Springs

The thing Carole and I enjoy the most when we go to Florida is seeking out and exploring the enormous freshwater springs that emerge from the karst topography of the state. We had hit many of them, but there are so many that we know that there are always new ones to discover. This year we were hoping to see and experience many of the big springs that line the shores of the Suwannee River in the north of the state.

However, seeing those springs is a hit-or-miss option since they Suwannee often overruns its banks and subsequently the tea-colored water of that river "blacks out" the freshwater springs. This happened to us once before when we journeyed there to kayak and snorkel. And,  alas, it happened again. The river was up many feet above flood stage and this killed off our chance to see the dozens of first, second, and third degree springs along its banks.

However, there are always some springs that emerge from higher areas of the state and we fell back on seeing some of those. The first one we decided to hit was Ichetucknee Springs. That one is an old favorite of ours, and a very popular destination of most of the residents of northern Florida and southern Georgia. You can almost always count on huge, noisy crowds on the Ichetucknee.

The one great thing about this trip to those springs was that they were almost deserted. For about an hour, we had the Ichetucknee Head Spring all to ourselves. It was pure bliss.

(Tomorrow,  the springs of the Wacissa River.)

The view of the Head Springs that greeted us.

Jump in!

Underwater beauty.

Swimming the day away in Ichetucknee Springs.

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.

Where to Go?

Next year will be the first year that I get five weeks of vacation. I'm trying to figure out what our big family trip will be. Carole wants to go to visit some first magnitude springs that we haven't seen in Florida. That would be about a week-long trip and would be tons of fun. We always have a blast snorkeling and kayaking the big freshwater springs in Florida.

But I was thinking more of hitting a National Park or two that we've never seen. We've long wanted to see Crater Lake National Park, and I dearly want to see the big redwoods and sequoias in California. The deal with a western trip is that they're really expensive, so we have to plan them carefully.

At any rate, I'll have a whole 'nother week to play around with in 2014.

I think this was taken at Manatee Springs State Park.

Blue Springs Run at Blue Springs State Park.

Big alligator at Wakulla Springs State Park.

A friendly osprey on the Chassahowitzka River.

Kayaking down the Ichetucknee River in Ichetucknee Springs State Park.

And then there's the allure of those big California peaks. I took this shot near Joshua Tree National Park in 2010.

The "Tuck"

The Ichetucknee River is affectionately called "the Tuck" by many who love her. If you've never been there, I pity you. Like some other rivers in Florida, it appears whole-cloth from the earth in the form of a series of gigantic freshwater springs that disgorge millions of gallons per day of gloriously clear, pure, fresh water. The State of Florida has been buying up these springs over the decades. In the past, many were in private hands, but gradually the State has been taking possession of them through buyouts and tax packages until now only a small handful of them remain in private hands.

The Ichetucknee River is one that has been public property for quite some time. You will encounter no houses along the river as it courses through the park. No buildings. No acreage denuded of forest cover. What you will see are the great springs that birth it, and the glorious course of "the Tuck". And as you kayak, canoe, tube, or swim the river, you will also see much wildlife. As with most of the parks of Florida, Ichetucknee Springs State Park is packed with native fauna.

We stopped along the shore here to go swimming.

When I was a kid, we'd jump off the limestone bank here. But the Park doesn't allow that now because of the damage so many people were causing to the shrubs and trees that grow there. The water appears shallow here because of the clarity of the water, but it's actually quite deep.

You might see water this clear and pure elsewhere, but I doubt it.

Others precede us downriver as we allow the current to take us along.

Old log on the river floor as I went snorkeling.

Native underwater grasses.

Down the Amazing Ichetucknee River

Carole and Andy and I had been to Ichetucknee River/Springs before. We took Andy tubing down the river when he was only five years old. In fact, that was the last time we went there, so it has been a very long time since we'd visited.


Ichetucknee was one of my favorite places when I was a young man. I first floated the river when I was nineteen years old and made a number of trips to visit it when I was living in the hideous hell hole called Brunswick, Georgia. In those days the entire length of the river could be tubed, from the head springs all the way to the end of the state owned property. This proved disastrous for the river's fragile ecosystem and there were long runs of the waterway in which almost all of the native grasses and shoreside plants had been killed off.

These days, the park is very protective of the river's ecosystem. You can now only tube about half the river, although the entire length remains open to canoes and kayaks which don't damage the native plants (the occupants are far less likely to get out and walk all over them). So we found that we had the upper reaches of the river all to ourselves for most of that part of the trip. I was pleased to see that the river has completely recovered in the intervening years, now that people are not allowed to slog through the shallows, tearing up the vegetation.

Here, then, is a brief photo essay of our float down the river and our trip to swim in the river's head springs.


This was the put-in point for us. We used the services of Ichetucknee Family Canoe and Cabins which is just a few hundred feet from the park entrance. They were very good, with friendly owners and reasonable rates for the rentals and shuttle services.

The river quickly opens up and reveals its beauty.

I was surprised to see spider lillies in bloom. I didn't know that they grew there.

Room to go under!

Moss-draped cypress trees line the shores.

These common river turtles were literally EVERYWHERE we looked.

In short order the river began to widen and deepen as flow from more and more side springs were added as we floated along.

This is a spot where we stopped to go swimming. There are deep holes all along the length of the river, some of them ten feet or more.

Typical view looking into the cypress groves.

Back in the days of my youth, this limestone bank was a popular jumping and diving area. These were activities which caused destruction of plant life, so it's not allowed anymore. And if you think you can get away with breaking the rules, don't try. This park is HEAVILY patrolled by rangers who don't hesitate to enforce the laws.

More spider lilies.

Tubers began to show up at the halfway point. This is where they are allowed to put in, where the water is deeper and dangling legs and swimming people are far less likely to damage the river vegetation.

You want beauty? We got beauty.

When I was a kid, whole portions of the river had lost the river grasses that are supposed to grow there, supporting an array of life.

The current causes the grass to sway gently in the air-clear water.

There are some spots where the river grasses have not recovered, even after a couple of decades of protection.

Looking down on The Blue Hole, one of the most impressive springs in the park. You can see the fence that prevents passage by people from the spring into the run that flows into the Ichetucknee River. When I was young, you could swim/tube from the spring into the river, and the tributary had been denuded of plant life.

Looking down into one of the big spring fissures at The Blue Hole.

Carole took this of me as I climbed out of The Blue Hole onto the dock and boardwalk.

This is the main headspring with many Homo sapiens present .(In summer it gets so packed with people you can barely find a spot to stand.)

A snorkeler was swimming out of the main fissure at the headspring as I snapped this shot.

Underwater Photos

Well, we're home. I'll cover various parts of the vacation as I unload the photographs. This was--once again--a triumph of a vacation. We love finding new parks and revisiting a few that have tugged us back for another visit.

For now, here are some underwater photographs that I took. Underwater digital cameras have finally come down to a price that makes them affordable for casual hobbyists like me. We found a very cheap Kodak camera that takes decent underwater photos and it came in handy.

Native river grass along the floor of the Ichetucknee River. When I was a teen the human traffic up and down the river had killed much of the native grasses. Now the park officials have gotten very aggressive in protecting the native plants and animals and the ecosystem in the river and springs have recovered.

Friendly fishes coming up to panhandle.

One of the main vents at The Blue Hole, probably the most spectacular spring in the Ichetucknee spring system.

Looking down into the main spring at Blue Hole. In places you can peer down about fifty to sixty feet into the central cavern opening from which pour many millions of gallons of pure, clear water every day.

Here I was hovering over the main vent at Blue Hole. The floor far below me about fifty feet beneath the soles of my water shoes. But the water is so perfectly clear that it looks much closer.