Day 2 Blog Post: Marcus Roberson

It was a short but restful night for most of us that were lulled to sleep by the sound of rain on tent or tin roofs. I was lucky to avoid the damp tent in my hammock that I pitched above a covered picnic table. A breakfast of fresh strawberries and blueberries with granola and powdered milk made it easier to get up and face the rainy and cold morning. We fastidiously packed all of our belongings from the tables under the shelters into our freshly rained upon boats then met Jenny and Cameron to go over the classes we would be taking throughout the trip: Communications and Education, Recreation, and Conservation of Rivers. After finding out how much time, effort, energy and mental stamina paddling a river takes every day, the thought of taking classes was a little bit daunting. But as I was thinking about what I really wanted to learn on this trip, I began seeing how analogous life on the river and life in civilization really were. I want to be able to look past the little things: the tedious chores and tasks like getting everyone's boats out of the water, packing SO many things in and out of the boat, and wet clothes. I want to focus on the bigger picture: what brings me joy and gives my life meaning, like the free feeling of being on the water and the opportunities to help my friends during their own struggles. That is what I will (hopefully) walk away from these 18 days with.

The rest of the day was cloudy and cool. The terrain is gorgeous but rarely changes; we can never see what is above the steep banks or much of the horizon. At least it didn't rain!! Before lunch Katherine swam, but made a graceful recovery and didn't lose anything. Austin cut his thumb during lunch and was quickly bandaged up by Dr. JKaf. Other than those small mishaps, our day was productive and safe, 13 miles from N. Wilkesboro to Ronda, NC!!

Day 1 Blog post: Aislinn Dugan

Today was an eventful day to say the least! We met up bright and early (7am) at Ross hall to pack up the trailer, and enjoyed some delicious biscuits and honey courtesy of Robbie D. We said farewell to those who came to see us off and hit the road around 9am.
After a few hours of driving/gangsta rap music/dancing/sleeping we arrived at the Green Park Inn, in Blowing Rock North Carolina, and the source of the Yadkin Pee Dee River that we will be paddling to the coast of South Carolina. I was expecting to find a flowing pristine spring head on the property of the Inn but instead we were directed to a metal grate in the middle of the paved parking lot we were parked in. About 10 feet down there were a bunch of pipes. Coming out of a small yellow pipe was a steady stream of clear water which we concluded was the source.
A few Kodak moments were captured and as newly initiated V.O.R. members we were told it is tradition to collect a small container full of source water to carry with us on our journey.  we were given the option of getting water at a lower point seeing as the source was a little out of reach, but being the determined group that we are we decided not to settle for less but to honor age old tradition. A few ideas where thrown out involving grate removal and sponge lowering. As we were all standing around the grate contemplating our task i looked down and saw  the head and torso of a man coming out of one  of the larger pipes. After I screamed I realized it was Brian who decided to shimmie into the pipe to get to the source. Task complete and time for lunch with a view on the Parkway.
After lunch we drove to our put in below the W Scott Kerr reservoir where we packed up, went over river safety and finally got on the river to begin our journey to the coast.
We paddled for 7.6 miles to Smoot Park in North Wilksboro. We were greeted on the river bank by Max, Monty (president of Yadkin River Association), and some serious storm clouds. We pulled our boats up and unpacked. As the last tent was zipped up the wind picked up and lightening started flashing. Next thing I know tents are being ripped out of the ground, rain is pouring down and people are scattering. Some headed for shelter under one of the pavilions, the rest frantically retrieved tents and stakes from the trees.
We met up under the pavilion (completely soaked) to wait out the storm. The local police rolled up a few times to check on us and after about an hour the lightening subsided and our next missions were dinner and tent relocation. After retrieving tents from puddles we dined on the most delicious burritos I've ever tasted. It's been a pretty eventful trip so far and the adventure has only just begun.