Day 12 Blog post: Aislinn Dugan

Today was our longest day of paddling so far; we went 28 miles. It was also the hottest day we have had due largely to the lack of cloud cover. We just arrived at our campsite under a bridge and it is 6:30pm. We are all pretty exhausted and sunburned (pfd tans are coming in nicely). Right now I can see Henny Penny is starting dinner, Rickelodeon is journaling to my right, Mater is socializing with some local fishermen, and Marshalldat is exercising his magical fingers. I can't see anyone else but the V.O.R.acious crew is all around me and still keeping it real.
We started on the water at 8:30am and it was scorching hot already! I noticed a lot of erosion along the banks of the Pee Dee today, which I'm guessing is from the flood that happened a few months ago. There havn't been many signs of development along the river for the past few days, only a few scattered cabins here and there. It feels somewhat secluded without signs of society but hearing the birds chirping and fish jumping I am reminded of the many forms of life that we share this river with.
We stopped for lunch at 11:50 on a nice sandy beach and went for a swim. The green heads were out in full force and there were yelps and cries of pain as these colorful flies enjoyed there own lunch.
After lunch we were moving even slower. Tucker and Rick kept us alive with bilge pump showers. We also made a few rest stops along the way. One beach was completely covered with socializing butterflies. We stopped to admire this rare sight and continued on our way with a few fluttering stow-aways who stayed with us for miles.
We made it to the first bridge of the day and our take out under highway 34 outside of Darlington, S.C. Our plan for tomorrow is to start early in order to get into camp early and avoid some of the heat. It's a great plan in theory but I am not looking forward to waking up at 4:30 in the am.

Moon rise

Looking downstream from our campsite under a bridge on night 12.

Day 12

Finally got to camp after a BRUTAL 28 miles. Faced our first real SC heat this afternoon. This pic sums-up how we all feel. Thanks Jana!

Morning of day 12

Almost up...

Larry Bunn visit

Larry (Austin's dad) made a surprise visit and spoke to us about his work with SC Department of Health and Environmental Control.

River name contest

See the list below of the 14 paddlers' river names. Try to match them with the real person in a comment to this posting. We'll post the correct answers after we return and visit the blog ourselves.

Kool Aid
Chips
KittyKat
Scooter
Mater
A Train
Lieutenant
J-nuts
Mamma Duck
Rickelodeon
Henny Penny
Everlasting
Papa Bear
Real Talk

Day 11 Blog post: Brian Henion

Today we woke up to swarms of mosquitos so fat with our blood they could hardly take off. It's roughly 6 am and the sun has just begun to creep over the trees. We awake to hot oatmeal, leftover burgers, chips, and Max's present of 4 snickers and a handful of jolly ranchers that is to last us the rest of the trip. No one seems too quick this morning  and it  feels as though everyone would easily and gladly sleep more if just given a decent excuse. After a lengthly pack up we meander down to the boats and begin to climb into the chilly morning water babbling by us. The packing process, as with every time packing boats in the water, is very time consuming. Today though this is made more so by our treat of watching the complete metamorphosis of what I believe is called a water nymph into a dragonfly and its first flight out into the world as something born anew. This seems ironic and almost prophetic  as we are about to set off anew. Our next few days we will be utterly alone, cut off from news, our lifeline and supply (Max), and established known camping areas. We are essentially heading into the unknown, harding guesses, and hoping for the best. The morning paddle drags on long and slow. Everyone is silent - even the ones who haven't stopped talking since day one. The exhaustion and solitude are palpable. Everyone seems to have that feeling when you know you have "miles to go before I sleep." After a few water breaks and roughly 12 miles, we pull up to a nice secluded beach on the inside of a long curve in the river. We are blessed with a reprieve from the beating sun and radiant heat. We have a short peaceful lunch. After we restart in the river, we all seem to be refreshed - some as though we have a second wind. The common banter cranks up and you hear the girls singing Disney songs, Tucker singing everything in his head and laughing occasionally in his maniacal way. We continue another 12 miles along a portion of the river that feels the most isolated and undisturbed. The common conversations pop up - from video games to crazy sandwiches, and places people have been or wish to go. In my humble opinion, Tucker's contribution: Monte Cristo takes the cake. We end the paddle shortly after the Highway 15 bridge over the Pee Dee. Everyone is sweating buckets, so we take a quick dip - a pleasure we have foregone until now. Then yet another oddity... we are ahead of schedule. So we are given a quick briefing on the remainder of the day. If all holds to be true, we may be in bed early. A godsend in my opinion. We will end the day as we began: muscles shredded, backs aching, and so stinks, smelly, and filthy it almost pointless to make our little attempts to freshmen ourselves.