Peace River, Hardee County Florida, Bone Valley Formation, Hawthorn Group.
I was happily snoozing away at 5:30am when my cellphone received a text message saying Josh was on his way to come pick me up. I had about 15 minutes to get ready and the thermometer said a chilly 56F. I put on some an extra layer of clothes under my usual cargo shorts and t-shirt and waited for him to arrive. We were heading back to our favorite honey holes at Secret Location X - a secluded spot along the Peace that is flanked by large stretches of private property that we have permission to use. There are no public ramps or access points for miles in either direction, so we rarely see anyone else while we are out there. No highway noise, no houses along the bank, no barking dogs, nothing - just the way I like it.
By the time we arrived, the temp had risen a few degrees and was about 60F. The last remnants of the morning fog were lifting and the air was filled with the sounds of nature - birds and wind in the trees. We loaded up the kayaks and launched downstream to head to our usual spot which has produced mammoth teeth, numerous megalodon teeth, and a wide assortment of mammal bones and teeth. On our way downriver, we spotted a group of 3 or 4 hawks overhead who screeched in protest of our presence. I had never seen hawks in a group like that and I am not sure what type they were. We also saw numerous turkey vultures and the usual herons and cranes. A lone Robin looking for a meal on the bank looked a little out of place. Gator activity appeared to be minimal and we only spotted two small juveniles who stayed on the bank and ignored us as we passed.
There is a side creek that we always pass and say to ourselves - "We need to check that out one day.". The last time we came here, we stopped to check it out. As soon as Josh put the nose of his kayak into the creek mouth, a group of baby alligators appeared from the brush and they ran up inside a hollow under a tree rootball. Knowing that Mama was nearby, we decided to abandon the side creek and move on. Now, a few weeks later, we decided to try the creek again. Josh let me do the honors of going in first this time. With a wary eye for the nest, I headed into the creek mouth. No gators were evident, so we got out and started walking up the creek. The water was only inches deep, but the silty bottom was very loose and you could easily sink in to your knees in spots, so we walked along the bank.
The creek snaked around and doubled-back on itself a few times. Trees and roots made constrictions in the flow which resulted in tiny waterfalls which made that pleasant "babbling brook" sound. I wished I had brought my camera, which was still in my backpack in the kayak. As it turned out, there wasn't much in that creek worth taking photos of. The banks were shallow and there was almost no gravel or spots that looked promising for fossils. After following it about 100 yards inland, hacking our way through the underbrush, leaping across to opposite banks, we decided to cut our losses and get back to the kayaks. We didn't find a single fossil in that creek.
We headed back downstream to our usual spot and started searching. Josh was crawling along the bottom with his snorkel and mask. I was walking in a "Sanibel Stoop" that I use during shelling at the beach, stopping to reach into holes and turn over rocks. I had the sifter trailing behind me and I would throw handfuls of gravel into it. I found a few of the usual common things like small shark teeth, antler pieces, dugong rib pieces, and turtle shell. I never like to go home empty handed, so I always keep the first few dozen pieces I find, no matter how common or incomplete they might be, so those pieces went into my bag. Josh found a couple of tiny megs and some fragolodons, but the spot was otherwise unproductive - I think we have tapped it out on previous trips. So we decided to head further south downstream to some newer areas we have only scouted briefly.
The trip downstream was pretty long and we went around a lot of bends. There was lots of sandy bottom that didn't have any gravel or crunch to it. A couple of miles downstream and we arrived at a small island we had scouted previously. There is a fork in the river there with exposed limestone bed and some gravel. So we got out and started looking around. Right off the bat I found two big chunks of bone. One appeared to be some kind of odd vertebra or thick scute of some kind. I put it in the bag and kept looking. I found a small vert that is likely alligator and a few more of the usual common things - some of which I tossed back to lighten my load. Josh did a small bit of snorkeling but didn't find much. By this point we were pretty tired (I was feeling a bit under the weather from the start), so we decided to call it a day and head back.
This is where the trip became a little more interesting for me. The current was deceptive on the way downstream, and now that we were going back against it upstream, it was more work than I had anticipated. Both of us were having to work pretty hard during stretches. There were also a lot of obstacle courses to run - fallen trees that made choke points in numerous spots where one had to "thread the needle" to get through, or get out and walk the kayaks through. I was beginning to regret going so far downstream at this point and just wanted to get back to familiar territory where we could stop and take a break.
On the way back, we were nearing the spot with many fallen trees and shallow spots. One particular area, there was a narrow gap between the bank and a fallen tree, and the water in that gap was only about 10-12 inches deep. Right before and right after the gap was deeper water.
On our way downstream through it, I got wedged and had to get out of the kayak, walk it through and then get back in. Now that we were heading back upstream, we were nearing that stretch, and I was very tired from paddling against the current. I was just about gassed and was looking for a spot to pull the kayak up on the bank and take a brief rest. I was approaching a bend and the narrow gap was on the other side of it.
As I come around the bend, I see a big adult gator on the bank (10+ feet) and he slips into the water just as I approach. He/She is in the deeper water just before the gap and I cannot see it because the water is black as coffee and in the shade where the sun cannot illuminate that spot.
I don't like it when gators do that. I prefer them to stay on the bank and give me the stink eye as I paddle by. So now I am tired, almost out of breath, and in a spot where I cannot stop because I want to put some distance between myself and that beast. I also know that there is a pretty good chance that I might not be able to get through that gap and might be stuck right next to the lurking unseen gator.
So I summoned the last of my strength and starting paddling like a man possessed. I built up a head of steam and just blasted my way forward and threaded the needle, right through the gap.
I still couldn't rest, because I wanted to put more distance between myself and it. So I kept paddling until I thought I was going to pass out. It wasn't fear so much as prudence. Chances are, the gator had already retreated into deeper water in the opposite direction because they are more scared of us than we are of them. But I wasn't taking any chances.
Josh was a bend or two behind me, so he didn't even see the gator, or hear my warning shout. I was hoping he wouldn't have to get out and walk it through that gap and get death-rolled.
We finally got back to our very first spot, where I decided to rest. I pulled the kayak out and plopped down onto the bank to catch my breath. After a few minutes, Josh came around the bend and I told him about the gator. We had a laugh about it and he did some more brief searching while I panted and heaved on the bank like a 90-year old man with asthma. After about 15 minutes, we paddled back to the car with our meager haul.
After I got home and laid it all out, I saw that the weird vert-scute thing was actually more interesting than I had thought. It had a weird pattern on it and didn't resemble any piece I had found previously. So I snapped a couple of photos of it and asked a more experienced hunter to ID it for me. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a ground sloth vertebra. I am now quite pleased because I found something I have not previously found. I was due for something unusual and I got it. In hindsight, there was quite a bit of "chunkasaurus" in that same spot where I found the sloth vert, so that spot is worth revisiting in the future - just in case there is more of that sloth there. :)
Original photos by Michael Gilmer (Galactic Stone)