A Beginner ’ s Guide
words & photography by Katherine Russell
Iremember that I feared the mullet .
Twelve years of age , with a lifejacket strapped to my shoulders , my fingers curled around a two-bladed paddle , and a tremor running through my wrists , I sat in a kayak for the first time in my life and feared that the silver-gray mullet fish would jump directly from the murky waters of the Wakulla River straight into my lap .
The day was sunny , a morning in early summer in the panhandle of Florida , and already hot by 10 o ’ clock . My mother and I were out on the water together . The event has receded far enough into the past that I can no longer recall the impetus for the trip , though considering both my mother and myself are lovers of the outdoors , perhaps she was simply of a mind to introduce me to a new way of being in nature . Whatever the case , the short trip I took those 14 years ago , that morning of shaking hands which gradually led to an afternoon of growing confidence , was enough to bring the flow of the love of rivers and all waterways into my life . Since then I have made a somewhat formal study of ecology , touched the waters on both sides of this continent , and spent two months as a kayak guide before my employment was routed by the pandemic . Through it all I have been returning to the Wakulla every year , often many times a year , very often with my mother , the one who introduced me to the place and carried me past my initial fears with her words of encouragement . In this article I will seek to lift my voice with a similar tone as I invite you to the two Floridian rivers I know best , in the hopes that you and those you love
The public boat ramp at the Wacissa River offers space for wading and swimming , even if one doesn ’ t have opportunity to kayak on a given day . will discover in them your own path to beauty and wonder .
Of the two , the Wakulla is my bestknown , my earliest-loved . From the boat ramp at the Gretchen Evens Memorial Bridge along Highway 98 , where an outfitter called T-n-T Hideaway is located , one may paddle upstream along the river for three miles under sunlight and cypress canopy before reaching another bridge , and just beyond it a fence that marks the boundary of Wakulla Springs State Park . Beyond the fence a ways lies the source of the river : the beautiful springs protected by the state park , the reason why the water becomes so clear , so pristine as one paddles northwards . For the average paddler , the trip to the bridge and back will take four hours ; if
JUNE 2023 MoultrieScene 67