Trip to Crystal River and Escape from Tropical Storm Nicole!

Kristine, Emily and Kathy H. picked me up in Gainesville, Florida, and from there, we travelled to the town of Crystal River, staying at the Plantation Hotel right on Crystal River so we could put in right there at a canal that feeds into Crystal river. After our epic pack the night before, we woke up to a beautiful day with warm sunny weather where we could pack our boats right net to the launch spot. Manatees – 4 of them – were hanging out right in front of our hotel, where we put in. Seeing them reminded me of childhood visits to my grandparents in Jupiter Island where Manatees were a common sighting that we always loved!

Once under way, the bird life all around us came alive. Pelicans, cormorants, herons, bald eagles, king fishers, egrets, and osprey hunting for fish put on terrific shows for us as we paddled by. It was awesome. Our first destination was Sisters Crystal Spring, a place that had crazy clear blue water and a tiny entrance to get in. These fresh water springs bubble up fresh water through the ground and generally mix with sea water coming in from the Gulf. Manatees apparently head to the Springs in winter when to Gulf gets too cold for them.

Tons of people were out in every craft to get into the springs bottlenecked through the tiny entrance. I was surprised at how many people came in either, swimming, snorkeling, floating on floatie cushions, stand up paddle boards – you name it – it was really crowded!! After seeing the spring, I was happy to escape the crowds and hit the open water again. Seeing these water ways with many channels and even more islands made it abundantly clear that it would be very easy to get lost without good navigation and get really lost at that.

Kathy and planned for a 6 mile easy day and as our put in was late, we paddled fairly leisurely until we realized that we were still far from the Uncle Tom’s Island – our camp for the night. As 5 pm approached and it looked like we have 3 miles to go, I was amazed that 6 miles was taking so long! The late afternoon paddle and light was gorgeous and the more islands we passed, the more I thought of the how much they looked like islands in the Nile!

Finally at just a few minutes before 6pm, we made it Uncle Tom’s island. What a cool camp that was. Remote and a just high enough above water that we did not need to worry about the tides, it was a great camping spot. At last, we were really far away – or so it felt. Emily, Kristine, and I shared a tent and hopefully my snoring woke no one. We feasted on delicious instant meals of chana masala – which were satisfying and delicious under the full blood moon sky. Kathy realized she had been measuring as the crow flies instead of the actual route so our 6 miles was really 11 which was a relief because I could not imagine how we would paddle 17 miles each of the last two days.
The Windy forecast for day 3 had me thinking already. I was not know how we would do. With a head wind of 20-30 miles an hour, it was going to be a serious grind for 17 miles! Our second day was supposed to be 9 miles and ended up being closer to 8. The second night we would spend in a motel by the river in Homosassa, Florida. After a beautiful morning paddle against some wind, crossing many wide bays and tons of oyster fields and islands, we ended up paddling into some developed canals that looked like fancy real estate followed by a sandy beach across from the public boat launch in Homosassa.

On arrival, the wind had picked up and the weather appeared to be turning. When Kathy and Kristine returned from checking in at the hotel, they reported that we were in a tropical storm watch and that the tropical storm could be hitting us in the next day. This was a surprise, as I never considered that we’d run into a big storm on this trip. The wind and rain from the forecast was actually from tropical storm Nicole! Once checked into the Florida Cracker Resort, we decided to wait and see what the day and night would bring. We got in early enough so that we had time to go for a walk and check out Homosassa.
This sleepy Florida town was like going back in time 50 years. We discovered a printing press museum next to a restaurant boasting the best Cuban sandwich in the area. After out walk, we decided on an early dinner and as the forecasts kept reinforcing that a storm surge was likely to be hitting us in 48 hours, it became clear we needed to make an alternative plan. We decided to wake up in the morning and see how things looked. With 17 miles each day to cover for the next two days and remote camping on islands, we did not want to be stuck out somewhere where we might really get into trouble.

In the morning, with the confirmation of the storm coming right for Homosassa, we made the only sane choice to leave. However, on the way out of Florida, we decided to stop at another Spring called Rainbow springs. We put in at KP hole and paddled up to the spring 1.5 miles. No one was there and it was gorgeous. The temperatures were definitely not warm but the water was 72F – warmer than the air. Emily had the idea to swim back with our kayaks and so we did, with our googles and kayaks in tow, we swam 1.5 miles back to where we started. Luckily, the current was pushing us right along and thank goodness because about 2/3’s of the way back, I started to really get cold, so cold in fact that my teeth could not stop chattering. And I keep thinking that this was perfect hypothermia weather, because it was!
As soon as I got out of the water, I ran for any dry clothes in the car and straight to the ladies room to get out of the wet stuff. I was drying myself off with toilet paper – anything to get rid of the water evaporating off my skin and cooling me further. It was pretty crazy as I have not been that cold in a while. I guess Wim Hoff would approve – but not sure it had the exact desired response.
After our amazing spring paddle-swim, we needed north in search of dinner and a place to sleep. Gainesville turns out to have incredible sushi and boy did we eat well! After feasting, we drove another 3 hours to a motel closer to Atlanta. Emily decided we should visit a Korean bath house – how she found it I will never know so off we went in the morning after getting coffee at the Cathedral coffee shop that was in a real church cathedral! The Korean bath house was just what the doctor ordered and I highly recommend it to anyone – you really need to check it out! It was a perfect way to end our adventure, and I hope we will head back to the wilder parts of the Florida coast again – that was a real eye opener!