wjefferis
Contributor
Cypress Spring
On Wednesday morning (8-12-09) I met up with GlenFWB just outside of the raging metropolis of Vernon, Florida to go and check out Cypress Springs. I made it out there a little after 8:00 am and GlenFWB was there about 30 minutes later. We were the only people at Culpepper Landing and we made short work of getting everything loaded onto my canoe and starting on our way. Even with the amount of rain we have been getting lately Holmes Creek was lower than it was the last time I was here on 7-12-09. The water wasnt super clear by any means, but you could see all the way down in most areas and see the branches in the water with relative ease. When we made the final left onto the spring run the water turned perfectly crystal clear and found Cypress to be in pristine shape. We quickly geared up and just as I was about to start my dive I heard thunder in the distance. The skies had been partly cloudy and we thought that we wouldnt see any rain until around 2:00 pm. We figured we might as well get in our dive and enjoy things and just get out if lightening started popping. About 10 minutes into our dive I see GlenFWB take off from where he was near the basin towards my canoe on the beach. It was then that I looked up and saw that it was raining. I figured that he saw lightening and made a run for it out of the water. When I got out to see what was going on I found out that Glen was just having mask problems and that my shirt was getting soaked by the rain. I crawled on my knees with my gear on and stuffed it in my small cooler. By this time Glen was good to go and we started into the basin. I was having a little bit of a hard time with my buoyancy with my relatively new BP/W in the fresh water while taking pictures. I have been diving it mostly in the saltwater and have everything figured out. I may need to go to an aluminum back plate with my steel tank in the freshwater or just use a 5 mm suit (I was diving a 3mm during this dive) because I still felt heavy with no added weight. Even with a bit of buoyancy issues I was having a blast taking pictures. I was even able to find a snapping turtle swimming around. That little bugger was fast and I had to kick hard to keep up with him. He finally nestled himself into a rock ledge and I decided to let him be and turned my back on him. I was unaware that I was dealing with a stealth turtle. Before I knew it I felt these little feet on my butt, the little bugger was trying to hitchhike or something!!! I figured that I was about to feel him take a hunk out of my rear as I let a scream surely audible from the surface. My hitchhiking friend pealed off to the left content that he had striped a bit of dignity from me and I began to laugh. I looked around the basin for Glen and was relieved to see that his bubbles were coming out of the cavern entrance and that he hadnt gotten that on video. I made my way over to the spring entrance and it was really ripping. I had to turn my head a bit to keep my regulator from purging. Since I still dont have my cavern cert I just got in far enough to get out of the flow and took some pictures looking out and enjoyed looking down from where I was at Glen and seeing some of the lower part of the cavern lit up with his lights. Once we exited the cavern the sky cleared and the sun came out. After close to an hour we decided to call the dive. I was able to take about 140 pictures and a little video during the dive until my camera batter died out
.
Morrison Spring
Once we got back to Culpepper landing Glen made the suggestion that we skip lunch and just hit Morrison before the afternoon thunderstorms that we have been experiencing lately roll in. This was a good call, because just as we were suiting up the bad weather was already moving in. Morrison was pretty tannic, which I expected due to higher river levels. Even so you could see a nice blue area around the boil and you could see the bottom through the tannic water. Glen and I shot straight down to the main cavern entrance. This was the first time that I had ever come down to see what was down there. Even though I have heard a million times that Morrison was an open water friendly cavern I always avoided it since I was not cavern certified. This dive was no exception, but I did poke me body in just past the entrance and looked around with my light. I found it genuinely amazing down there. I really enjoyed watching Glens primary light illuminate all of the beautiful rock formations. After checking out the side cavern a bit we called the dive at around 30 minutes which ended up being perfect timing. By the time we started to get geared down at our vehicles the lightening and thunder was popping and some nasty dark clouds were almost over us. Luckily, we made it to Sallys before the weather hit and I enjoyed a plate of chopped beef with gravy and onions with a side of sour cream and chives fries, friggin awesome I tell ya! Luckily, the worst of the rain pasted over us during our meal, but I still had to drive all the way back to Pensacola in the rain. I look forward to making this trip again soon with better weather. Here are a few pictures from the dive:
On Wednesday morning (8-12-09) I met up with GlenFWB just outside of the raging metropolis of Vernon, Florida to go and check out Cypress Springs. I made it out there a little after 8:00 am and GlenFWB was there about 30 minutes later. We were the only people at Culpepper Landing and we made short work of getting everything loaded onto my canoe and starting on our way. Even with the amount of rain we have been getting lately Holmes Creek was lower than it was the last time I was here on 7-12-09. The water wasnt super clear by any means, but you could see all the way down in most areas and see the branches in the water with relative ease. When we made the final left onto the spring run the water turned perfectly crystal clear and found Cypress to be in pristine shape. We quickly geared up and just as I was about to start my dive I heard thunder in the distance. The skies had been partly cloudy and we thought that we wouldnt see any rain until around 2:00 pm. We figured we might as well get in our dive and enjoy things and just get out if lightening started popping. About 10 minutes into our dive I see GlenFWB take off from where he was near the basin towards my canoe on the beach. It was then that I looked up and saw that it was raining. I figured that he saw lightening and made a run for it out of the water. When I got out to see what was going on I found out that Glen was just having mask problems and that my shirt was getting soaked by the rain. I crawled on my knees with my gear on and stuffed it in my small cooler. By this time Glen was good to go and we started into the basin. I was having a little bit of a hard time with my buoyancy with my relatively new BP/W in the fresh water while taking pictures. I have been diving it mostly in the saltwater and have everything figured out. I may need to go to an aluminum back plate with my steel tank in the freshwater or just use a 5 mm suit (I was diving a 3mm during this dive) because I still felt heavy with no added weight. Even with a bit of buoyancy issues I was having a blast taking pictures. I was even able to find a snapping turtle swimming around. That little bugger was fast and I had to kick hard to keep up with him. He finally nestled himself into a rock ledge and I decided to let him be and turned my back on him. I was unaware that I was dealing with a stealth turtle. Before I knew it I felt these little feet on my butt, the little bugger was trying to hitchhike or something!!! I figured that I was about to feel him take a hunk out of my rear as I let a scream surely audible from the surface. My hitchhiking friend pealed off to the left content that he had striped a bit of dignity from me and I began to laugh. I looked around the basin for Glen and was relieved to see that his bubbles were coming out of the cavern entrance and that he hadnt gotten that on video. I made my way over to the spring entrance and it was really ripping. I had to turn my head a bit to keep my regulator from purging. Since I still dont have my cavern cert I just got in far enough to get out of the flow and took some pictures looking out and enjoyed looking down from where I was at Glen and seeing some of the lower part of the cavern lit up with his lights. Once we exited the cavern the sky cleared and the sun came out. After close to an hour we decided to call the dive. I was able to take about 140 pictures and a little video during the dive until my camera batter died out
.Morrison Spring
Once we got back to Culpepper landing Glen made the suggestion that we skip lunch and just hit Morrison before the afternoon thunderstorms that we have been experiencing lately roll in. This was a good call, because just as we were suiting up the bad weather was already moving in. Morrison was pretty tannic, which I expected due to higher river levels. Even so you could see a nice blue area around the boil and you could see the bottom through the tannic water. Glen and I shot straight down to the main cavern entrance. This was the first time that I had ever come down to see what was down there. Even though I have heard a million times that Morrison was an open water friendly cavern I always avoided it since I was not cavern certified. This dive was no exception, but I did poke me body in just past the entrance and looked around with my light. I found it genuinely amazing down there. I really enjoyed watching Glens primary light illuminate all of the beautiful rock formations. After checking out the side cavern a bit we called the dive at around 30 minutes which ended up being perfect timing. By the time we started to get geared down at our vehicles the lightening and thunder was popping and some nasty dark clouds were almost over us. Luckily, we made it to Sallys before the weather hit and I enjoyed a plate of chopped beef with gravy and onions with a side of sour cream and chives fries, friggin awesome I tell ya! Luckily, the worst of the rain pasted over us during our meal, but I still had to drive all the way back to Pensacola in the rain. I look forward to making this trip again soon with better weather. Here are a few pictures from the dive:
I will post some pictures shortly....yours came out great.
