Saturday, February 26, 2022, Holton Creek RC to RM 127.6, 13.5 miles, and a side hike to Holton Springs.

With a short paddling distance and a beautiful day, we're hiking this morning. Left gear in our shelter and hiked the Florida Trail from the river camp to Holton Springs, probably 1.5 miles. This trail section is clearly marked and has no steep sections, as it parallels the river and it's Florida. The porous karst results in lots of depressions near the trail; some are sinkholes, some are pools, and others will be pools in wet seasons. We're certain that a topo map of the area looks crazy! Holton Spring is a surprise—we follow a stream for a bit, then arrive at a pool some 150' in diameter. This is a 'first magnitude' spring, with flow of at least 100 CFS, or over 64 million gallons/day. While we haven't seen many wildflowers along the river, the area near the spring is covered with Atamasco Lilies. Big Live Oaks are also along the trail.

Atamasco Lily:

Patch of lilies: Lily cluster: Large Live Oak:

We hiked back to Holton Creek RC, loaded gear and extra water—dry camp tonight. We were on the river around 11:00. The river gets wider and picks up current as streams like Holton Run and the Alapaha River join the Suwannee. There's more development, fewer sandy rest stops, and more users, too. Because it's Saturday, we're seeing several motor boats as well as kayaks and canoes. At RM 135.6 we paddled into the Alapaha Rise. Hydrologists tell us this is the true mouth of the Alapaha River, whose surface channel joins the Suwannee at RM 135.2, but is often dry.

Our night's destination is a campsite for the Florida Trail at RM 127.6. This is at the confluence of the Withlacoochee River and the Suwannee, and overlooks Suwannacoochee Spring. (I ain't making these names up!) The campsite is nice, is unoccupied, and has a picnic table and several potential tent sites. We set up the tent, then start dinner; it's almost ready when we hear a couple ATVs coming down the trail. We shoot the breeze with the four occupants of the ATVs for a while, then they fish more beers out of coolers, turn around, and head back home.

Tonight's screened shelter:

Sunset from the point: