Alex and I took advantage of our days off, camped at Palmetto State Park, and ran 12.4 miles of the San Marcos River from River Bend RV Park to Palmetto State Park. The river was flowing at a good 300 CFS. The trip took us 4 hours with lunch. Alex paddled a Jackson Kayak Liska and I paddled my JK Coosa HD. We saw many Red-Shouldered Hawks, Great Blue Herons, Green Kingfishers, Belted Kingfishers, a Pileated Woodpecker, Mallard Ducks, Cormorants, Caracara, Killdeer, Black Vultures, Cardinals, and more. We saw several wild hogs, a Diamondback Watersnake, and cattle! Overall, this would be a river trip for intermediate and higher skilled mainly because of 12 + mile length and Son of Ottine Rapid, which could be portaged. Scout the Palmetto SP bridge take-out before you put-in. It can be dangerous if you don’t have a good exit plan set up to avoid the fast water going under it. For this trip, we lost Evelyn to the Round Top Antique Show she attended with friends – oh, the choices we make. But, we all had great days off!
