St Johns River 12.25.15

Jim was up before daylight ...again...and had coffee made. It was very foggy but we felt we could follow our back track across Lake George, so we had our coffee on the rear deck and then hooked up the running lights and headed out.

It was not as easy as we though...but we made it. By the time we got to the "gates" at the S end of the lake the fog was rising and we could see both sides of the river.  

We decided to go down Blue Creek...it is narrow and much easier to judge where you are in the creek.

Back out on the river and the sun came out....along with the gators and turtles.

 This one is a pretty good sized gator....notice the turtle sunning behind him..

 Here is another view....there are 3 more...two on the same log and one small on in the lower L corner on a branch.

 These turtles were sharing the same log....this seems to be normal for them.

 I really like this guy or gal....very large one. See how thick the tail is at the base...and you cant even see the whole tail.

 Here is another big one...see how wide the head and back are.

 This one is a bit smaller.

 Here is another view....he is also sharing with a couple turtles...he might be 5'.... long tail but no width to the legs.

 This one is also about 6 or 7 feet.

 Another big one...

 and another good sized one.....wont tell you were we saw them on the river ...would hate to see them hunted.

 A nice one but not as big as the one before or after.   Kind of a unique way of sunning.

 I was surprised at how many big gators we saw...but Jim figures it's because they had not had any sun for 3 days.

 Almost missed this little guy...he's pretty well hidden.

 another good one.

 and another.

 Love the view here....the river has so many neat places. We try to see all the backwaters we can and all side creeks.

 Now this is the way to travel in a kayak....he even had the wind at his back.

We came home a few days early but at least I got to spend Christmas Eve on the water....Jim has some work to do on the boat and then we'll try for a trip in March....lots of other stuff going on until then.
I do love being on the water and never tire of seeing gators...today was one of the best days. I don't remember seeing so many big gators.