27 January – Juniper Springs to Crystal River

In the morning we hiked to Juniper Springs. It’s a pretty place, with a historic waterwheel and mill house that was used to generate electricity in the 1930s. The spring boil was deep and from the right angle we could see it is a small underwater cave.

We saw kayakers heading off downstream, but one of them was having trouble staying upright. The water was less than knee deep, so he wasn’t getting all that wet though.

We also walked a section of the Florida trail, through the forest, before packing up and heading out.

We had an uneventful drive South and across to the West coast of Florida to Crystal River. It took two tries to find a campsite as there is a Bluegrass festival in town for the weekend. Crystal River is where the main population of manatees hangs out in winter, the spring water is warmer than the rivers and lakes, so they head in for the warmth.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/s7tGN/28.89958N/82.625W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=28.89958,-82.625&ll=28.89958,-82.625&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1