Camping in Ocala National Forest
Juniper Creek Canoe Run
This Is What We Came For
The Juniper Creek Canoe Run is the main reason we chose to camp at Juniper Springs. It's a seven mile canoe run that starts at Juniper Springs and ends at the Juniper Spill way. We were very excited to see what was in store for us. The hangover I had seemed to magically disappear the second we set foot in the canoe. Heather had never been canoeing before so this was a good treat for her. I was stoked as well!
Hoist The Main Sail
O wait, we're canoeing. You mean I gotta work here? No worries. The funny thing was I sat in the back of the canoe so I would mostly just chill and let Heather do most of the rowing. She had no clue, until now ;) However, I did find myself caught up in the brush a lot.
In the beginning the water is super clear and very shallow. The vegetation was super thick and bright green. This was quite an erie site with the sun peeking through the foliage and the mist rolling across the waters surface. It was hard snapping shots because my camera lens kept fogging up.
Forward Yo..
We finally started to get settled into the canoe and getting our butts as comfortable as possible. We let a couple of the other canoes pass us by, so we could just take our time and enjoy the scenery. As we got further into the run, we started to realize this trip surely wasn't for the beginner. We were ducking, dodging and turning all over the place. There were huge trees that fell right across the creek that laid just below the waters surface. This made navigating the creek a pain but it's all part of the fun.
Damn We're Good!
Moving right along at a good cruising speed taking in all the sites and sounds. The creek started to open up a bit as we got further down stream. I felt like an old time pioneer exploring the great Florida wilderness. As time went on, our asses were really starting to go numb so I figured we need to pull over and let my butt breath a bit. So we chilled for a little while and decided to carry on. As we came around the corner we notice two older ladies fully tipped over struggling to get a foot-hold in the mud to flip there canoe back over. "Aw crap, you mean i gotta get wet now to help these ladies out?" I said to Heather. They were in waist deep mud and I had only one pair of shorts for the whole trip and I wasn't about to blow it. Finally one of the ladies got a good foot-hold and flipped the canoe back over. Swhooooo. I'm outta here. hehe.
Half Way
We finally reached the half way point about two hours into our run. There were several other canoe posses there with little kids running all over the place. So we chilled till they dipped out. Seemed as if a lot of people were flipping over because we overheard them talking about it. Funny stories. We docked the canoe and ate some food and let our butts rest a bit longer. Time to move on.
Finishing up
We cruised the creek for a couple more hours and it seemed to open up. This was cool because we were able to get some sun and pull over to some of the sandbars. super pretty. We finally reached the end and my ass was super happy about that. All in all the run was awsome and I would do it again in a heartbeat.