LOXAHATCHEE RIVER KAYAK TOUR

Friday, September 25 – Well, Paul's alive and well. That means he didn't tip the kayak and cause Marsha to take a dip in the river.

We met at the boat doc at 9:45 and low and behold we were the only ones on the tour. We had two tour guides, Scott, a volunteer here at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, FL, and Celeste, is an intern with the park service. Both are in their early twenties.

We are first time kayakers so they gave us a quick lesson in kayaking. We've been canoeing many times and found this very similar to that experience. We went in a 2-person kayak at the recommendation of the gal at the rental office. The 2-hour tour was $20/for both of us which included the kayak rental and equipment plus the tour guides. Pretty good deal!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day! We paddled up the Loxahatchee River which is a tidal river.

Marsha…would you ever recognize her from the back?

The upper portions of the river are fresh water, but do to dredging and building along the coastal part of the river, the tide pushes salty ocean water up stream causing a high tide/low tide effect and mixing the salt water with the fresh water.

The river was so calm. We love the reflection of the sky in the water.

The rivers depth can raise by 3-6 feet during high tide. This has caused an impact on trees and other plant life growing along the river and a similar impact on animal life. For example, Cypress trees that at one time filled the park, can now only be seen on the upper portions of the river. Both salt water and fresh water fish can also be found in the river including an occasional porpoise and manatee.

Scott kept saying how great we were doing and how fast we were traveling. He thought he would challenge us by leading us through this very tight area along Kitchen Creek. Marsha was a bit scared, but Paul had on doubt we could do it. He did a great job guiding us through the narrow opening. We also had to come back that way. WOW…was that ever a neat experience.

Unfortunately, our wildlife observations consisted of a lonely turtle sunning himself on a log. But wildlife sightings wasn't the purpose of our trip. We were here to experience kayaking for the first time and to enjoy the river.

The river experience was very enjoyable and so was the kayaking. We actually did quite well in the paddling, although we may be singing a different tune with sore muscles tomorrow.

Clark Rambling left a comment on our post yesterday that we would like to share with our readers. He wrote….JD State Park was hit by a hurricane a few years ago and most of the trees were wiped out. They rebuilt the campground and upgraded the electric at that time. Thanks so much Larry for the info. We meant to ask why so many bare trees when we visited the VC but totally forgot.

We really enjoy this state park. Everyone is so helpful. If you like to hike and do some guided activities, this is the place for you.

Sunset here at Hobe Sound.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back again real soon. Have a great day!