Today’s guest column is by Linda Crider, singer, songwriter, Palatka resident and former executive director of Bike Florida.
Ocklawaha paddle: Start: Eurica damn west rec area. Take out: Payne’s landing take out: 7.5 miles.
Among the ghosts of pine and cedar.
This was an adventure. But my mind‘s eye kept seeing the sorrow on the banks of this once lush Florida river.
Now it’s drowned beneath the greed and shortsightedness of politicians and powerful county leaders who only think about the dollars to be derived from bass fishing. And, before that, construction jobs for the cross Florida barge Canal.
That ill-fated project was officially decommissioned in 1990, leaving the residue of bridges locks and dams in its wake.
I could only feel sadness for what must have been a free-flowing winding river with banks of towering Cypress trees, and lush vegetation.
All I could see now was miles of blackened riverbank, and the bones of the grand Cypress trees, whose buttressed trunks appeared haunted with the memory of chainsaws and dredging machines.
The white parched remains of trees, and Cypress limbs lay at the edges of the banks, now visible because of the temporary drawdown of the dam. This event happens about every five years and creates a sad reminder of the once magnificent river.
It is an eerie experience to paddle along its banks, almost hearing the cries from the hollowed out Cypress stumps, and the palm tree root balls covered with silt.
Ironically, there is still an abundance of wild life, mostly birds.( ospreys, herons, Hawks, Sand hill cranes ibis, woodstorks, and Riverkeepers’ own icon, the kingfisher. ) Perhaps ironic, but we didn’t see a single eagle. Not one.
We did see, however, lots of alligators, sunning themselves on the shell midden type banks, some even reaching a length of 12 feet. But all seemed peacefully resigned to this man-induced rise and fall of their riverine environment, not angry or aggressive to a passive passer-by in a quiet kayak.
A shallow entry to Cannon Springs allowed us to take in this aquatic magic, now spueing upward uncovered and free flowing through a lime rock outcropping.
We ate our lunch and lay on the banks for a sunny quiet nap before returning to our kayaks and proceeding on to our takeout near Paynes Landing. We did encounter a number of fisherman all seeming content with good catches and a few other paddlers like us just curious to see the river in this “draw down stage.”
I couldn’t help but feel like I’d been in a cemetery all afternoon, listening to the ghosts of the river past, and wondering what will be its future .
About the author
Linda Crider is a former UF professor and past executive director of Bike Florida. She moved to Palatka after retiring. She is a performer, singer and songwriter who uses her music as a way engage her audiences in her passion for trails and history of the places she loves. She has written songs about naturalist William Bertram and his travels along the St. Johns River.
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