Everyone woke up this morning feeling well fed and were again lucky to have fresh watermelon, apples and bananas left from the feast the night before. The river was sparkling in the sun when we put in this morning around 8:54 after a quick debrief from the days prior. I love the Pee Dee river. There is virtually no visible development from the river aside from the occasional boat ramp. The banks are completely covered with trees. I noticed that the banks on the insides of the turns are all covered in willow trees while the banks on the outside of the turns are covered with other various trees. I think it is because the water pushes the sediment to the inside banks creating sandy flat beaches for willow trees while eroding the outside banks which forms steep banks. The trees are eerie in the wind as the Spanish moss they fashion blows gently above the murky water where we know the gators are lurking. We have seen a lot less critter activity since entering the Pee Dee, but we are reminded frequently that we are not alone by the wild hog tracks left in the sand and the soft barking of baby gators from the shaded banks. We saw lots of turtles today baking in the warm sun and saw our first gator friend. I think the group had a total of six gator sightings today and I am eager to see more. We stopped for lunch on a shady, muddy beach and had a fun time trying to get out of the boats and safely to the dry sand. After enjoying a meal of peanut butter and jelly with even more delicious apples we were back on the river. After lunch, we literally paddled through a rain storm. We saw it raining all around us, yet we remained dry. We paddled in the gentle rain for about four minutes and were quickly dried out by the hot sun. It was so hot today and I kept my long sleeve shirt on all day in an attempt to shield my poison ivy from the sun. As I enter my third consecutive week of having poison ivy, I am finding myself increasingly frustrated and generally in an unpleasant mood. I am thankful for the truly incredible group we have. Everyone is very supportive and help me by offering advice to reduce the itching and telling me jokes to keep my mind off the terrible itching. I am especially thankful for Terry, whom we met yesterday at lunch and who brought me anti itch cream that should help me heal soon. Our day today was hard on everyone. The river curved like a ringlet curl and we kept getting caught in the eddies around the banks. Austin was excited as he got out of the tandem and paddled Katherine's boat while she rested her shoulder in the front of the tandem. The 24 miles we did today was harder than our 33 mile day, and as we approached the boat ramp where we are camping, I grew concerned that day 15 would be the first day without our heron friend. Luckily in the last mile of our journey, I spotted my heron flying across the river. It made me happy and I somehow found the energy to make it the last mile. I passed out in my tent immediately after putting it up and remain in my tent to avoid the deer flies. From what I can tell, most everybody is tired and eagerly awaiting our pita pizza dinner. It is 7:16 and I am ready for bed. I am excited tomorrow as we are beginning to feel the current of the ocean. The 27 miles we have ahead of us is a little intimidating, but with a good night sleep I am sure I will be ready for it.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Day 15 camp
Wonderful spot just upstream from the confluence with the black water of the Little Pee Dee.
Day 14 Blog post: Rick Campana
In the middle of the night it began to rain. For some reaon, my tent group and I did not think to secure the rain fly for set up the tarp property. Throughout the night I awoke being dripped on or rolling into a damp spot. Tucker and I were up before five to make pancakes. Too much water was added to the mix and it was difficult to create our fried batter masterpieces. Once we developed the Antarctic Slow Pour we were back in business. After normal pancakes got boring we started taking shape requests, it was lots of fun. Too bad pancakes are not on the breakfast menu again. The mud around our put-in was the consistency of pudding and it stuck to everything. Moths around the water would dive into or skip out of the water. I found it strange that they all were doing it. Our first break was at a boat dock where we were offered food. (that happened a lot today) I forgot that it is labor day weekend, so there was a lot of boat traffic especially with the poker run. I wanted to buy my dad a shirt, but I lacked cash. Most of the people we have run into in SC have been very friendly. The guys at the dock told us that they saw a fourteen foot alligator just up river from the dock. So it was looming in the water below us at some point. We have yet to see a gator and everyone hopes we get to. The thirteen days of prior paddling have finally caught up with me. It's interesting to see what keeps me going through the fatigue and heat. I'm learning a lot about myself on this expedition, which is one of my goals. Approaching our lunch dock we were greeted by the barking of a bear of a dog named Tinkerbell. Big Mike and Terry from the Pee Dee River Watchers, who "protect the great Pee Dee from current and proposed environmental mischief", had cooked up some wonderful eats. Big mike shared us stories about the river and its wildlife. Frank and Peggy Brown rolled into the party fashionablely late with bbq and brownies. Brian left us at this time to go have a doctor check out his ankles. They haven't been looking so hot. Frank and Peggy were ready to join us in paddling. Big Mikes john-boat made me jealous with his motor. Reaching the next dock they left us and we learned that Brian would be joining us at our camp tonight with some anti poison ivy cream for Jana. A-town and I cooked up some crazy conspiracy theories and hilarity ensued. Once we had reached our boats at our camp a man with a musket bellowed "Wig orTorry!" They taught us about the revolutionary war and had an awesome spread of food including homemade icecream. They let A-town fire the musket and showed us how the weapon worked. It is sad to think it is day fourteen, two weeks on the river, and it is four days away from being over. I'm going to make the most out these last days because I have loved every second of this trip.
Day 14 dinner
Another amazing dinner was prepared for us at Dunham's Bluff. Special thanks to our primary hosts Tres and Tricia Hyman. Tres is a forestry consultant and SC Registered Forested as well as a revolutionary period history buff. Thanks also to Denley Caughman, and Earl Spibey and his family: Mary, Loretta, Christine, and Elliott. Some of the pictures posted show Tres speaking to our group about an earthen fort from the revolution that was recently discovered; and you will also see Earl and Denley in period dress.