Paddling In The Darkness

Mike and I met at the Gear Shed once again, just before 5:30. We threw two paddles and two pfds in the back of his Forester, then loaded a canoe on his surf racks. We arrived at a put in about two thirds of the way down the path Nelson had outlined on the website. There weren't any other cars there but we made sure they had overnight parking. We piled into the canoe with a tent, our sleeping bags and pads, food and water, and a machete. We kept running through possible scenarios of our interaction with the rest of the trip when we caught up: have me run through the woods in the dark screaming while Mike chases me with the machete, use our southern redneck accents and enact a dialogue in which I try to convince Cletus (Mike) to leave them nice kids alone this time since Bertha (me) wasn't gonna clean up the mess this time, etc... We paddled through the darkness until we came upon a decent campground area after 11 PM and decided we would try again in the morning. We also kept talking about various what-ifs, such as the canoe breaking, since no one knew where we were.

So, Mike and I settled on our campground and set up the tent. We pulled all of our gear out of the canoe and then he tied it off to a nearby tree. The mosquitos were vicious, so I ducked into the tent almost immediately. Rather than bringing my thick down sleeping bag, I opted for my fleece liner and this was an excellent choice. The next morning, Mike's alarm started going off and he just kept hitting the snooze button, over and over. Eventually, we decided to give in and wake up. We broke down the tent and everything, packing up with the intention of heading farther upstream. At this point, I was extremely sore. We had paddle some 7 or 8 miles upstream the night before. We headed upstream again, trying to hunt them down. We came upon a boat ramp about a mile or two up river and pulled over. I stayed in the boat to watch the shore while Mike checked out the campground. No luck, so we got back in the boat. We kept paddling upstream, stopping a few times and tying off to a tree on the shore, waiting for them to emerge. We, again, had no luck. So we decided to go back downstream toward the car. 

Our paddling efforts virtually died off and we let the current carry us for a lot of the way back. We spotted tons of turtles and birds, a baby alligator, a not-so-baby alligator, and Mike saw a river otter (I missed it). Mike kept standing up to paddle rather than sitting. It looked really funny, especially since he was wearing his straw hat and his long sleeved shirt. As we approached Honey Isle campground, we heard tons of voices and got hopeful. Alas, it was just a bunch of local Floridians (five or more powerboats) jumping off of the rope swings and blasting country music. Suffice to say we paddled away as quickly as possible. Several powerboats drove past us, some slowing and others choosing not to do so.

We made it back to the car and loaded everything up, unsuccessful in our endeavor. We then decided to do some off roading in the Forester with the canoe on top. It was so much fun, especially because we were on roads with giant bumps and puddles. We did that for over an hour and then headed back to Gainesville. We had gone to the take out at Cypress, where we thought Nelson was headed but there were no signs of the trailer or any cars. We assumed they had beat us out but when we returned to the gear shed, the canoes still weren't back. It was strange indeed.

Events occurred: September 7-8, 2013

Oversleeping and Lake Wauburg

The following weekend I was signed up for yet another paddling trip, leaving Saturday at 8 AM and returning Sunday evening. Since I had no class on Friday, I spent the day in Jacksonville with my family. As I was driving back, Mike texted me to hang out and we ended up staying out until past 3 AM. Suffice to say, neither one of us made it for the 8 AM departure time. We decided to meet up at the Gear Shed at 11, grab a canoe, and catch up with the crowd. When we arrived at the Gear Shed however, we were both too exhausted to even fathom paddling. So, we each returned to our respective homes and wasted the day away.

I decided to go to Lake Wauburg to meet up with my friend Angela, who I hadn't seen since the previous April. We sat on the shore, talking and soaking up the sun for a few hours. Then, I went swimming at Lake Wauburg for the first time ever. Well, the first time ever intentionally, since I have fallen off of countless sailboats. The water was warm and murky but I didn't care. I was grateful that my day hadn't gone entirely to waste. Around 4:30 or so, I received a text from Mike about the paddling trip. He knew some coordinates for a put in on the Ocklawaha River, so we could try going upstream and intercepting them. I promptly left Wauburg and headed home to pack, with no idea what I was getting in to.

Events occurred: September 7, 2013

Day Paddle On The Suwannee

After the off roading adventure, I decided to take a break and spend some time in Jacksonville with my family. The following day, however, was Labor Day and thus it was school-free. So, the same band of merry idiots from the off roading trip decided to go out for a day paddle on the Suwannee River, anticipating horrible weather and general misery. 







Never before have I experienced such great weather for a paddling trip. We explored an old bridge covered in graffiti for a bit, then hopped in one canoe. Yes, all five of us were in one canoe. It was a tight squeeze and the boat barely cleared the water but we made it. We paddle upstream for a while, stopping off at some sand bluffs to swim. Then, we found a beach and stopped off for lunch. I had brought my inflatable shark and an inner tube. I blew them up, which took forever, and then we swam around with them. Mike, Logel, and Chelsea tried to escape with the boat and the shark but I grabbed the inner tube and dove in after them. Kelsey was right behind me. I caught up to the boat and flung myself over the side of the boat. We tied the inflatable shark off the back of the canoe with some paracord and Kelsey rode the shark most of the way back. We all relaxed, letting the current pull us. Then, we spotted the dark thunderclouds that we had anticipated and started to paddle toward shore, packing up the canoe and gear right as the rain started up. We made it out of there just in time.


That night, after a shower and sunburn assessment (I was disappointingly still pale), I headed over to Mike's apartment sans Kelsey. She supposedly had homework to do. Excuses, excuses. Mike and I played Halo on the XBox for about an hour when Logel showed up and took over for me. It was fun but I was pretty terrible at it. Chelsea soon joined and the two of us playing Halo was a disaster. We died every 10 seconds or so, getting lost and confused along the way. It was still a lot of fun but not my forte. 

Events occurred: September 2, 2013

Santa Fe Paddle: Can I Do Anything?

The next few months were a whirlwind of physical therapy, gym time, shopping, beach, and relaxing with my old high school friends. The most I exerted myself was bouncing between running and abs sessions at the gym and weights at physical therapy. I slowly regained my range of motion and started building up strength with weight training. By the time I returned to Gainesville, I was beyond ready to go on an OAR trip. The first trip of the semester was a paddle on the Santa Fe. I thought this would be the perfect way to ease back into adventure: if I couldn't paddle, the rest of my boat would take up the slack and I wouldn't have to carry any gear. It was also only a day trip so I was free to do whatever I wanted for the rest of the weekend.

My boat consisted of Michael, Carolanne, and Brice. We headed downstream, stopping of at countless springs to swim. We met Naked Ed, the legendary keeper of Lily Springs. I chose not to talk to him and therefore did not see any nakedness. Naked Ed is an old man who sits on a dock in front of the spring, completely naked, virtually every day. We played with a giant inflatable ball on the shore (away from Ed) and then headed further downstream. The wildlife was incredible; I don't think I've ever seen that many turtles in my entire life. We made it down in record time with two other boats. The others were about an hour behind, so we decided to leave for dinner and Gainesville, returning with some daylight still left.

Events occurred: August 24, 2013

Midnight Paddle on the Santa Fe

Within 48 hours of returning to Florida, I found myself driving down to Gainesville to go on a typical OAR night paddle. Mike texted me the day before and I drove down with no hesitation. I met him at his apartment and we proceeded to the Gear Shed, where Bevin was ready to throw a canoe on top of her SUV. We picked up Nina and Kendall, then headed to the Santa Fe River. Squishing five people into a canoe is quite the OAR specialty. We paddled upstream for a long period of time, barely moving against the current. Getting back to the car took virtually no time because the water was moving so swiftly that we didn't even have to paddle. We heard voices around our car and panicked. We tried to approach slowly in case it was a band of thieves or murderers or something. We saw floodlights though, and realized it was the police. They saw our car and thought it was abandoned or something, so they just wanted to make sure we were ok. We thanked them as we loaded our canoe and then headed home. 

Events occurred: May 8, 2013

Logels in Florida

Due to the persuading of Mike (and me, a little bit... at least, I like to think), Logel decided to actually come to Florida to visit for once, bringing his brother and two friends, Windham and Joseph. They were expected to arrive around 2 AM Friday night/Saturday morning, so we decided to stay up and play foosball in anticipation. However, when Logel informed us that they would be arriving around 5 AM, Kelsey and I decided to go home and sleep. 

The next day, we met Logel and crowd for breakfast in Gainesville and then headed to UF's Lake Wauberg for some sailing. I hadn't been sailing on a Hobie Cat before and I was in for quite the adventure. My first round was with Mike, Logel, and Kelsey. The water was chilly and the sun was playing coy with us, so getting soaked was not as fun as I anticipated. We almost flipped the Hobie several times and I seemed to get the brunt of the waves smashing into us. Suffice to say, I looked as if I had been swimming by the time we circled back to shore. Bevin's Hobie Cat was having rudder issues, so I volunteered to go in her boat and give the others a chance. I was with Bevin, Vlad, Kelsey, and Logel, Mike had the other three. We raced each other around the Lake and Mike's boat kept trying to jump onto ours. We ended up at one point with six people on our boat, swapping Logel for his brother and Windham. Bevin kept trying to get Kelsey and I to swim and she eventually elbowed me out of the boat. I flew over the edge and fully submerged as they sped away. Mike and Logel came to get me and pulled me out of the freezing water. We played around with the boats for a while longer before going to get ice cream nearby and then hiking to Paynes Prairie. 

That night, we invited over tons of OAR people to Mike's apartment and challenged each other to rounds of foosball. I'm absolutely terrible but it was a lot of fun and I practiced with Bevin until we both were pretty decent. We moved the foosball table into the hallway and tried to drag random passersby into our games. Few complied but the ones that did seemed to have fun. Then we headed to Shotgun Hole for a night of caving and swimming in the springs. The next day, Logel and his fellow North Carolinians joined Mike and I in Jacksonville for further adventures. We went to Mike's house and paddled his Hobie Cat (rather than sailing it, the mast was difficult to deal with) to Exchange Club Island. We walked around and explored the island some before paddling back. I steered the boat in for a perfect landing and then we piled into cars and went to my house. There, my mother prepared a chocolate fountain party for the six of us and I was impressed with the guys' ability to eat through a majority of the food. We then went to Mike's parents' for dinner, at which point I thought my stomach would explode. Then the Logel group headed back home, a nice weekend on the water in the middle of February. 

Events occurred: February 22-24, 2013

Post-Meeting Paddle on the Silver River

After the first OAR meeting of the semester, we embarked on a night paddle down the Silver River. Though I was promised monkeys, I did not see any. We had a fairly large group for a post meeting activity, so we crammed as many people into each canoe as we could. I accidentally hopped in backwards but I stayed that way so I wouldn't have to paddle. This backfired horribly. Carolanne, who was facing me, accidentally smacked me in the eye with the end of her paddle, popping one of my blood vessels. So, at this point, this was the most injured I had ever really been on an OAR trip (my injured ankle at Gregory's Bald ended up feeling fine by the time I got to the car) and it was my own fault. Even then, I still had a lot of fun racing down the river and battling the other canoes with our paddles. 

Events occurred: August 23, 2012

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

Bob's River Place and Paddling on the Suwannee

The perfect complement to my cycling trip was the relaxing paddle on the Suwannee River the next day. Two canoes full of OAR kids headed down the Suwannee, swimming in a random spring and heading to Bob's River Place. Bob's is a Florida institution. Started only a few years ago and shut down by the government on a regular basis, Bob's was open to the public by an older man (name Bob, obviously) who had built it initially for his grandchildren. Bob lives on the Suwannee River and turned his backyard into a small park, characterized by rope swings, slides, a sand volleyball court, a zipline, and a deck for karaoke. Unfortunately, because Bob had built this without paying mind to state regulations, a lot of it was closed when we were there, including the zipline and slides. Still, the rope swings, one affectionately named "Demon," were still open for business.






My aforementioned fear of heights also includes rope swings. Still, I took a chance and leapt off the edge, clinging to the rope for a few seconds before plunging into the river. The beach volleyball, however, was truly my forte. Despite mixing up the teams, I was on the winning side for all three games we played. My dedication to diving for the ball resulted in several bruises and an abundance of sand everywhere. The karaoke was another story and I was surprised that the other people at Bob's didn't revolt when some of the guys in my group decided to sing Lady Gaga. We swam around as well and eventually paddled back to the car. Our car was parked near a local convenience store, known for their incredible fudge and barbecue, just like most local Florida restaurants. The perfect end to a fun-filled, stress-free trip.


Events occurred: October 16, 2011

After Meeting Moon Paddle

Though I didn't know it at the time, I created the perfect schedule for being an OAR member: class on Mondays and Fridays didn't start until 11:45. Most of the paddling trips I have been on in the past two years have been spontaneously put together at the absolute last minute. After one of the OAR meetings, a group of us, led by Michael and Carolanne, decided to go on a late night paddle, meeting at the Gear Shed around 9 PM. This worked out perfectly for me, since I had Mock Trial practice until 8:30 every Thursday of that semester. I sprinted over to meet everyone and we decided to paddle on Newnans Lake. There were six of us, but rather than taking two canoes, we decided to pack in like sardines in one. I strategically picked a spot in the middle so I wouldn't have to paddle as much. The moon was especially bright that night so we had no need to for headlamps, though we brought them just in case. There were other people on the lake, some chasing alligators and others throwing bonfire parties off the shore. We decided to crash this bonfire party and showed up via canoe, much to the surprise of the drunk college students throwing a party in what they thought was a private spot. They were very friendly though and our group laughed amongst ourselves at the situation: a bunch of random kids crashing a party by canoe. We didn't stay long, spending just enough time to be amused by the partiers' reactions. Headed back toward the middle of the lake, we got somewhat lost but eventually we found our way back to where we had put the canoe in, the first of many late night paddle sessions. 

Events occurred: October 13, 2011

Meeting Random Strangers

It all started my fourth week of college back in 2011. I had signed up for a "list serve," an entirely new concept to this doe-eyed college freshman, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. OAR (outdoor adventure recreation) was the best organization I could have ever stumbled upon. I joined the list serve and dove in immediately, responding to my first two emails with minimal hesitation. The first was for a backpacking trip that upcoming weekend and the second was rock climbing at a local indoor gym, the Gainesville Rock Gym (GRG). I had only ever been rock climbing once before, at a gym in my hometown at the end of my senior year of high school. Quite frankly, I was, and still am, terrified of heights. Yet, I often seem to put myself in situations where I am dangling off a rope on the side of a mountain or jumping out of an airplane, such as my first (and only) tandem skydive, another senior year exploit. I didn't know anyone going and the only information I had was the location of the gym and the name of the guy I was meeting, Michael. He had a gym membership and a monthly free pass for newbies that he was offering. I emailed him and thus embarked on my first OAR adventure. Climbing was easy, though in retrospect, I wasn't climbing anything particularly strenuous. I learned how to belay and was shocked that this guy, who had never met me before, was willing to take a chance and let this novice control his life with a rope and a belay device. I've learned since then that this is the OAR way: embracing new comers and eagerly teaching them skills to engage in various outdoor activities. 

Meeting up with this group of rock climbers, all of various skill levels and personalities, ended up being the first of many random adventures culminating in a late night return to my dorm and weird looks from my roommate. The night started with rock climbing but certainly didn't end with it. Apparently, it was "talk like a pirate day," so a small group of us, four including me, decided to go paddling on some creek I had never heard of. We headed off to the Gear Shed, an old shed located on a piece of property that we share with the UF Bee Bio Unit. At first glance, I was skeptical. The shed is surrounded by an old fence with barbed wire and the key is hidden in a lock box on the ground, typically obscured by leaves. All of the clubs canoes and kayaks are piled up on some old, rusty racks and the rest of the gear is scattered within the shed. Yet, I ventured on, climbing into Carolanne's SUV and surrounding myself with paddles and life jackets. The paddle was a complete failure. We pulled off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and bumbled through overgrown brush and trees to find this creek. It was mostly dry and by the time all four of us had plopped ourselves into the canoe, we had sunk down into the muck. We "paddled" about three feet in each direction before giving up  on the idea. Or at least, I had given up on the idea. The rest of the group didn't back down so easily. We took off on foot to find another place for our canoe, creeping under a bridge and meeting some mosquitos and spiders. After that, we all declared the evening over and returned to the gear shed. I headed back to my dorm, overwhelmed by the whole situation and excited for the impending trip I had that weekend, backpacking Gregory Bald Mountain on the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the Smokies.  

Events occurred: September 19, 2011