Econlockhatchee River Kayaking - CR419 to Lake Pickett Road (and back)

This trip is pretty much opportunistic since this portion of the Econ is generally too shallow for typical kayaking. This trip took adavantage of flooded conditions thanks to the heavy rains. Even so there were many obstacles in the way of logs, cypress knees, fallen trees, etc. Some logs and fallen trees were moderately difficult to get over, under, or around. Staying in the actual river channel was sometimes tricky due to the landscape features being submerged. As a result some of the trip involved kayaking through the forest itself. With the flooded conditions a prominent current was present (the Econ flows north), but not too bad. Just enough to make you calculate your approach to twists and turns with more planning than usual. It was often better to suck it up and go through low-hanging vegetation rather than kayaking around it since the priority was generally on the navigable water in front of you.
We came across a really big alligator near the Econ River Wilderness Area. He (she?) was up on the bank and after politely posing for some video and a couple of pictures it slithered into the water and disappeared. On the way back it was up on the bank again. Again it posed for some video and pics and slid into the water. Even more amazing than its length was its girth. This was one really wide gator. I am glad they don't seem to realize just how easy it would be to overturn a kayak!
Two of us were in Hobie Mirage Drive (pedal-powered) kayaks while one of us was in a "sit in" paddle type. The Mirage Drive units survived the entire 16.63 mile round trip, but they definitely got banged around and bent a bit. (Not sure why Wikiloc shows my trip as only being 13.93 miles. My GPS tracks show 16.63 miles)
Most of the property on both sides of the river is private, so make sure you stay in your kayak. Bring plenty of water to drink and snacks as this trip takes a bit of time. We launched around 9:30 a.m. and got back around 4:30 p.m. According to my GPS we only had about 38 minutes of stopped time (primarily due to getting over logs).