Day 15 Blog post: Jana Eilermann

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.