Day 6 Blog post: Austin Bunn

This morning we woke up around six. It was really cold and the ground was covered with dew. It was the first morning we  all were up before the sun! Packing up this morning was really hectic and rushed because of the 26 miles we had ahead of us! In fact most of us ate our oatmeal while packing up all the gear into the boats. Once packed we faced our first challenge of the day which was putting boats in below the dam. Because of how close the steps were below the dam we had to slide the boats in and drag them down river by  a rope to a calm eddy to load everyone in safely. We were a little nervous of how this would go but fortunately with good teamwork everything  went well. Cameron and I were the last to load and accidentally got our selves wedged on a rock; but with lots of  hip trusting and hard paddling we managed to free ourselves. The first couple miles of the day were pretty uneventful except for a few wildlife spottings and Tucker's wonderful singing. The weather turned out to be perfect with enough cloud cover to keep us from frying in the sun all day. Not long after starting we came to our first bridge where we stopped on a really muddy bank for what was suppose to be a quick bathroom break. Everyone who got out had a really hard time trying to keep their balance in the ankle deep mud which became great entertainment for the rest of the group. Once done we continued down river and paddled to interstate 40 where we ate lunch and finally had our first real set of linked lessons during the trip. After finishing our veggie pitas we discussed the different risk and treats affecting the Yadkin river. We also talked some about analysing the different types of information we have received about the river. After paddling all morning the long lunch break was well appreciated by everyone. At this point everyone was feeling the past five days of paddling and were all really sore and hurting - but fortunately we have Marshall with us who loves giving massages and stretching people. We all took advantage of this and once he was done we all felt like a million dollars. Finally we began paddling again and in a rush to get back on the river. Tucker forgot his nalgenes which I found and hid in my boat in hopes for a good practical joke. Sadly he never got thirsty until we actually got to camp so it didn't turn out as funny as I wanted. After lunch we paddled with our work groups and discussed more about the different forms of information  we have received. This was lots of fun and gave us a chance to work on group skills as well as focus on our info in more detail. Soon we approached a dam that we were forced to portage but not before passing a dead floating cow! Yuck! As we started getting boats out it began to rain some but quickly quit once we were past the dam and back in our boats. Of course Cameron and I were convinced we could have run the dam but for our safety and Jenny's nerves we didn't. (Just kidding. No one should ever run a dam.) Finally after several more brutal miles we made it to camp which was on old mill farm which is a crazy sweet horse farm. Once again we faced another challenging exit from the water. We ended up setting up an assembly line to get our gear up the steep eroded bank. The owners of the farm were amazing and even grilled out for us! We all thought we couldn't top yesterday's camp experience with the tubers and watermelon. But once again things just got better and better. We ate well, played with horses, dogs, kids, and best all extremely fat pot belly pigs that stole our food. One of the farm clients took us on an atv tour of the whole property. We also got to listen to music for the first time since we left which was a wonderful break from Tucker's singing. Overall it has been one amazing event after another and even though we are super tired and sore none of us have given up or complained. I am also extremely pleased to see that we are still getting along pretty well with very minimal storming. Although it's only been six days, I believe we will continue to get along and develop friendships as we journey to the coast.

Day 6 at Old Mill Farm

The VOR 2010 Team with Dana Meads and our new extended family by the river in Lexington, NC: Melissa, Marty and Will Going; Scott, Janie, and Will Doby, and Sarah-Beth Fishback. Special thanks for all the wonderful food and hospitality.