Paddle Wekiwa Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
You seek a 10"x3" Therapak jar, camo'ed and tethered on a small island. Beware the resident water moccasin.
Wekiwa Springs is located within the Wekiwa Springs State Park about 4 miles northeast of Apopka.
Wekiwa Springs is a 2nd magnitude spring in a semitropical forest setting at the base of a northeast-sloping, grassy, open-wooded hillside. The springs form the headwater of the Wekiva River, a tributary to the St. Johns River.
Two areas of discharge can be observed as surface boils near the edge in the southeast half of the pool. The strongest boil is over a large irregular-shaped vent about 35 feet long by 5 feet wide in the limestone bottom about 15 feet below the surface. The other boil is above a rock ledge in the extreme southeast edge of the pool. Except for the limestone rock bottom in the southeast part of the pool, the pool bottom is mostly sand. The spring pool is kidney-shaped, about 200 feet long and 100 feet wide, elongated southeast. A sidewalk surrounds the pool and a wooden footbridge crosses the run just below the pool. A 2 to 3-foot high retaining wall encloses the pool and extends a short distance down the run. The clear, bluish-green water flows northeastward in a run 60 feet wide to the Wekiva River.
Discharge at Wekiwa Springs was measured by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1932 to 2002. St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) measured discharge from 1983 to 2005, and currently performs bimonthly discharge measurements. The difference between the minimum and maximum discharges is 62.6 cubic feet per second (cfs) over the period. The maximum measured discharge of 92.0 cfs occurred in October 1960; the minimum discharge of 29.4 cfs occurred in November 1985. The lowest periods of discharge correspond to periods of below normal rainfall in Florida. The mean and median discharges for the period from 1932 to 2005 are 67.1 cfs and 66.8 cfs, respectively.
The age of water discharging from Wekiwa Springs was determined by measuring the concentration of tritium, delta carbon-13, and carbon-14 in the spring discharge in April 1995 and tritium and helium-3 in July 1995. Wekiwa Springs had a tritium concentration of 3.0 tritium units, which suggests that the water is less than 42 years old. The tritium/helium-3 age of the water was 17 years. Wekiwa Springs had a delta carbon-13 value of –10.14 parts per thousand and a carbon-14 concentration of 50% modern carbon, which results from the reaction of rainfall with calcite, dolomite, and soil organic matter. The adjusted carbon-14 age of Wekiwa Springs is recent. The three ages indicate that the water discharging from Wekiwa Springs is young.
Wekiva or Wekiwa? The actual spelling of the river’s name has often been disputed – Wekiva or Wekiwa. According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel, Wekiwa was likely the original name used by the Seminoles, but Wekiva came into official use in the late 1800s because of its spelling on maps. Linguist Mary Hass stated in the article that “We” refers to water and “Kiwa” means spring.
My preferred paddle starts at Wekiva Springs State Park, with an entry fee of about $4.50. I drop one vehicle here, then drop another at Kadi's Landing, which has a $3.00 entrance fee. Total paddle distance is about 11 miles. Critters you will likely encounter include alligators, assorted turtles, water birds of all shapes and sizes, and heaps of snakes.
Good luck!
-Sean
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
V pyvzorq hc gur ebbgf gb uvqr vg. V fhttrfg lbh qb gur fnzr.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures