Dance After Dark Photography

Alternate title: Black bears can climb high!

Today I met up with Shelley, whom I met through the Wilderness Trekkers message board. WT is a group that organizes hikes, kayak trips, etc. in Central Florida, and members post on the board for slightly less organized outings. Shelley is a science teacher with the summer off, so we took the opportunity to paddle the Wekiva. Shelley’s a bit younger than my mom, and she said she’s been kayaking for 9-10 years.

We put in at the Wekiva Marina of Miami Springs Road in Apopka. I prefer sandy beaches, but we both managed to enter our kayaks from the concrete boat ramp without going overboard. Shelley’s kayak is a Hobie sit-on-top model with very shallow draft and built-in stowage. I’m a little jealous of her cubbyholes, but I still like my Pamlico.

We paddled downstream until threatening storm clouds and ominous thunder made us turn around. I’d guess we went about a mile with the current before heading back. The storm seemed less immediate once we were headed south again, so we paddled up past Rock Springs Run and almost to the Wekiva Springs State Park entrance. In the shallows near the run, we came across a gaggle of people staring up into a tree. Turns out there was a black bear up near the top of the tree - much higher up than I’d have ever expected! The leaves made it tough to get a clear view, but he moved a few times and I clearly saw the outline of his head & ears. I thought it would be a cub because he’d climbed so high, but he looked full-grown.

That was quite a treat. I’ve seen black bears two other times - once in Ocala on a camping trip, and once on the side of the road heading to Mount Dora. There was a third time when I was a kid on a family vacation to Cherokee, NC. That bear was in a cage, though. Not at all the same. I keep forgetting how small they are. I think bear, and I think grizzly. You’ll never see something that big down here. Even our deer are only the size of big dogs.

After a few particularly loud peals of thunder, we decided to head back. We saw the bear again as we passed the shallows just north of Rock Springs Run, and Shelley spotted a young alligator sunning himself on a log, nearly hidden by some elephant ears. He was probably about 4 feet long - very small in comparison with some of the others I’ve seen.

Getting out was much easier than getting in. Wekiva Marina maintains a carpeted dock for their canoe rentals. Shelley got up there with minimal trouble, and I used one of the side rails to pull myself out of the kayak. That was certainly more dignified than struggling to stand up on a beach with legs gone partially numb from so much sitting.

We had a very pleasant trip. Maybe 3 miles total, just over an hour and a half. Fitlinxx says that’s 1092 calories. Now I’m off to the store. I’m making chicken & black bean quesadillas for dinner tonight.

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