Saturday, March 22, 2014

Stop That!

I just wanted to post a single photo today. It's of a spot that was one of my favorite places to visit when I was a young man: the Ichetucknee River State Park. It's an amazing place that features a river of crystal clear water emerging whole-cloth from a series of vast springs that gush many millions of gallons of pure water every day.

This particular spot on the resulting Ichetucknee River was, when I was a lad of 20 or so, a favorite place of similarly young folk who were canoeing, kayaking, and tubing the river. People would stop here on this limestone bluff to leap into the cold, quick current of the Ichetucknee. No longer. I suppose all of that tramping around damaged the flora that needs to grow on that bluff, so the Park officials have now posted it against such activity. But you can still paddle there and snorkle there and swim there. You just can't climb up on the ledges and use them for a diving platform.

Many a grand moment spent here, leaping like a kid into the water.

2 comments:

Kent Tankersley said...

That looks so inviting!

James Robert Smith said...

The Ichetucknee River is a must-see here in North America. It's a National Landmark for a reason. My only suggestion for anyone wishing to visit there is to avoid it on summer weekends. Unless you enjoy vast crowds of humans.

The last time Carole and I kayaked it, we went on a weekday and put in very early in the morning. It was a long while (hours) before we even saw anyone else.

Here's a brief link to a video I shot on that kayak excursion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNtgA9yVSeQ