Time for another kayak outing, this time in the mangroves of the Loxahatchee River. We put in from a sandy parking lot in Riverside Park. California beaches should be this white.

For a short time, we paddled alongside the park banks, soon coming alongside a local kayak rental and tour operator. It was a Friday, but I hoped we were out early enough to avoid other paddlers.

Once past the park, the vegetation was dense and the silence serene. I thought how lovely it would be if we had such places to kayak near our home.

Less than an hour in, we reached one of two shallow dams that require crossing. A hard-bodied kayak can easily "run the rapids" here, but we were concerned about invisible rocks or rough edges on our boat bottoms, so we got out of the boats and Mike carried them across the bridge to the other side. For me, it was enough work just getting out and back in. *Sigh*.

Soon we were in the heart of the mangroves. Around every turn was a new foreign landscape of dead, twisted roots intertwined with giants still standing.

The river gradually became shallower and shallower, the gravel bottom clearly visible. Soon it was more than just visible; we were dragging the bottoms of our kayaks in only a few inches of water. I suggested to Mike it was time for portage, but before I could even think about getting out of my boat, Mike was on his feet dragging his boat, my boat, and me for 30 yards or so until we reached deeper water. Before we took off again, Mike took a gander at the mussel shells that littered the shallow bottom.

I was disappointed that we weren't seeing much wildlife, but at least there were lots of turtles sunning on the many branches protruding from the water. Like true Floridians, they held their ground as we slid quietly by their perches.

The serenity was broken when we encountered a small group of paddlers (using the term loosely) and had to navigate past them in a narrow turn. No small feat, as they didn't really know how to control their boats. Am I a kayak snob, you ask? Yes. Yes, I am. Get off my lawn, er, river!

We found a small beach where we could ground the boats and have lunch. Mike put his bicycle pump to work on my deflated seat cushion.

Lunch break over, we resumed our trek. Mike enjoyed documenting my traverse of a particularly tricky deadfall. I definitely needed a shorter paddle for this one! It slowed me down enough that a chatty group behind us caught up. After I got through, we stopped and let them pass. Peacefulness restored.

A short time later, we reached the second dam; this was our turnaround point. Mike led the way back so I could photograph him for a change.

After an hour of floating downstream -- the current was our friend on the return trip -- we reached the first dam. While waiting my turn to get out onto the bridge, I watched another paddler negotiate the small waterfall in his boat.

It was only a short trip back to the park where we left our car. We'd had the lovely Loxahatchee almost to ourselves for over four hours. If only I could import such a river to northern California!