A Good Paddling

It surprises me now and then how dependant we are on if not the kindness of others or at least their co-operation. Knowingly or not. Yesterday being a prime example.Every now and then I like to go out on my own and just go for it.

Travel at my own pace be that what it may. ( If you factor in age & weight every excursion can be a personal best ) .. Which is hard to accomplish with two sons and their friends who we invite along. Surprising many are repeat participants. I suppose they don't tell their parents or their parent think I know what I am doing. After all would you take your own children hiking , climbing etc. unless you were competent? As much as I believe it is our responsibility to mentor the next generation. Demonstrate as well as we can by example. As a Christian you can go out in the world and participate. Es specially where the pavement ends. But traveling with a group is kind of like racing with a speed limit.

I am only slightly off subject.

Everything came to gather this Saturday afternoon. Cary has been indentured to the Boy Scouts all summer on Staff at Sequoya decided not to come home for the day. Travis is in Michigan with the Hooker family and mowed the grass before he left. Now I do need to clarify one thing. At no time has anything I have ever done or will do depend on mowing the yard. Our lawn tractor has a chronometer to keep track of the time in use. Or the time you waste cutting grass. What a monument to futility. I would buy a goat but we spend enough at the Vet with just the dog.

I did prep and apply the first coat of paint to the boys bath tub in the morning. I'll touch on tub restoration later.

I have finally put the kayak in the water and set the baseline for what I refer to as the
Double W. Paddle from Walker Lane bridge to Winchester Rd. bridge a approx. 12 mile run in 3 & 3/4 hr.
Could have been quicker with a higher flow rate. You can only drag/carry a boat so fast over wet rocks.
As much as I enjoy going solo and I realize the world is not there to be support for team Marc. or I would be a cat.
My whole afternoon hinged on a couple of acts of generosity of others. Being the narcissist I am they did not go unnoticed.
First of all my loving wife Shirley from here out known a S.S.W. "Shirley the Shuttle Wench."
S.S.W. allowed me the time to go. She will tell you I don't need her permission but more importantly she agreed to run shuttle. Upon arrival at the put in at Walker Ln. my 2 liter of water turned up missing. The weather forecast called for mid 90s and a heat factor of 100 to 105.
I 've been pounding fluids all morning and chugged a 20 ouncer of propel on the ride from the house . Being blessed with more than my share of stupid from the start. I figured I could make it to the take out at Oscar Paterson on what I had in me. Stupid and ignorance are two different things though. Even us legends in our own minds need water. The Winchester Rd. leg would have to wait. Then S.S.W. gave me her 1 liter of smart water. Now that's love. Winchester Rd. was now back on the table. I had a plan. And water. Off I went assuring S.S.W. I would call from either Oscar Paterson or Winchester depending on how good of time I made and water. She's heard this before.
Back to my plan. The paddle from Walker Rd. to Oscar Paterson took 1 1/2 our or a little less
I paddled some what aggressively and might ad ferrying skill are are more important at low water levels than you may think. Cuts down on drag time. If you can find and hit the sweet spots which were far to few on the Flint river this week end. The Flint has one or two spots of class 2 in it . Most of it as Mr. Garland would say is boring.
One of the reasons I enjoy endurance sports like running, flat water paddling, biking is the moving meditation . If you're slow like me you get really mellow.
Now the second act of kindness and my plan. I made it to Oscar Paterson where there happens to be a small church. If I was living right some one would be at the church and I could refill my water bottle and go on.
Word of advice. I have a fair amount of experience with endurance sports, working in the heat. You can not drink too much water. You may drink too fast. And you may hear of people dying of water overdoses. There are contributing factors in those cases. On the other hand not drinking is a sure thing. Improper hydration is a contributing factor in most out door mishaps. Something I have avoided so far. My plan was to drink as much as I comfortably could and refill my bottle.

The Church was locked up tight. I checked the grounds for a water hose or spicket and came up empty. I had been drinking on schedule every 10 to 15 min and had nearly 3/4 of a liter left. But not knowing how long the run from Oscar Paterson to Winchester would take. I resigned myself to calling S.S.W. for a pick up.

Then the second act of kindness that made the day possible occurred. A family fishing and picnicking where I pulled out of the river saw me wondering around with a water bottle in my hand.
They figured I needed a refill. Not having water hey asked me if I would like a soda. The other food group. " Well yes I would and Thank you very much."

A can of Faygo a power bar and off I went. Eight more miles of paddle, paddle, bump, scrape, drag and carry. I maintained the same fluid schedule the rest of the trip. Figuring with the heat I had a half hour after the water ran out before hallucinations and disorientation set in. I was only partially correct.

I had one good drink left when I hit Winchester Rd. The hallucinations started long before. I actually imagined I was having fun.