute, but not for long boats and fragile limbs.
posted by brint @ 9:04 PM
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