Suwannee River Part 2 - Days 3 & 4

Join me for days 3 & 4 of our 9-day, 220-mile trip down the #Suwannee River from Fargo, GA, to Suwannee FL. Six other friends and myself made the journey on February 10th through 18th. It was challenging at times, but extremely rewarding! #canoe #kayak #camping

[@tommywilliams3526]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[@SouthernPaddler]

Thank you, Tommy!!

[@HeatherMizzell]

Lived on that river for 15yrs some of the best yrs of my life

[@SouthernPaddler]

How cool! It's a beautiful river and we really enjoyed the trip! The river camps along the way are so cool!!!

[@DaveCollierCamping]

Awesome , have a great weekend

[@SouthernPaddler]

Thank you, Dave! You too, my friend!

[@DaveCollierCamping]

@@SouthernPaddler my pleasure

[@mackjenkins7721]

Man it looked like you guys was having fun on this trip. Can i say it started off as a rainy one? Dan at one point you looked really really wet man. But i can tell it was fun as long as the Temperature was warm. Good video buddy thanks you for sharing this. Can't wait for part #3.

[@SouthernPaddler]

Yes, it was rainy that one afternoon and then rained most of the last two days. I didn't mind the rain except for day 9 when it was in the 40's!! LOL!! Thanks, Mack!!

[@anthonybarbour43]

Looks like a great trip. I wouldn't give you 2 cents for the Florida theme park tourist traps, but you can't beat the springs and scenic beauty of natural Florida. It's cool yall got to meet Kelly Hayes, I'm a big fan of her channel.

[@SouthernPaddler]

Thanks, Anthony! Agreed - this is my kind of Florida (and a quiet beach is good, too)! Yes, meeting Kelly was cool. She and her friends were very nice. Tammy, from our group, first recognized her as paddled by where they were launching.

[@MinuteontheMountain]

That water looked like it was cruising when you launched. Looked so peaceful at the 8:09 mark. Great video, brother.

[@SouthernPaddler]

Thanks, John! The launch was a little dicey, but it was a good couple of days!!

[@creek_camper]

Awesome video as usual. Thanks for sharing. 😀👍

[@SouthernPaddler]

Thanks, brother! We had a good time on this trip, for sure!!

[@mountainsnmoore256]

Another great video from what is shaping up to be an awesome adventure! We were told by an old timer that was fishing close to Trader's Hill Campground on the St. Mary's River that back when the Europeans were still exploring and settling the area, before ships would leave for the journey back to Europe, they would sail as far up those tannin filled rivers as they could to fill all of their water barrels for the journey home. He claimed that the tannin prevented mold and such from growing in the water, thus keeping it safe for storage, for the long journey back across the Atlantic.

[@robjones8733]

Wow that is interesting. First thing I noticed about the Suwannee was the water looking like sweet tea from all the tannins. We stopped at the same campsite with the raised platforms, and one of the "about" posters they had posted were talking about paddlefish coming up the river to spawn, and jumping up to six feet out of the water. **new fear unlocked** lol

[@SouthernPaddler]

How cool is that! I wish I had filtered some of the Tannin water like Wes. I'm sure it couldn't have been any worse that Florida tap water...lol!! I did filter spring water and it was great!!

[@mountainsnmoore256]

@@SouthernPaddler We usually just carry water into the Swamp with us…of course we are just going for a couple of nights this time.

[@bammerbiff1621]

How to tell when you've crossed into FL...rain and bugs. Thanks for reminding me to pick up a spray skirt for my Pungo. I keep putting this off. Great content and narration. What a great resource those river camps are. Kudos for FL for making this available and free from what I understand.

[@SouthernPaddler]

Lol- for real!! I'm glad I took my bug net for my hammock! We sure don't need them in Alabama just yet!! :-D Thank you!!

[@robjones8733]

COMMMIT is a good word for the process of getting going 🙂

[@SouthernPaddler]

Yes!! Sometimes it's simply a decision!! :-)

[@OzarkMediaCo]

If Jerry's playing got you a copyright strike, he must sound like the real deal! 😅 I still can't wrap my head around the pace y'all keep up on most of your trips.

[@SouthernPaddler]

LOL- It was really good! I respect copyrights, but 2 minutes of a cover song smack in the middle of a 30-minute video isn't going to hurt them or benefit my monetization. It does take away from the great vibe we felt that night and probably hindered a few future Parrot-heads from hearing that song for the first time (A Pirate Looks at Forty). But, it's all software-driven and they're betting against the bad guys (er, "pirates"...lol) and they are our there. Oh well.

[@robjones8733]

Dawn's Yak looks fast! LOL Hippie Bridge 😆 Oh I remember seeing those giant swirls coming up under the water 😐 felt like they were pulling at my boat. This was my FIRST paddle, and I was in a Wenonah Rendezvous...it kept turning around and wanting to go backwards, so I finally just sat backwards in it and it was happier like that...beautiful boat but weird

[@SouthernPaddler]

Yes, that Necky Looksha IV was FAST! And probably the best boat of all of ours for that river. The first two days I lamented not taking my sit-inside kayak, but after day 3 I was used to and thankful that I wasn't stuck down inside a little boat!! LOL!! :-D

[@SouthernPaddler]

Oh, and I don't know that I've been on a river with such crazy current as the Suwannee!!!

[@robjones8733]

@@SouthernPaddlerwe can carry so much more gear than a yak. Our yak paddler is our lead scout, works well with us carrying all the coolers. 🙂

[@robjones8733]

@@SouthernPaddlerit was pretty weird, especially going around bends. 😵‍💫

[@michaelchrisman4179]

I believe that was a MSR water filter he was using.

[@SouthernPaddler]

I texted him after I saw your comment- he said it was. He think's it was the "Guardian".

[@michaelchrisman4179]

@@SouthernPaddler Yeah I think it was. Pricey stuff but it removes everything including viruses.

[@SouthernPaddler]

@michaelchrisman4179 OH wow. And it's simple and easy to operate!

[@michaelchrisman4179]

@@SouthernPaddler They are great filters, but you could make your Sawyer way easier to use than the MSR by turning it into a gravity filter. You would just need to buy a CNOC bag, some of the Sawyer adapters and a little clear hose. Fill the CNOC bag, attach the sawyer and the hoses and it will filter your water while you are setting up camp. There are numerous videos online to show you how.

[@SouthernPaddler]

@@michaelchrisman4179 Very cool!! Thanks, Michael!! 👍

[@yvetteconn8678]

Can’t copyright God’s melody of rainfall and thunder. He has the best music!

[@SouthernPaddler]

Agreed! Although God gave us music, too. As a matter of fact, music (played by soon-to-be-King David) was what cause Saul's evil spirit to leave him and give him some comfort (1 Samuel 16:23). I do have a video of just natural (and rain) sounds that's about an hour long from the Buffalo River in Tennessee. Good stuff!

[@3rin817]

Alapaha = Uh-lap-uh-ha

[@SouthernPaddler]

Oh wow - thanks. I only hear one other person say it (from a YT video) and apparently they said it wrong, too!! :-D

[@3rin817]

@@SouthernPaddler 😂 we're used to it. Glad y'all came for a visit. Enjoyed the videos.

[@SouthernPaddler]

@3rin817 Thank you - we had a blast!! I get it- I frequent a local waterway called "Cotaco Creek." No one ever gets it right and it doesn't sound like "calico." 🤣🤣

[@JOE-f6j4p]

Should have gone more north of that

[@SouthernPaddler]

👍