Monday, February 28, 2022, Day 5, Monday, Feb 28, 2022, Dowling Park RC to Peacock Slough RC, RM 95.6, 17.5 miles

We had a brief shower during the night, and awoke to overcast skies and occasional mist. We're on the water at 8:45, and are paddling a wider river that no longer has the sandy landings. We're also seeing fewer of the karst banks and seeing lots of willows hanging 8-10 feet from the shore and over the river. When we reach the public lands tract where we'd planned to spend last night, we don't see any good camp sites—very glad we opted to stay at Dowling.

At RM 106.5 we stop to check out Charles Spring. Deep pools are separated by a limestone bridge that we can walk across at the current river level. Locals swim between the pools under the karst bridge, and cave divers have explored passages in the spring. At RM 105.4 we're able to paddle up Allen Mill Pond Spring Run. We'd hoped to see ruins of the old mill and trading post, but there wasn't much to see. While exploring, rain started, and we donned full rain gear. Temps today are in the 50s, a big change from days 1-4. We were in steady rain for the next two miles to Lafayette Blue Springs State Park, RM 103. It's another first magnitude spring with a beautiful pool beside the river. Cave divers have mapped nearly 12,000 feet of passages from this spring. The swimming area was closed, however, due to an alligator sighting. Didn't see the 'gator, and only saw one the entire trip. Love the warning sign, though. We were happy to have the rain stop as we ate lunch under a park shelter.

Limestone bridge at Charles Spring:

Do not swim with alligators: Tied off to a cypress knee:

Next stop was Telford Spring, RM 97.5, another spring with a karst bridge between pools, and another spring where locals swim between pools by passing under the bridge. A couple miles later, RM 95.6, we're at our night's destination, Peacock Slough RC, where hot showers await. While Peacock Springs State Park is nearby, we can't get there from the river camp because of private property between the camp and the park. Cave divers have charted some 33,000 feet of passages from Peacock Spring, making it one of the longest known aquatic caves in the US. The camp host is moving to a new location today, so we have the camp to ourselves. Cooler evening temps have us in the sleeping bags early.

Limestone bridge (just under water) at Telford Spring: