Being
one of the few spots of dry land along the river,
Mosquito Island has been a stopping place on most of our
boat trips. We have camped out there, stopped to build
a fire and cook lunch on cold days, or just stopped to
get out and stretch our legs a bit and take a bathroom
break.
Michelle
took her kayak trip and her stories really made me want
to go camping. We decided we could get one weekend campout
in before the weather turned too hot. Bonnie was brave
enough to go with us, but other friends just said they
would come out the next day.
The
water was very, very low. The last time Judy and
I rode up the 192 canal we had barely made it, so I
didn't think we would be able to get the boat with two
us and all our camping gear down it. Bonnie dropped
me at my boat and drove all our gear to Camp Holly, and
with just me in the boat I was able to run down the canal
with little trouble.
Michelle
met us at Camp Holly, and met up with an airboater who
was nice enough to take her for a short airboat ride, and
even let her drive a little bit.
We soon
had our boats loaded, and the three of us set off to Mosquito
Island.
Click the arrows to see the photos.
We
cooked and ate our dinner, drank a couple of bottles
of wine and shared some river stories. I didn't
take any photos, but I think Michelle collected some
video evidence.
This is what night looks and sounds like in the marsh. The clicking sound
is my camera strap moving, and there is an airboat right at the end.
The lights are from my camera scanning past the lamps left burning in
our camp.
None
of us got a lot of sleep that night. Though we
stowed away all our food and put our trash bag up in
a tree, we were still 'racooned'. Racoons climbed the tree
and tore down our trash bag and also tried to get into
our food bins. Michelle's tent was on the platform that
the racoons were climbing over, and she spent a good part
of the night pounding on the platform to scare them away.
The girls also said I was
snoring loudly, but I think they lie.
The
next morning Michelle started the day
with a bath in the water just below the camping platform. A
very short while later we heard a loud, deep, growling
noise that I caught on video.
I left Michelle
and Bonnie at camp and went in to Sweetwater to pick
Judy up. The weatherman had promised clear weather
all weekend, but we kept getting scattered showers. Luckily
the weather was warm enough it didn't hurt us to get
sprinkled on.
In all my time on the river
I had never heard that sound before. It was a little scary!
With a cry
of "Danny Treanor don't know $#!*" we carried
on.
Judy and I picked up a load
of firewood on our way back to camp, and we all sat around
talking for a while. Since the water was down so low, we
all decided to take a hike along the levy.
Click the arrows
to see the photos.
It was a very dry
hike, but just a few weeks later we had a tropical
storm that filled the marsh with 4 foot of water
everywhere. The dirt trails we walked on this trip
we were able to ride my boat down, with plenty of
water to spare!
Everyone else
left and Bonnie and I spent a second night on the
island. We were so tired that even the
racoons couldn't keep us awake. The rascals are
very clever, and managed to not only get our trash
again, but also to pull out a plastic tub that
had corn on the cob in it. The tub had been turned
upside down and tucked firmly under the bench of
the picnic table, but in the morning all that was
left was the empty tub and a trail of plastic bags
and corn husks leading into the underbrush.
I really had a great
time, and only wish I had more friends who like to
camp!
