Kayaking Rainbow River

As usual, we awoke between 5 and 6 am. We enjoyed hearing the barred owl in a tree near the canal. We would look for the small flock of ibis that parades through yards in the neighborhood later in the day.

We had a quick bagel and breakfast beverages before taking the dogs on their walk through the Mason Creek neighborhood. The walk was uneventful until a dog aggressively ran toward us putting Jade into a very defensive position. It was all I could do to hold her back since she would have seriously injured the dog. The owner came out and quickly removed his dog, apologizing for the incident. As we continued our walk, the dog owner’s wife saw us and apologized again for the dog’s behavior. While we walked, Cindy pointed out a powder puff tree that looks like a mimosa and a Chinese perfume tree that is reputed to cure any number of ailments and afflictions.

We returned to the house for a breakfast of assorted cereals and yogurt then we started preparing for kayaking on the Rainbow River. It took Mark and me a good while to get the kayaks and gear loaded since we had used the other pickup last year. We were able to get the two Cresent kayaks, four seats, paddles, life jackets, water bottles and lunch packed in the pickup. The drive to Dunnellon was short, and we were able to get the gear unloaded quickly at the drop-off point. Like last year, we started at the river access at the bridge across from Swampy’s Restaurant. When we were here last year, we paddled upstream on the Rainbow River as far as the KP Hole, which is about 3.5 miles from put-in spot. We decided to try to reach the head spring where the river started about 1.5 miles beyond the KP Hole for a trip that was to be 5 miles each way. We knew that we would be paddling upstream for the first half of the trip, but we felt up to it.

Wood ducks on the Rainbow River

We were pleased that there were no other boats launching when we arrived at the put-in area around 10:30. We installed the seats, assembled the paddles, and stowed the gear on the boats quickly. Packaged snacks and disposable drink bottles and cans are not permitted on the river, so we packed our snacks in reusable containers and filled our Nalgene type water bottles. We paddled under the bridge, past Swampy’s Restaurant and the huge inflatable rubber duck as we traveled upstream. We were fighting the current and looking forward to the return trip downstream. We passed several other canoes, paddleboards and kayaks of all kinds as we went up the Rainbow River. We saw hundreds of turtles of several species many of which were over 24 inches in length. We saw at least six otters in the river and lots of wood ducks, moorhens, egrets and herons. We were able to get very close to everything since we were floating quietly in the kayaks and were not perceived as a threat to the wildlife. We took a 30-minute break at the KP Hole Park where it was nice to stretch our legs and have a snack. Our arms were getting pretty tired from the 3.5-mile upstream paddle.

After the break we continued upstream for 1.5 miles to the springs where the Rainbow River begins, arriving at 1:30 pm. We paddled around the swimming area then started downstream. Our happiness to be floating downstream was very short lived since a strong wind had picked up blowing upstream. The paddling back downstream was much more difficult than fighting the current going upstream. We passed KP Hole Park without stopping, continuing on toward the ramp where we put in this morning. By the time we neared the launch the wind was very strong. When we paddled under the Rt. 484 bridge, the wind was blowing us backward despite our furious paddling. We finally caught a lull in the wind and made it to the ramp where we loaded the boats on the pickup and stowed the gear in the bed and cab.

We drove the short distance to Swampy’s Restaurant where we were able to get a table right away. Mary had water and Cindy had an Arnold Palmer. Mark and I ordered draft beers, but both of them were almost room temperature. Mark reordered a bottled beer, and I stayed with water. Mary’s dinner was fish & chips, Cindy had a reuben with sweet potato fries, Mark had red beans and rice with andouille sausage. My dinner was shrimp etouffee but was more like sauteed shrimp over white rice. There was none of the sauce that is part of etouffee, but the meal was good none the less.

We made a quick stop at Harbor Freight on the way home to get gloves to use on the next kayaking trip. After paddling for 10 miles, all of us had sore hands and wished for gloves.

When we returned to the house we unloaded the kayaks, stacking them beside the garage rather than putting them away since we guessed that we would be out in them later in the week. For dessert we ate the buckeyes that we brought from Rural King and found our way to bed early since we were very tired from our day.