Kayak Canoe Florida

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Hillsborough River - Trout Creek

February 11, 2007

Linda and I drove over to 1-75 north to the Fowler St exit, then left to the entrance to Trout Creek County Park. This a pretty spot for a picnic, which we took advantage of after getting off of the water. There is also plenty of trails for mountain biking or hiking around the area.

We put in around 11:00 AM on a beautiful, calm, 65 degree sunny morning. We turned up the Hillsborough and almost immediately found the mouth of Trout Creek on the left. It was a narrow passage with little current and tucked in under a full canopy of Cypress and Palm trees. In only 100 meters we came upon our first large gator, about 10 feet, sunning on the bank. There were not too many shore birds as the creek was very narrow. About another half mile in, we came across another big one, probably 12 feet this time, who reluctantly thrashed into the water as we passed by. We traveled in about 1.3 miles before we came to a blockage and the creek narrowed to about the length of our tandem kayak. After exiting Trout Creek, we turned up Hillsborough again and with a much wider river, began to see an abundance of shore birds. The highlight was following a group of four Roseate Spoonbills into a shallow spot, where Linda was able to get some good pictures. She also clicked on Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, White Ibis, Limpkins, Vultures, Anhingas, Cormorants and a couple more gators out sunning as well. It was a great paddle, one we will take visitors on when anyone comes down that wants to get out into a beautiful habitat.

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