My kayaking partner, we’ll call her KC (short for “Kayak Cutie”), bought a Wilderness Systems Pamlico 100 today. No more renting for this duo! We picked up her boat right when the place opened, which was about an hour and a half after we THOUGHT the place opened. Perkins breakfast for the win!
After loading up on noms and boats, we headed for Katie’s Landing, excited to get out onto the river. Katie’s Landing is a NICE launch site. You’re able to drive right up to the water to unload. No powerboats are permitted to launch here. The only fee is a small parking fee, on the honor system. There are restroom facilities and a drink vending machine on site as well.
The weather forecast was pretty awful. Small craft advisory, 100% chance of thunderstorms. We pressed on and figured we’d play it by ear.
We dropped in and headed south, upstream. Because of the weather, and the fact that we hadn’t launched from this location, we didn’t really have a plan other than to paddle upstream until we felt like turning back. The weather cooperated – it was gorgeous. What surprised me the most about this part of the Wekiva is how WIDE it is, compared to the Wekiwa Springs and Wekiva Island areas. We spotted plenty of birds and lots of jumping fish, which startled KC every single time. I was QUITE amused at this.
We ventured past lots of houses (jealous!), under the bridge at 46, and ended up about 3 miles up the river at a KOA Campground, where we headed back because I got nervous about some dark clouds in the sky. It rained lightly for maybe 2 minutes, but other than that, the weather was perfect.
After I got home and offloaded the routes from the GPS, I realized that we turned around just shy of the Seminole Wekiva Trail and the conservation areas. Houses flanked most of our trip this time, had we gone just a little further it would have been all nature. That disappointed me a bit, but there’s always next time. It’s still an awesome trip.
Definitely will be launching from Katie’s Landing again. Thinking about working out the logistics for a one-way paddle from Wekiva Island to Katie’s Landing, in the future.
Here’s the map of the trip. We paddled a total of around 7 miles.
