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hwy 50 to loughman

C

cntry141iq

Silent Prop
R. I. P.
I was in orlando friday night and knowing bad weather was coming I decided to throw the boat in at hwy 50 and cruise up to loughman lodge for some wings. There were no other boats there and that should been a hint LOL oh well I went anyways. I was running the old trail which is the only one I had ever ran because I only did it once before. There is lots of very sticky black mud out there. I jumped into a trail that had water in it and kept going but it got skinnier and skinnier. I finally came to a switch back that was way too short for my boat to make and the banks of the trail were about 3 feet high and the sides of my boat were touching each side of the trail. I really had to stand on it to climb up outta there let me tell you. I found grass running about three to 6 feet high waiting on me and crossing those channels of the trails was quite an adventure. I was riding by myself so the passengers getting upset about the angle of the boat was not an issue for a change. I had to resort to my GPS to get back to hwy 50 as the fog rolled in across the marsh and the front of my boat was all I could see. There is very few thigs to compare with driving an airboat by only looking at a pointer on a gps screen while having to maintain enough forward speed to not get stuck in the high grass and crossing trails with 3' vertical drops and a width of maybe 8'.

I covered 16 miles per the gps and burned 12 gallons of gas and was out there for almost two hours. I never did get to loughman lodge but it was a blast anyways. I seriously suggest waiting on the summer rainy season before attempting to cross the marsh out there in a straight line fashion. I was a little too busy to gig the frogs I saw but there were some out there but they were in the trails and I ran over them before I could gig them. They were so desperate for water they didnt even try to jump ot of the way. It was fun but I sure was glad I had a good engine on my boat because I needed lots of power to get out of there.
 
Thats called building experience. It makes you a better boat captain and others will see the results, it will show, believe me.

I've never followed a GPS or anything else on a boat. I have one now though, but the trick to running trails or rivers is to always go to the black. If your headed to a lighter area your headed for an impact.

Thers no safe solution to fog, the GPS may be your best friend there.

Locally at home I run by the radio towers or horizon flashes of airports. I dont run with a light at night, in fact if I'm out on the river away from any traffic I turn off the running lights even. Much safer. Just run to the black and youll always make it back. Run to the Grey and thats where your going to stay.

I love reading stories and cant wait to get home and get the boat underway. Keep writing up trip reports man :)

Scotty
 
I have a new nextel cntry. I had to sign a 2 year contract, so it'll be my number for awhile now. I tried to call you several times today, it turns out my number is similar to yours... both our numbers in with a *16 so if you see that there... store it under my name and get rid of the old "company owned" number you had.

I wish I could have warned you about that trail!!!! Ouch! I've ridden that one the day cc, thunder and swampjet made that ride. I was full throttle and full rudder, but that high sided trail still slammed the boat into one of those hardwood bushes... I have a new welded in section of cage to show for it. Got tore up for sure! There was NO TURNING at all! It was like a train on a railroad. And the train horn didn't get me out of that one!

You were within sight of the lodge at that point!!! And there are many other ways. Maybe we'll have to ride it and I'll show you the alternate paths.... and you can get your wings - finally! And I have a few secret froggin'/fishin' holes out there I can show you.... But I'll have to then kill you. LOL

BTW.... thanks for the gig & light setup... I'm hooked! I ordered another of his gigs, and found that I can get those poles at the "University of Narcoosee" - so Laura and I will be getting some of them frogs with ya! Now you just have to teach us how to clean and cook them. :)

Sorry you found "that" trail.... Thanks for digging it out a little! That's how them trails are born, right?

matt.
 
Sheez Country!

I thought I was bad, cause sometimes when we stop for a break, my brothers always yelling" were riding airboats, not ATV's!"

Glad you were able to hammer your way on through all that junk.
Lesser men may not have had the boat back on the trailer before the sun came back up.

Airboating night adventures....
Aint nothing else like it.
 
Pea soup fog. I was told it makes you have heartattacks or makes you a man. Always made me nervous, especially in an unknown trail. Add to that, running cross country in unknown areas with dropoffs, makes you rip holes in the seat because you are puckered up so much.

Glad it ended well. And man those GPS things sure come in handy don't they.
 
I have a lot of stick time looking at a gps screen for my only guidance. Them darn dropoffs now that threw a new wrinkle in the seat for sure. The tall grass was wrapping over my grass rake and one thing to keep in mind is don't do nothin suddenly ... very gradual turns are the order of the day. The worse fog I have run in was in the daytime on lake okeechobee It has shadows in it and your nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockin chairs anyways.

I like runnin with other boats but won't let the fact that none are around stop me most of the time. I have a lot of confidence in my equipment and my ability and sometimes it is really an advantage to only have to worry about your boat. I stood on the shore of lake cypress wed. night looking at an empty ramp area. But it was the crashing waves and all that open lake and the wind that was making my eyes water just standing there that made me hook the tiedown back up and head to sonnys bbq instead.

I love an adrenaline rush but also try not to be absolutely stupid I am getting too darn old and I don't heal as fast as I used to. I would never urge anyone to try more than they are comfortable with just because someone else does it. I posted this so if anyone was considering running that stretch of the marsh they would at least know what was waiting out there for them. That was some awfully sticky grass and mud. Mood I hopre you enjkoy that gig and light but remember the boat doesn't stop just because you gig the frog so make sure and have an escape planned if it is a tight area.
 
I have ran that trail for a couple of years,it doesn't take long to earn its respect.We call it Super Hwy when its wet.I dont know what its called when its dry.Glad you could check it out Cntry.
 
I ran the trail for a bit then decieded to branch off down one of the forks I cam to trying to get over to the river or where the river was shown on my gps. I was sitting right on top of the line indicated as the river and there was no river there. LOL maybe when it is wet there is a river there but it didn't really surprise me much because I have found the base maps to be wrong before. However it can come as a shock to a newbie if they were depending on the river to be where it was shown to be and it wasn't there. I really was on an exploring mission and had no adgenda other than loughman lodge and if it would have been important I would have just ran the dry around the edge on the west side to get there. There are a few dikes to cross and the assorted ditches but running dry for miles is not a particular challenge for me. But running where I was running now that was interesting and fun and enhanced my skills with my boat/atv. I know someone else had done the same thing because I found markings in the grass out there and their choices were no better than mine as to a trail. I was out in the center of the marsh area/pasture. It was fun and I would try it again and I didnt save the trail in my gps so next time it is like the first time all over again ... just havin fun.
 
We ran the Dike after leaving Loughman's Saturday night to 50 around 11 pm . Yea it was a hell'uva ride. Beat'in and banging the whole way. But like I said one Hell'uva ride!
 
Hey Country,
It sounds like you were on the Super Highway (mentioned by Skeeter) and it's starting to get pretty dry. It's a great ride when the water is up. There are north and south lanes for most of the run.

I'm not sure where you put in but, if you want to get to Loughman from 50 without running dry you can run the river the whole way. The river is just a bit west of Midway but runs you out a lot further west than the highway. The highway cuts a lot off that trip. But, the river is a great ride with some good places fish, frog or just stop and enjoy the scenery.

If you put in on the north side of 50 near Midway then ride the channel west and it "T"'s into the St Johns. If you put in on the south side, when you come under the bridge (50) just continue heading north. As you ride north it takes you into Lake Cone. The river picks up again on the northeast side and it'll take you all the way up to Bears Bluff, Hatbill Park, Puzzle Lake (and eventually to S.R. 46, Jolly Gator and Lake Harney).

If you want to go to Loughman's you'll need to head east just before hitting Hatbill Park. Look for the observation tower to the east and the lodge is a couple of miles further east. If the water is low you'll need to stay to the right (south) of the tower and use Snake Creek (marked with a white pvc pipe ) to get into Loughman Lake unless you don't mind running dry to get by the tower.
 
Hey there I Roll... Nice verbal map you made there! Rick informed me that there was a typo on the USGS topo maps.... it's Lake CANE.

And that snake creek to the left of the tower.... I would LOVE to see someone get an airboat thru there! Decent current and vertical mud sides 2 feet tall. It's difficult in a kicker on some of those switchbacks. But if you can do it... more power to ya! :shock: I think the water has to be pretty low to have a bump right next to that tower.

If you see the green boat with the train horn in front and "?" on the rudders one of these sundays, chase us down. I'd not mine ridin' around with you out there and maybe doing some fishing.

matt.
 
Hey Gatorchaser, I'd like to hear from you after your ride up the highway. I haven't been out in weeks and all I hear about is the water's droppin` fast. I'm not too big on rough riding for more than a little ways so I'll be interested to know if running the highway feels like pinball. I know the north section where it's one lane (from north of Bears Bluff toward Hatbill) has some spots that have been high and dry for well over a month. If the south section is dry, I'd just as soon take the long way (the river), make a few stops to kill some time and admire the scenery (What I really need is to get my butt over to Hwy 50 to get some of Belinda's boiled peanuts).

Mood - I've heard of that lake also being referred to as Lake Cohn. So now I've heard it called Cane, Cone and Cohn. BTW, you're right, when the water get really low over near the observation tower, Snake Creek can definately be a challenge.
 
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