We had not paddled since leaving the Withlacoochee State Forest 
area almost three weeks ago. That's way too long! The temperature was on the rise, and we are camped right on the banks of the Peace River, so it was an obvious choice: we paddled on the historic Peace River. Our friends Dave and Audrey, who are also camped at Thousand Trails, followed us to our put in at the river bridge on SR 664A near Bowling Green at Paynes Creek Historic State Park. Dave and Audrey returned our car to the campground, where we would take out. We were pretty comfortable letting them drive our car since they were the original owners of that car and put the first 60,000 miles on it. Dorcas and I had a very relaxing and enjoyable paddle of about 11 miles. Matilda was well-behaved and had no out-of-boat experiences. The river flow was low, about 53 cfs, but not as low as it was when we paddled this same section a year ago (41 cfs). We scraped bottom a few times, but had no real difficulties. We saw a number of red-shouldered hawks and an osprey, as well as several pileated woodpeckers. We also saw a large 
number of wading birds including great blue herons, little blue herons, green herons, limpkins, ibises and egrets. Unlike last year we saw few turtles and no alligators, probably due to the recent cold weather. The clear shallow water revealed many fish. We saw alligator gar, catfish, bass, tilapia, mullet and snook. Most amazing were the suckers that carpeted the bottom of the river. They layed on the bottom of the river in schools of hundreds and didn't move as we drifted over.
area almost three weeks ago. That's way too long! The temperature was on the rise, and we are camped right on the banks of the Peace River, so it was an obvious choice: we paddled on the historic Peace River. Our friends Dave and Audrey, who are also camped at Thousand Trails, followed us to our put in at the river bridge on SR 664A near Bowling Green at Paynes Creek Historic State Park. Dave and Audrey returned our car to the campground, where we would take out. We were pretty comfortable letting them drive our car since they were the original owners of that car and put the first 60,000 miles on it. Dorcas and I had a very relaxing and enjoyable paddle of about 11 miles. Matilda was well-behaved and had no out-of-boat experiences. The river flow was low, about 53 cfs, but not as low as it was when we paddled this same section a year ago (41 cfs). We scraped bottom a few times, but had no real difficulties. We saw a number of red-shouldered hawks and an osprey, as well as several pileated woodpeckers. We also saw a large 
number of wading birds including great blue herons, little blue herons, green herons, limpkins, ibises and egrets. Unlike last year we saw few turtles and no alligators, probably due to the recent cold weather. The clear shallow water revealed many fish. We saw alligator gar, catfish, bass, tilapia, mullet and snook. Most amazing were the suckers that carpeted the bottom of the river. They layed on the bottom of the river in schools of hundreds and didn't move as we drifted over. 
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