We put in at Ray Wayside Park
Had a wonderful paddle up river to the State Park.
Stopped for lunch and a Restroom break and met another nice kayaker who was waiting for his friends.
We then continued on our way and scored with a few Gator sightings!
We were seeing plenty of fish and turtles and birds along the way as well!
We finally reached the Spring where the Glass Bottom boats give their tours.. Be prepared to avoid them and give them the right of way. We did get a chance to look at the area they give the tours on though.
We then took the “Fort King” Paddling Trail on our way back. They actually have a section of the river restricted for the Park to store their boats etc, which thanks to Emmy misinterpreting we got to see. Her feeling was, that the Restricted just meant that we were not allowed to land anywhere there. Turns out, nope, that whole area is restricted.
We had the river almost completely to ourselves on the way back. The sky had darkened a bit and it had cleared out. We stopped at the 2 Mile Mark from the park, which has the porta-potty and the metal ramp to pull up on. It also happened to be where we got to see the monkeys!
It completely made the trip! Any wildlife we get to see is always awesome, but getting to see wild monkeys is the entire reason people go to Silver Springs. This was probably one of the more interesting paddles we have taken recently.
