Labor Day Canoemping! (Sunday)

The funny thing about camping is that somehow, you are almost guaranteed to wake up shortly after the sun rises, and this time was no exception. As is our usual habit, Brandy quickly got dressed and got started making coffee and breakfast, while I got to work breaking down camp. In the process, I managed to pack things into the backpacks much more efficiently than before, and they were no longer wobbly.

Paused to scarf down Brandy's offering, which was considerably better fare than mine the night before -- scrambled eggs, bacon, and a potato and onion hash on the side. My appetite was at a very high ebb, as it would be when I'm getting as much exercise as we were enjoying this trip. Gonna be rowing all day? Make sure you have a hearty breakfast.

After cleanup, we loaded everything back into the canoe, and also found that I had managed to get a bit of a sunburn the day before, as had Brandy where she hadn't been able to reach with the sunscreen. We coated ourselves as best we could with the remainder of what we had, and agreed on the plan that we would pretty much stay wet....if we felt overheated, we'd pull ashore, go for a brief swim, then continue on our way.

From what we could tell, we figured we had only gone about 4 miles on Saturday, out of the total 20 miles that the trip would be. We wanted Monday to be a relatively short day, so as to have plenty of time to go home, unload the car, do laundry, and all that other real world stuff before having to go back to work on Tuesday morning.

We looked at the map, and the only useful landmark we could determine near the end was a lifeguard chair at an old Boy Scout swimming beach....this was supposed to be at the 15 mile mark or so. That meant we would be rowing roughly 3 times the estimated distance we had gone the day before. So, yeah, the goal was to make up some lost time.

It was around 9am when we hit the water, paddling down a wide, slow-moving section of the river. There was a slight breeze, and we were enjoying the cliffs and trees on either side of us. For a while, it was easy to think we were the only people on the river, as there was nobody around us, and it was very quiet.

Soon, we saw a couple of figures ahead on the bank. As we approached, one suddenly jumped up and ran back toward their campsite. When we got closer, I couldn't resist calling out, "What's the matter? Needed to throw some clothes back on?"

Laughing, the guy replied, "Nah, she saw a snake."

We struck up a conversation with the couple, and at one point they commented that they may have to end the trip early, as they had run out of ice and had perishable items. Well, far be it from us to let people suffer when we're pretty well prepared -- we'd left with 2 large frozen gel packs. We gave them one of ours, and also preached a bit about how nice the microfilter bottles had been in terms of the amount of stuff we had to carry. They're planning on buying a couple of their own now.

As we departed, I joked to Brandy, "now let's see what the next mission is for River Rescue."

Aside from glorious scenery, our time was spent quietly paddling, with no major events, as we were looking for the "yellow and black pipe" that was supposed to mark the halfway point. We were a bit confused as to why they didn't also mark the power lines, as those were considerably more obvious. Next time, I plan to bring my own map.

Eventually, we met some nice folks who explained that what was probably meant was a dock, that once upon a time had a cooler, and sold ice and a fresh meal to those poor souls who had just spent 10 miles on a river. At that point, we were starting to realize that while not having to lug bottled water was nice, we could also really go for a cold soda.

So we paddled and paddled, visions of sugar highs dancing in our heads, and we finally saw a dock in the distance. As we approached, however, it appeared that the cold drink thing was not going to happen. There was a covered area with picnic benches, and a grill is horrible disrepair, a rusty refrigerator, an overgrown playground that hadn't been used in years, and now us, two disappointed canoeists. I went up the dirt road a bit, but it didn't look like it connected to a main road anytime soon, which meant that a short hike to a convenience store wasn't what was meant, either. Note to self: don't believe that it's still there if the information you're getting is from a vague memory.

No big deal, though -- we certainly weren't having any hydration issues thanks to the water bottles, and we still had plenty of food. Course, we weren't really hungry, but it did seem like a nice place to sit down for a while and relax in the shade. Both of us were starting to feel fatigued from all the rowing, and we wanted to rest a bit before starting on the next 5 or so miles we were estimating. Besides, some other canoeists showed up, and while they pretty much stayed down by the beach, the view was worth hanging out and watching -- ah, bikinis and the Texas sun...

Soon after they left, a truck came barrelling down the road. Hm, maybe we had just been early and this dock had hours? Nope -- they had a cooler, all right, but it was a group of young men with their beer, out for a swim off the public dock. We rested for just a bit longer, but then decided to go ahead and get back underway.

Time can be a funny thing on the river. We hadn't brought any timepieces with us -- the cell phones were safely stashed in the car (no signal anyway), and neither of us wore a watch. While I couldn't simply look up at the sun and tell you it was 2:18pm or anything, I had picked up somewhere a simple way to figure out how much daylight you had left. So far it's worked out reasonably accurately, at least when I can check it against a clock. Assuming it's the afternoon, when your arm is fully extended (it doesn't matter which one), count the number of open handspans between the bottom of the sun and the horizon. That tells you roughly how many hours you have until sunset. If you know about what time the sun has been setting, this can give you a fair idea of what time it is, too.

This, of course, is relevant because after paddling since early morning, with one more dropping of a paddle while zipping through some minor rapids (a tree branch knocked it out of my hands while I was ducking -- fortunately, we maneuvered and recovered the paddle without capsizing again), and passing a few campsites (although I didn't recognize anyone from the group we had set out with....so I was wondering how many groups passed us), we finally saw the tall wooden lifeguard chair from the overgrown area that used to be a beach. Oddly enough, we'd come all this way and it looked like it was only about 2pm (the sun was just barely past the middle of the sky).

We had a problem. Someone had planted the thought in our heads of a store where we could get some drinks or something at that midpoint, which turned out not to be there. We still had supplies, and if we wanted, could put together a fairly nice dinner for camp food, especially compared to stuff we'd seen other people bringing.

We knew we were only 4 or 5 miles from the take-out point. And a Chinese buffet was starting to sound more and more appealing. Hm....we loved being outdoors, though....but....chinese buffet.....

The hell with it -- we rationalized that we could get all the stuff washed and otherwise rest on Monday so we were prepared to go back to work -- we'd already paddled 12 miles; what was another 4 or 5? So we got back to it, paddling, paddling, paddling....

Along the shores, we noticed that we were apparently past the good campsites, anyway. The shoreline was now either fenced off, or contained cows. Lots and lots of bovine bunkmates didn't really appeal to us in choice of campsites.

Speaking of cows....one thing they didn't warn us about was that we'd go through a six inch deep patch of water right where it was a favorite crossing path for the herd. There a a slightly tense moment as we veeerrrryyyy sssssllllooooowwwwllllyyyy passed a large bull with vicious-looking horns. He was maybe ten feet from us, and if he had decided he didn't like us, we pretty much just had a pair of aluminum and plastic paddles to defend ourselves with. Fortunately, he seemed content to merely watch us and make sure we didn't make any sudden moves at the other cows crossing the river....we floated by saying "nice cow, good cow...."

In the home stretch, we passed some families that were out for the day, that had apparently started at Rochelles and just gone upstream a mile or two. We also finally passed someone that had been in our original group! A few more fun riffles and paddling, and ah-hah! The bridge!

We make our way to shore just after the bridge, and Brandy heads up to get the car while I'm unloading the canoe and making sure that all our stuff is accounted for (except the griddle we'd lost a few hours into the trip). We left their gear in the boat, with it pulled well up onto shore, loaded our stuff in the car, and said goodbye on our way past the house. Course, it was a bit after 6, so we were gonna be charged for the extra day, but that's okay -- we were suddenly ravenous, and looking forward to that buffet. We made our way back to the nearest main road, and as soon as we were in town, there was a dash for the bathroom, followed by the purchase of some Powerade. I guzzled mine and a liter of Dr. Pepper before we made it to the next town, 15 miles away.

Pulling in to Mineral Wells, we decide to clean up a bit before appearing in public, so after a brief stop at the state park (ah, showers!), we made our way to the buffet and gorged ourselves....I think I made 5 trips through the line. Course, on the way home, I apparently hadn't yet taken in enough calories, as I had a large soda and a pound of Skittles.

Yeah, I burn a lot of energy....high metabolism + lots of physical activity (you know, like rowing 16 miles) = one very hungry Jacob.

Got home, said hi to Angela, and promptly passed out....we saved all the unloading of the car, laundry, etc. for Monday.

Yes, we were exhausted, and yes, while we packed well, we noticed a few things we could improve upon....and I can't wait till we go again.