Ichetucknee Memory
by Bob Ulanowicz
| ALTHOUGH I, and eventually my family, have been visiting Florida springs for at least 58 years now, it was not until about 1982 that we discovered Ichetucknee Springs. It immediately became part of our
annual vacation routine.
The Ichetucknee remains an indelible feature in our fond memories of family time together in Florida.
Robert E. (Bob) Ulanowicz holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering Science and is Professor Emeritus with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For almost 40 years, his research focused on analyzing ecological networks at Maryland’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. Now Courtesy Professor with the University of Florida’s Department of Biology, Bob serves on the board of directors of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute and on the advisory board of the Ichetucknee Alliance.
The spring has changed since we first encountered it. The geometry of the Head Spring vent was different and the flow was greater than nowadays. The result was that the boil was very apparent on the surface, creating a mound of water several centimeters in height. The flow was considerable and would push against the efforts of many to swim to the center of the boil. My wife delighted in swimming in-place at the edge of the boil!
Before it was prohibited, I reveled in swimming downstream from Head Spring to the Trestle Point haul-out (Knowing the value of submerged vegetation, I never disturbed them during my swims). Walking back to the Head Spring along one of the trails provided a true feeling of immersing oneself physically in this natural treasure! The cool waters left one refreshed for a couple of hours afterwards, even on hot August afternoons. We were able to escape confining air-conditioning in our car on the ride back to our motel.
Our son first resisted the cool waters of Ichetucknee when he was quite young, but eventually he grew to love swimming in Head Spring and Blue Hole. These days he and his family live in South Florida, but he will often go out of his way to swim in a spring and ventures back to the Ichetucknee whenever he is this far north.
The spring and especially the run teemed with aquatic life, and our kids would enjoy the water snake that hung out near the ramp leading into Head Spring. One day, as my wife and I were walking alone on the trail to Blue Hole, we unexpectedly met a diamondback rattlesnake coiled near the edge of the trail. We stopped and observed him for a while. It was the first rattler I had seen whose diamonds were outlined in orange scales. An absolutely beautiful specimen! After a while, he slithered quietly away, and we were left entranced by the encounter.
The Ichetucknee remains an indelible feature in our fond memories of family time together in Florida. If we are successful in rehabilitating it, this treasure will imprint itself on the lives of many other families to come!
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