It Is Day Two!
First, let me begin by saying I love the sun. I love being warm and while some people get hangry (hungry+angry) I am far more susceptible to cangry (cold+angry). But after another day floating through the wilderness I love nothing more than I love shadows and shadey trees and big fat rain clouds and anything that keeps the sun away from my poor poor skin (which is covered two inches thick in sunscreen as we speak).
ANYWAY
Last night we got off the river, set up the tent, cooked dinner, played a round of Skip-Bo, and were fast asleep by 8 PM. Nothing wears you out like a long day moving in the sun. Nothing makes for a better night sleep though. I woke up a few times and listened to owls and coyotes and a limp kin.
I hate limpkins. If ever there was a creature I would wish to be removed from the earth entirely it is limpkins. Followed closely by no-see-ums. This limpkin only made his horrifying death screech once or twice and then, in an uncharacteristic move, decided he wouldn't mind being quiet. From then on the only noise was the water moving through tree roots on the bank, Abby snoring, and the occasional bird call. The most soothing sleep noises in the world.
I hate limpkins. If ever there was a creature I would wish to be removed from the earth entirely it is limpkins. Followed closely by no-see-ums. This limpkin only made his horrifying death screech once or twice and then, in an uncharacteristic move, decided he wouldn't mind being quiet. From then on the only noise was the water moving through tree roots on the bank, Abby snoring, and the occasional bird call. The most soothing sleep noises in the world.
We woke up early and evaluated the state of our bodies (sunburnt) and hands (is it a problem if I cannot open them from fists?) then made a quick breakfast and pushed out into the river by about 7:30 AM. We paddled for a while through the Bay Creek Conservation Area. We made up some super impressive songs to pass the time and around 10 we saw a cow that we decided must be a wild cow who was lured close to the banks by our singing. This, we thought, was so remarkable that it surely deserved a celebratory beer. The best part about celebratory beer is that once we'd had one we were much less bothered by how much our arms hurt and our probable heat stroke.
Another thing that helped with the heat stroke was attacking each other with the water guns we had packed and playing made up songs on the ukulele or shooting acorns at each other with the slingshots we brought "for safety”. Even though this trip is a personal goal to prove to myself I have the physical and emotional strength to paddle a river from end to end and to see more of my home state’s natural beauty it’s also important to me that the trip be fun and something I remember fondly. Because of this we have spent 48 hours singing and laughing and I could not be more pleased.
We paddled twenty or so miles until about 2:30 when we got to Big Shoals (Florida's only natural class III rapid!!!! Who decided water was allowed to be so lumpy) and decided that the nearly mile long portage looked too terrifying to do all in one day and broke down to take naps/eat/camp/swim despite signs telling us not to.
Our clothes and bodies are stiff from sun, sweat, and sunscreen and turning an interesting brown shade. Frankie calls this a tan. I claim it’s from the tannin in the water. The Suwannee is like a big river of sweet tea and it is mesmerizing to watch your legs turn more and more orange and red until they disappear as you wade deeper into the water.
We carried our boats about halfway up the portage and made camp, hung our bear bag, and laid down for the night in much the same way we had the night before, exhausted, sunburnt, and full of giggles. It is fortunate that bears are terrified of giggling because we did a truly terrible job of hanging up our food.
Tomorrow will be another long paddle so we are resting up and I think that just writing this down despite how exhausted my arms and hands are calls for some celebratory cookies and beer. Have some photos and captions.
the previous night's campsite
a beautiful tree that I probably ran into
When we looked at the mile markers for the day I thought "what does it mean we'll pass 'Limpdick Bend'?" but now I know what it meant.
If you are going on a long trip I HIGHLY recommend bringing your own personal musician to keep you entertained.
How to avoid heatstroke
We think this used to be an old bridge?
The character of the river is a lot different than it was in Georgia. It has much steeper sides and is much broader and less overgrown than the little creek with sandy shores and huge cypress trees growing in it than it was yesterday. It's bananas how big a difference a dozen or so miles can make.
Big shoals! We decided not to try. Instead we took a quarter mile portage around it. On the southern launch point I did forget that the water would be moving much quicker and my kayak tried to run away from me, I took a running jump at it and managed to get in without dumping myself and my gear into the river.
Alligators cannot even read, this explains why we have seen so many of them swimming about.
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