Kayaking the Peace River

The weather here in Polk County Florida has not been very good for the past month.  Cold and windy with frost many mornings.  Not like the weather at home for sure but not great weather for doing many of the outdoor things we want to do.  But this morning arrived bright, warm and beautiful.  We have not had the kayaks in the water since we arrived early December so today we packed them into the back of the truck and headed to the Peace River.  John and Judy joined us and we had a beautiful day paddling.

The Peace River originates north-east of Barstow in Polk County and flows south 106 miles to Port Charlotte and the Gulf of Mexico.   We drove to Fort Meade and put in at a pretty little park and headed down river.

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 We came across a large cypress tree across the river.  There was a spot a couple of feet above the water level that we managed to manoeuvre under.  Here is Tom coming through.  You had to lay flat to get under.




We paddled down river until we came to an area that was too shallow to get through.  We turned around and headed back upriver to the park.  The current was not very strong so most of the way was pretty easy going.  When we got back to the park we decided we had not had enough yet and decided to continue on upriver.

This eagle was watching us as we passed along.

 A couple of turtles sunning themselves on a fallen tree.

 Again we arrived at a spot that we were not able to go any further.  So we turned around and headed back downriver to the park. 4.8 miles of paddling today.  A pretty good workout!!

We did not see any alligators today but we did meet these two young fossil hunters on the river.   You can find all types of fossils including shark teeth, mammoth teeth, camel, dolphin, mastodon, you name it.  The only thing they say you will not find here is dinosaur fossils.  This couple were looking for shark teeth and say there is a quit a market for them.   Nice friendly kids.  Most people down here are very friendly.

We got home tired but headed to the pool for a nice relaxing swim and a hot tub to finish off the day.  So happy the warm weather has finally arrived.

Until next time - safe travels.