Paddle: Rock Springs Run and Wekiva River

Today was the day that Denny's offered their "Grand Slam" breakfast for free. We stopped at the Denny's in Clermont, figuring we might have to wait a little bit to get seated, but we didn't count on the chaos we encountered when we got there. The parking lot was full and cars were lined up on the shoulder of the highway for a hundred yards in both directions. Customers spilled into the parking lot. We decided to pass. There is only so much I will do for a free meal, and this was over the top. Our friends Wayne and Lynda from NC had been in Florida for about a week, but we had not been able to get up with them before now. Today we would meet Wayne and Lynda for a paddle. Wayne and Lynda also went to Denny's but had better luck. The good news is that they only waited 5 minutes to get seated. The bad news is that with coffee and a tip they ended up spending $6.00. It turns out we spent less at McDonald's than they did at Denny's for the "free" breakfast. Go figure.

We met Wayne and Lynda north of Apopka to paddle the Rock Springs Run. The Rock Springs Run heads up just below Rock Springs in Kelly Park and ends on the Wekiva River just below Wekiva Springs. This is one of the prettiest spring runs in Florida and is, ironically, only about 15 miles from downtown Orlando. We put in at King's Landing, a private canoe livery that charges $10 to launch. Wayne and I shuttled to the takeout at Wekiva Marina, where we were disappointed to learn they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Even though the marina and the gate was closed, folks were working on-site and the gate was not locked. We figured we would be able to take out there anyway. If not, we saw that we could take out just upstream of the marina and carry our boats a short distance through the woods.

We first paddled about 1/2 mile upstream, until we reached a chain across the stream, an illegal barrier, probably put up by the owners of some homes just beyond the chain. Last year there was no chain, and we had paddled a little further upstream before the run became impassable with downed trees and brush. Today we turned around and enjoyed the downstream float. After a while the run changed from a shallow, sandy, narrow run to one characterized by deeper stained water and a wide channel. Near the end of the 10-mile run, the Wekiva River enters from the right and we paddled up about 1/4 mile to just below the spring. We then drifted down to the marina, where we found the gate still unlocked, and were able to drive the truck down to the landing to load the boats.

It was a very pleasant paddle with old friends. We saw a few gators, some otters, some deer and the usual assortment of Florida birds.