By Peter Clayton

Four years ago we paddled the uppermost portion of the With South soon after Hurricanes Irma and Matthew had blown through – it wasn’t a pretty sight, so we delayed returning. Fortunately, in the interim Clyde had been doing more research and found a couple of interesting sections so the planning commenced. 

Six of us (Bud, Theo, Steve, Craig, Ned and myself) made the trip, delaying it a day due to the rain forecast and staying in Bushnell just off I-75, a 2.25 hour drive. We arrived around 10:00 and were able to get into our rooms after which we decided to forgo lunch on the river from Subway, instead having a late breakfast at Darrell’s Diner as it was raining lightly but supposed to end by 1:00. Afterwards, we dropped Craig’s car at the pull-out under the SR 98 bridge and drove to the launch off a rough dirt road which caked the cars and trailers in mud. We posed for our group photo and were in the water by 1:10 – the rain had stopped, although the overcast remained, and the temps were in the high 50s – low 60s – wind wasn’t a factor because we were in a densely wooded area .

Our 5.2 mile paddle was in pristine natural surroundings for the first three miles along a fairly narrow, twisting route – delightful. While the water level was good, we wouldn’t have wanted it lower as we went over a pair of shoals that had 8″-10″ drops – one of which caused Steve to earn a Dunk Club sticker. Although there was some development in the last couple of miles it was sparse and the terrain continued to be dominated by cypress with knees often lining the banks. We pulled out at 3:15 and all enjoyed hot showers before reconvening for drinks in the lobby then dinner at Beef O’Brady’s which was literally steps away.

Day 2 began with some having a “big boy’s” breakfast at Darrell’s and others eating “light” at the motel – again no Subways lunch but eat post-paddle. A nearby car wash enabled Theo and Steve to remove yesterday’s mud especially from their trailers. Our paddle commenced at 10:10 and was 7.3 miles with excellent ramps featuring more open water interspersed with narrow parts and wind became a factor in the former, especially as it was in our faces. Cypress continued to dominate the shoreline and the bird life was amazing – both in numbers and variety. Like our first day, the initial 4-5 miles was totally natural with some homes appearing in the latter section all on the east side, many off canals which were probably dug out many years prior. We pulled out at 1:40 after a rest stop about halfway and lunched at Beef O’Brady’s followed by a visit to the Dade Battlefield Historic Site State Park a few miles away. Here a Seminole band of just over 100 defeated a similar sized U.S. Army contingent leading to the Seminole War – the grounds are beautiful with huge live oaks and the Visitor Center informative. Drinks and snacks substituted for dinner finishing off a most enjoyable day.

Day 3 began like Day 2, the big difference being sunshine and blue skies. We were in the water by 9:30 and out just before 1:00 with a 20 minute rest stop covering 7 miles. The route was mostly on open water, including two named lakes, and bird sightings were even more numerous including sand hill cranes – first time seen while paddling. Fortunately Theo and Craig had map access on their i-phones as there were several right-or-left decisions to make. Our rest stop bordered a cow pasture and the bovines found our arrival of interest – fortunately we avoided the “patties”. The pull-out included Paw-Paw’s, a general store which served food – clean plates all around. There are more sections of this river which look quite interesting and based on this outing, we’ll definitely explore them.

Photos by Theo Helms

Here’s a list of species seen on the With South over the three days.

Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Gallinule, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Tri Colored Heron, Wood Stork, Limpkin, Black Crowned Night Heron, Yellow Crowned Night Heron, Wood Ducks, Anhinga, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Sand Hill Crane, Red Billed Whistling ducks, White Ibis, Great Horned Owl, Black Vultures, Wild Turkey.

Obviously, I didn’t get photos of all of them but I got quite a few. And I may have not listed all the species but these are what I remember. It’s interesting, and quite surprising, that we found the variety of bird life on the With South….easily the most I’ve seen in all of our paddles. Especially noteworthy was he sheer number of Limpkins we saw. I’m guessing at lease 30 or so, and they were very vocal!

I’m sold on this great river and we have to return to try a few different paddles farther north!

Theo Helms