reposted; see below

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Wow, sounds tough, but everything turned out alright in the end and it seems like it was worth it. Those rapids look intense.

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Sounds like the struggles and accomplishments us blacks have achieved over the years~

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Ok your gimmick is seriously getting annoying.

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Alot of people do annoying things, but we all just learn to deal with it rite, you'll live Locke. AND THIS TOPIC ISINT ABOUT YOU BEING ANNOYED ITS ABOUT GAKU AND HIS ADVENTURES, whats the name of the bird in those pictures?

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That bird looks funny.

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Make a gif out of it...

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I think it's a green heron.

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Its cute. I want one.

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I dont know how to make a gif. I wanted to say earlier it reminded me of a duck, but I didn't want to sound stupid, but admitting I dont know how to make a gif already makes me sound stupid so I figured might as well mention the duck thing.

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does it taste like chicken?

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distance kayaked: 17 miles
distance walked: 3.5 miles
total confirmed miles to date: 860

The Aucilla River is powerful and deceptive. Glassy water gives the impression that the river isn't moving at all, but paddling upriver, you feel just how powerful the river really is as you struggle up the narrows and runs. Add to that one of the largest (if not the largest) rapids in all of Florida, and you have one hell of a trip.






Old Salt/Aucilla River Road bridge


small stream




looking upriver at the Little Rapids, which extend for hundreds of feet around 2 bends in the river


I stopped for a moment to secure everything before attempting the Big Rapids


a closer look at the Big Rapids from above


I took on about 15 gallons of water while going down the rapids. I stopped at a sandy bank downriver and took this picture from shore.


The river goes underground here. It's actually a lot more forceful here than I expected. From here, I turned around and headed back north.


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I wasn't sure which of these pictures I liked the most, so here's both of them.


This used to be part of a bridge.




The Big Rapids from downstream. I dragged my kayak up and over the trail on the east bank.

From there, I made it back to the Little Rapids but couldn't find a way up past it. I didn't have my tree loppers with me, so I couldn't cut my way through. I did find a short trail, but it didn't lead all the way through past the rapids (since the rapids are quite long). As I was considering walking up the rapids, I heard a crash and saw a deer being carried down the Little Rapids. (It swam out and ran up the opposite bank.) Anyway, if it's powerful enough to carry away a deer, I had no chance of walking up it.


I backtracked to a dirt path a few bends downriver and pulled my kayak up to a packed-sand road. I took this picture to remind me of how to get back to it.


From there, I started walking east, trying to find my way back to my car. I took some bug spray, Gatorade, and a flashlight with me. Yellowflies attacked me the entire way despite the massive amount of bug spray I used. I don't recommend hiking through tall grass and swampland in a T-shirt, a swimsuit, and sandals. Luckily, the bug spray was sufficient to keep the chiggers at bay. I also avoided a poison ivy breakout probably thanks to the thick coating of caked-on sand.

I went home after finding my car and returned today to retrieve my kayak. Unfortunately, parts of the forest trails in the region are impassable by car, so I had to drag the kayak 1/3 mile using a shoulder strap/harness.

Despite the problems at the end of the trip, I consider it a success.
Obstacles may slow me down, but I always reach my goal one way or another.

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That's a good philosophy to live by. That sounds like fun. I know its Florida, but was it cold at all?

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Locke wrote:

That's a good philosophy to live by. That sounds like fun. I know its Florida, but was it cold at all?

This trip was on September 30th.
The file locations were changed, so I had to edit all of the trips I've posted on terulia.com
This particular trip had too much info for the url.
As a result, Edit wasn't letting me fix it up above.

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Oh ok. _________________________________________ Signatures are SO last decade.