kayak lesson: Double Branch Creek

Nestled in the Upper Tampa Bay Park, is a kayaking treasure: Double Branch Creek. We recently explored their 6.5 mile water trail spanning fresh, brackish and saltwater. By joining up with Osprey Bay Outdoors, a local kayak company, we were able to navigate deep into the mangrove trails with no worrys about getting lost. The Hillsborough County-run park even has a nature center adjacent to the kayak/canoe launch. Here we are at the launch entrance.

We were fortunate to have a friendly group of kayakers on the trip with us and a pair of knowledgable and goofy guides made it fun too...

Along the way, we spotted crabs, racoons, fish, many bird species, including the oh-so-tall Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) seen here:

KAYAK LESSON: invest in some kayaking gloves. It was the first 6.5 mile trail I completed and I earned the blisters on my hands to prove it. Ouch. One of the guides (thanks, Demetri!) graciously let me borrow his kayaking gloves for the return paddle. After all, there is no whining on the water :)

Yakin: Lagoon (part 1)

Many months ago, our neighbors told us a tale of a canoe trip where they discovered a lagoon hidden in the nearby mangrove preserve. We never forgot this story. After bringing home Inti & Paxi (our new yaks), we knew we would seek out this lagoon. This weekend, we packed up the yaks and set out on that quest...
M. had a rough start getting into his kayak. He lost his balance and SpLoOsH!

Undaunted, we continued. Within a few minutes, we were deep amidst the mangrove waterways...

We hadn't gotten too far before the water level became too low to paddle. After anchoring the yaks, we hiked on foot...right alongside birdy footprints...

Finally, we arrived at the mouth of the mysterious sparkling lagoon. We felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie. A great heron sailed past the entry, surely inviting us in...

But as we tried to hike (wade) those last few steps, we sank into the muck -- up to our knees. Rather than risk losing our favorite Keens (or worse), we decided to turn back and have lunch at our newest and most favorite bar: the sandbar...

Although we didn't make it INTO the mysterious lagoon, we did find it. M. says the trip was a success because we had fun. I say it was a success because we made some new friends, pictured here:

So, will we ever get to swim in the mysterious lagoon? We sure hope so.

To be continued...

(ka)Yak Attack

Welcome home kayaks. We hemmed. We hawed. We won't ever look back. Our local kayak retailer Wind-n-Watersports made our 1st kayak purchase ez-peazy. We have simple needs, but we love all the little details we got: self-bailing, sit-on-top style, with a bungeed cargo area for storage, paddle rests on both sides, fold-down seat backs, and cup holders -- we luv us sum cup holders. They nest for ez storage and they ride oh-so-smoov. We named 'em Paxi (moon) and Inti (sun).

This weekend, we launched our new kayaks from the dock...

And we were off on an adventure yakin' to Old Tampa Bay...

Where we discovered a sandbar along the edge of a mangrove preserve...

And enjoyed a private sunset that made us smile for miles...