This park is less than an hour from our house, but for some reason we had never camped there. So when we were at the poker run, Reed and Sandy said that they were camping at HRSP at the end of July. So we thought hey it was time to check this place out. With reservation made, Kevin, I and Sammie headed out July 30th, just a weekend trial. My Dad decided to get a site and join us.
We were a little surprise on the short sites, but happy that they were wide. The only problem with our site was that the utility posts were almost in the middle of the back of the lot…the trailer could not hide them. I ended up putting our trash can there to try to hide the ugly site, it help some. But we were only there for the weekend, so we can put with it.
We just about got all set up when Reed, Sandy and their friend stopped by for a quick visit and stated that they were heading to the pool if we wanted to join. But we wanted to get the site set up on passed on the offer…good thing they later told us that the water was like bath water and did not stay long. They threw their boats in for a before dinner paddle instead.
Kevin and I got the site set up and took off on our bikes for a long bike ride, checking out the campgrounds. It was a nice bike ride and when got back we were a soaking wet from the sweat. The one thing we did not give consideration of was the heat…and dang it was hot. Once we got back from the bike ride, I collected Sammie from Grandpa’s trailer and we headed for the air conditioned trailer and took a little nap.
Around 6pm, I decided the already cooked ribs I brought for dinner could be heated up over the fire. Kevin and Dean got a fire going while I started to prepare dinner. Dinner was wonderful and the evening was beautiful. We did have busy and noisy neighbors…lots of kids…but they settled in early. We had a nice fire, but keep moving our seats away as it was too hot to even enjoy one. Reed, Sandy and Donna stopped by, and Donna sat on the picnic bench right on top of a mosquito coil that I had moved from the ground after dinner. She did not see it but boy did she feel it. So needless to say this became a joke for the rest of the weekend. I am glad to report there was no injury. We all made plans to meet up for a morning paddle, except Sammie and Grandpa they were going to stay behind.
There are two places to put in you boat, one a couple spots down from where we camp and the main one by the pool. The one by the pool was closer for the other group to put in. Kev and I put in by our campsite and there was a big gator hanging around in the general area, about 20’ feet or so from where we put in. So I grabbed my camera and took aim, snap…huh, no battery, no disk…hmmm. Setting back on my computer desk at home was the battery and disk; so no picture of the kayak trip. So we paddled up to meet the group and that is where we met Paul. Paul was waiting to meet up with a group, Big D, or Don Thompson. We had just talked to Don and he said that he had cancelled the trip since no-one signed up. We told Paul this and he went and called Don who felt terrible that he missed Paul sign up for this trip. So we invited Paul to join us on our paddle. Paul was very new at kayaking and very appreciative of the offer. So with our new friend off we went.
The Hillsborough River is a beautiful river to paddle; with lots of wild life to enjoy and the water was so cool. The water level was up due to lots of rain we have been having and we had a nice current that made the paddle easy but we had to account for the fact that we had to paddle against the current going back. Everyone in the group was newbie at kayaking, except Kev and me so we keep on eye on the rest of the group. We paddled about an hour when we decided we needed to land somewhere take a break and head back. The river was not providing many spots to stop so I paddled a little ahead looking for a landing spot. I looked to my left, about 11o’clock from the bow of my boat was big gator…he was about 10’ away from me and swimming the same direction. He realized that I was there and quickly took off under water, then came back up about 5’ later, swimming in a straight line, so he was still 10’ feet off my bow and to the left, again he realized I was there and shot back down in the water, just to emerge again, he did this about 4 times. I finally hollered over to him to swim elsewhere as he was making me quite nervous. He must have understood me as he did not pop back up…lol. I finally found a decent place to land and we all took about a 40 minute break and stretch. Back to our landing spot, we got out of the yaks and waded knee deep in the cool water, splashing the cold water on our hot bodies to cool down…did I mention how hot it was…dang. On the water we had a nice breeze, but once we stopped the heat hit us.
All in all we really enjoyed this park and will be back again. The park offers a beautiful river to paddle, a huge pool to swim, lots of trails to hike and bike.
Sammie
