The Real Deal

Saturday, Greg and I took off again to scout and practice paddling again as we continue to prepare for the Texas Water Safari. Today, we paddled from Victoria to Tivoli, on the Guadalupe River. Since we were practicing, we changed position in the boat. I moved to the rear and Greg moved to the front. The man in the front is more of the motor, while the man in the rear paddles and steers the boat and tries to keep it going in a straight line. It was my first time to spend an extended amount of time doing that. I would say I did okay, but not great. I had us going kind of like a snake down the river. It was a new experience for me. I found there is a lot more thinking involved. I enjoyed it, and could do it on some of the easy parts of the river, but on the really tough places with lots of twists and turns, Greg is better.

We got a taste today of what the real deal would be like. Two logjams, one a half a mile long, the other a quarter of a mile long. We had to get out of the boat and pull it up onto the river bank and drag the canoe a half of a mile one time through the woods and a quarter of a mile another time. Mosquitoes were thick, as was poison ivy and poison oak. Deep Woods Off did not even phase them. We sprayed each other twice, but it did no good. My back is covered with bites.
One time when putting the canoe back in the river, we couldn't find a place to put it back in, so we lowered it down a sheer bank on the river which was about 6 feet tall. Greg lowered himself down by hanging on a root. Naturally, the root broke and Greg fell putting a dent in the boat, luckily he was alright, only bruised a little bit. You can see by the pictures that was a fun day, full of challenges. Greg reminded me, that so much of this is a mental game. Like these logjams, we know where they are now, and that is important, because we will be paddling this section of the river at night. Without proper preparation, this section could turn into a nightmare, especially after two days with little or no sleep.

At this point we have paddled just right at 200 miles. We are starting to get into pretty good paddling shape. I am so glad I am making myself workout, run, and run bleachers. I needed all of the endurance I had for this last Saturday. The adventure and preparation continues. I am learning more about myself and about Greg, and what it takes as a team each time we go out. I just hope I don't have poison ivy on me now. Keep praying, the ulimate test awaits.