Juniper Creek and Springs

Sunday, October 7, 2007 I drove 60 miles north of Winter Park to the Ocala National Forest to kayak Juniper Creek. Pictured to the left, Juniper, like Rock Springs Run, is a narrow, swift, clear , spring fed waterway. The picture is near the source, I'm headed downstream, after a seven mile upstream paddle.

I began at the Juniper Wayside. Most folks end their trip here, having launched at the Juniper Creek Recreation Area. I'm a contrarian, and paddle upstream. I'm also cheap, this way I don't have to pay for a shuttle. Juniper is a tough paddle. It's fed by 3 sets of springs. Juniper, the source; followed by, Fern Hammock Springs, just past the start, then Sweetwater near the launch/takeout. The upstream method lets me have the Creek to myself, usually to the halfway point, marked by a rickety dock. The dock is the only sign of civilization. The Creek is in a Department of Interior Wilderness Area, Juniper Prairie Wilderness. The scenery is beautiful, however, I see less bird life here than other Florida streams. This paddle I saw several limpkins, a few great egrets, kingfishers flitting from branch to branch, blue herons, a single Great Blue, red shoulder hawks- more seen than heard-pileated woodpeckers, and songbirds I can't name. Seems like a lot when reading (or writing) but other places I visit have more abundant bird life.

Quantity is made up by quality. I often see bald eagles here, and this trip was no exception. Paddling through one of the open areas, a beautiful bald eagle soared overhead,back and forth, before perching on a tree ahead, to my right. I hoped to get a picture, but when I was just in range,it vacated its perch, flying downstream and out of sight. Juniper is also full of deer. I have seen as many as a dozen on one trip. None this time. Bears are also a possibility, but I have yet to see one here. I have seen bear (one) on nearby Alexander Creek.

I had not yet reached the halfway point when I heard, then saw kayakers coming downstream. A tandem, woman in front, another, short haired person in back, shirtless in the October heat and humidity. I said hi, and the rear paddler, quickly put her shirt on. Guess she wasn't expecting anyone coming upstream. They were followed by two males in solo yaks boyfriends/spouse, I presume.

I stopped at the half way dock, but did not get out. It looked like rain so I decided to keep going, rather get wet paddling, then standing on shore. It did rain, but not hard. Juniper Creek can get very crowded on weekends. On prior paddles, I have waited for columns of canoes to careen by. And I do mean careen. Take a fast current, add inexperienced paddlers, low branches and submerged logs and it equals backwards, sideways and swamped canoes. I do not recommend this for the inexperienced. To my delight, I encountered only 7 canoes and kayaks during the near 3 hour upstream voyage.

The rain, which had stopped, came down again as I was landing at the Recreation Area. By the time I turned the yak upside down, got my snorkel gear, and walked to the swim area, the rain stopped. Only two people were in the Spring, a big contrast to my last visit, in July. The last picture is one of the two main vents that form Juniper Springs. Look closer, or expand the picture- just click on it, and you can see some minnows. I have not seen larger fish in the Spring pool, likely because they have to swim below a water wheel, built by the CCC during the Depression, that is still generating electricity. No fish, but I have seen eels in the Spring, eels that come all the way from the Sargasso Sea, out in the Atlantic, down the St. Johns River, to Lake George, up Juniper Creek, to the Spring

The area around the Spring has plenty of picnic tables and benches. I ate lunch, as four raccoons stood on the edge of the treeline, waiting for me, or any visitor to leave a cooler unattended.

After lunch, I walked the short nature trail/boardwalk along Juniper Creek, into the hammock, to Fern Hammock Springs, pictured second from the bottom. I think its one of the most beautiful sites in Florida. Swimming and fishing are prohibited, to preserve this gem. No signs prohibit kayaking, and in the past, I had paddled up the short run from Juniper Creek to Fern Hammock, watching lunker large mouth and cascades of sand boiling up from the floor of the Spring. This "boiling" is a common phenomonom as the upwelling water pushes the sand upward. In Fern Hammock, the boils are more like volcanoes with their volume. I may be the last person to visit the Spring by water. In the summer of 2006, my glasses had fallen of while I was observing the Spring from a footbridge. I spoke to a ranger about it, and he said I could paddle in, he'd hand me a garbage picker upper, and I could try to snatch the shades. It did not work, and other employee's watching were surprised when they learned this was not my first visit to the Spring by water. No sign or barrier at the entrance, I said. There's not ? On my next visit, a yellow rope and orange floats were strung across the entrance.

Back to the yak, I chatted to a trio getting ready to launch their canoe. Two were first time visitors, and as always in Florida, asked about alligators. I told them I had seen one. How close ? I strectched my arms. That close ? It's a narrow Creek. The alligator population was cut down last summer, 2006, when a woman snorkeling in the Creek was attacked and killed. Many large gators were subsequently killed, and others may still be hiding. The canoers left, I took my time getting ready, for them to get ahead, then I put in and let the current do most of the work taking me downstream. I saw another gator, the same birds, a few turtles, in the water and on logs. One reason wildlife observation is not the best is the thick forest on both sides of the Creek. But, even in more open areas, I did not see lot of birds, at least for Florida.
I passed the people who had launched just before me, as they were observing a Great Egret. I was passed by another canoe, a couple who said they were in a hurry, having to bike back to the Recreation Area. A folding bike was in the center of the canoe. They said it is 9 miles from the Wayside landing back to the Recreation Area. I told them I have often done the car bike shuttle, but never had a bike in my boat. I do not think I would like to bike on the two lane US Highway 40. But it does have a fairly wide shoulder, so some day..

The remaining pictures are from Silver Glen Springs, 3 miles up Highway 19 from the Wayside.

A view from shore, bluegills, stripped bass in the "Natural Well", more strippers in the main Spring. Where Juniper as few, if any fish, Silver Glen is full of them. Also large mouth bass, and mullet, lots of mullett. I have also seen rays in the Spring, but none on my visits since getting the watertight camera case. Other then a couple standing on the steps entering the spring, watching a school of panfish swim around their legs, I had this first magnitude Spring to myself.

After the snorkel, I walked the Lake George Trail. As I had not seen any deer today, or the prior paddle at Rock Springs Run, I hoped to see some here. I did,two crossed the path about ten miles into the 2 mile walk. I looked for bald eagles as the trail reached ,then followed Lake George, but did not see any. I have on prior visits. Lake George is a wide part of the St Johns River, 10 miles wide. I returned to the Spring area, took another short walk on the Boils Trial, where a path, and then a boardwalk leads to a series of small spring boils. Nothing like Fern Hammock, but scenic nonetheless.

Day over, I drove home, thinking of where to go this weekend. Stay tuned.