Kayaking: Hillsborough River, Tampa, FL

[singlepic id=144 w=320 h=240 float=right]The Hillsborough River has to be one of the great rivers to companion kayak.  Last Tuesday we did Trip 1 with Canoe Escape.  There remains Trip 2, 3 and 4.  However, Trip 1 is through a prime evil swamp with lots of Alligators, turtles and birds. I think we counted 50 Alligators on our 4.5 mile trip.  The picture is one of the many we saw.

The day was the best of the trip.  Temperature 75° ,light winds, full Florida sun with river canopy providing about 40% shade.  What else could a kayaker ask for?  Not much.  There was a slow current that added 1/2kt to the trip so paddling was very light and tide was not a factor.  Normally the current is less but since we had so much rain it was running higher.  However, it was very easy to paddle against the current as required.

We stopped about 2/3 of the way through the trip on a piece of higher ground on the shaded side for lunch.  We had [singlepic id=145 w=320 h=240 float=left]a  meal of hummus,  sausage wrapped in a corn meal tortilla and pretzels.  The shady side was used to avoid the Alligators on the sunny side of the river.  After lunch we encountered a canoe coming upstream with a man/lady who seemed to be confused as to direction to go.  We said to turn around and follow the current and so they did.  It seemed like our two boats were the only ones on the river.

A great day, in great company and on a great river.  I am blessed!