Paddling in January, Welcome to Florida.

Compared to a weekend in El Salvador, I thought a paddling trip down the Suwannee River would be a nice, low key adventure. Once again, I underestimated OAR. The nice part about paddling trips is leaving Saturday morning rather than Friday night. Instead of arriving at 3 AM and waking up only a few hours later, I get to enjoy a good night's sleep in my own bed and I don't have to get to the Gear Shed until 8 AM. There were a lot of people on this trip because we split it into a day paddle and an overnight paddle, combining two trips into one large group. The first day, we spent a lot of time on the shore initially. I climbed a lot of giant limestone formations, most of which crumbled in my fingers. After paddling for barely any time, we came across a large bridge. It was coated in graffiti and lacked traffic, foot or car. Instead of merely looking at the bridge and admiring it from afar, we decided to build a zipline. I had never ziplined before and the thought terrified me: stepping off the edge of the bridge and zooming down toward the ground at an uncontrollable speed. The combination of height and lack of control was more than enough for me to say no, yet I found myself pulling on a harness and clipping myself to the rope. 

OAR has this incredible ability to convince me that I should ignore all of my fears and embrace spontaneity. The nonchalant attitudes of Frank and Jeff, who both went on the zipline before I did, forced me into thinking that my fears were irrational. Again, I have no regrets though I am surprised at my willingness to do something so dangerous. If all of your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too? Well, if Jeff and Frank did it and they both survived with no problems, I guess I would and have (only if a harness or other safety gear is involved). We did this for a while and then continued down the river, stopping periodically to swim, to climb the limestone, and to jump off of trees or rope swings. 

The campsite Jeff found for us along the Florida Trail is not accessible by car, only by hiking or from the water. It was awesome, a luxury compared to our usual campsites. We slept in covered gazebo-type structures (no mosquitoes, thank goodness) and there were heated bathrooms including showers. Our group decided to have a potluck dinner, everyone sharing food with one another. As per usual at the beginning of the semester, there were a lot of new OAR members that would now be considered regulars. The next day, we continued our relaxing paddle with several more stops along the way, returning home before dark. 

Events occurred: January 21-22, 2012