Cedar Key

Unlike other coastal regions, where civilization crowds shoulder-to-shoulder along the shore, like lemmings amassing for their the mythical plunge into the sea, nature still rules along Florida's Big Bend area - a.k.a. the central Gulf coast.


The meeting place for this trip is about 1 hour W of Gainesville.
The cost is $50 per person. ($39 for "wanna go" members). With your own boat it's $35 per person. ($25 for members).

Calendar of Tour dates: www.adventureoutpost.net

 

Description

 

 It’s a low, wet country where the "shore line" defies definition, ever-changing, shrinking and expanding, with the ebb and flow of tides.

 

Island hopping

Driving west toward Cedar Key, you hardly notice the slow drop in elevation - only about a foot per mile as you approach the coast. Leaving the pine flat-woods and sandy, scrub ridges, you notice the roadside ditch has become wetter and is filled with a beautiful assortment of wetland plants. You'll also notice that the pine forest has given way to hardwood swamp, loaded with bays and red maples.

 

Nearing the Gulf, a gust of warm air, heavily perfumed with sea-salt, tells you you're getting close. Another bend in the road and you're treated to one of the rarest of Florida offerings - a wide-open vista. The forest ends unnoticed as your gaze is drawn away to vast expanses of salt marsh, scattered islands and open water stretching to the horizon. 

 

The hundreds of little islands that line this watery coast, range in size from barren, half acre sand-spits to bonafide, mile-wide islands. For the curious explorer who's not in a hurry, the complex, species-rich communities that crowd these islands never get boring. And, if you lose track of time and suddenly find that you've run out of daylight (I'm speaking from experience here), that's not so bad either. As dusk settles and the the only sound you hear is the breeze, you look out to see the silhouettes of palms, wind-gnarled oaks, pines and mangroves cast against a smoldering sun. It's the stuff of dreams - a place where all the world is right.

 

In 1867, naturalist John Muir described Cedar Key as being "surrounded by scores of other keys, many of them looking like a clump of palms, arranged like a tasteful bouquet, and placed in the sea to be kept fresh. Others have quite a sprinkling of oaks and junipers, beautifully united with vines. Still others consist of shells, with a few grasses and mangroves circled with a rim of rushes." Wildlife watching is great in this area - especially for birders.

 

 

 

Dolphin! (no, Marie, not a shark)

Wildlife

 

Pelicans (brown and white), osprey, cormorants, gulls, oystercatchers, skimmers and a dizzying menagerie of plovers and waders will keep your binoculars hoisted. We often see bottle-nosed dolphins on this trip, as well as rays and other fish.

 

 

 

History

 

In addition to its richness of wildlife, the Cedar Key area has many archaeological sites. When the earliest Floridians arrived nearly 12,000 years ago, their lives revolved around following the roaming herds of huge Ice Age mammals, such as mammoths and mastodons. But as warming temperatures brought an end to the Ice Age, so too went the so-called "megafauna", and the Indians were forced to change their eating habits and life-style.

 

About 2,000 - 3,000 B.C., seafood began to dominate the diet and permanent villages were established on the higher ridges near the Gulf coast. Central to their diet, were shellfish, proof of which is seen in the many large shell middens, or mounds, where generations of villagers tossed their table scraps - mostly oyster and mussel shells. These middens are found on the nearby mainland and on many of these islands, including some which we will explore on this trip.

 

During the Second Seminole War (1835 - '42) Seahorse Key, near Cedar Key, was the location of a military hospital and  a detention center where Indians were kept before being shipped west to the Indian Territories. After Florida became a State, the U.S government built a lighthouse on the island. Later, during the Civil War, it was used by the Union Army as a military prison.

 

On nearby Atsena Otie island, the army built a supply depot during the Second Seminole War. Over a century later, in the wake of the Civil War, a large mill was built on the island, where much of the area's vast stands of cedar trees were buzzed into pencils and shipped to distant ports. The town's population grew to nearly 300 before the mill was shut down and a hurricane destroyed most of the homes. On days when our journey brings us to this little island, we enjoy a short hike to the old grave yard where we find the graves of some notable characters including a pirates family, politicians and mill workers. On other days we head for different islands where we explore an old home site, abandoned early in the 1900's, where we learn about many of the local wild plants and how they were used by the Indians and settlers.

 

 

Highlights

 

In addition to being a haven for all sorts of water birds and interesting sea life, this trip's open waters and the chance to do a bit of beach combing are a nice change of pace from our inland excursions.

 

 

Difficulty

 

This is usually a relatively easy paddle on open water with little wave action as we cross between several barrier islands. However, if it's a breezy day, it can be moderately strenuous with a light chop. If it gets to be more than a light chop, we won't go out.


Questions or reservations: e-mail - riverguide2000@yahoo.com , or call   (386) 454-0611