Tuesday, March 01, 2022, Peacock Slough RC to Adams Tract RC, RM 85.2, 10.5 miles

Didn't hear any traffic noise last night. It's 47 degrees this morning, so we don't plan to hit the river until we can shed some layers. Along the river we've seen lots of Red Maple, whose winged seeds (samara) could easily be mistaken for flowers and are especially striking against the blue skies. We've seen lots of turtles and a few of the 'flying sturgeon' that signs warn us about. Other than squirrels, however, we've seen few mammals—no raccoons, no deer, etc. We see their tracks but not the critters.

Don't paddle too fast:

Around 10:30 it's warm enough to shed our fleece layers and get on the river. We're again seeing multiple springs today: Running Springs, Convict Spring, Bathtub Spring, Suwannee Blue Springs, Mearson Spring, and Royal Spring, While barely visible from the river, Royal Spring, a Suwannee County Park accessible by road, is the most developed of these. Royal Spring has a pool roughly 100' x 200' with stairs to the pool as well as a diving platform. Park amenities include picnic tables, a boat ramp, toilets, etc. Lots of people are taking advantage of the park's easy access.

Bathtub Springs:

Florida Cooter: Royal Spring:

We reached Adam's Tract RC around 2:30 and were disappointed to find the take-out appeared to be designed by someone who doesn't canoe; rails block boats longer than 10 feet or so from maneuvering parallel to the dock/steps. Unloading our gear and moving the canoe to a rack was not pretty, and we'll consider alternate techniques for tomorrow morning. Our camp host tells us about some of the plants currently in bloom, and after showers we explore the sand hill area around the camp. We saw an armadillo and a couple flowers we'd not yet listed. Like last night, we're the only group here. It's supposed to be another cool night, so we set up our tent inside the screen shelter to trap some heat.