So this is why I didn't want to start the blog, I'm not one
to post regular updates of my life. Sorry everyone for the lack of an
update but this is where things stand now.
So
JD and I left Waynesboro, VA via the Shenandoah river. This is known
as aquablazing. Basically instead of following the trail by foot, we
followed by water. To do this we bought a canoe and all the required
equipment to paddle down the river. This was an amazing experience!
Within the first 30 minutes of being on the water we flipped our canoe
in some very small rapids. It was slightly embarrassing how easy the
rapids should have been. Regardless, we flipped and everything went
floating down river. I captured our packs and the required life jackets.
JD caught the paddles. Unfortunately, we also were carrying a cooler
which had food we needed over the next few days that didn't start down
the river until we started to get back in the boat. JD dropped
everything in his hands and went down river to get the cooler. When I
finally get the boat turned over and empty of water JD is walking
towards me up the river with cooler in hand. We get situated in the
canoe again to realize we have no paddles...
Luck
was on our side though. We started again down the river with no paddles
hoping to find them. We found one and have no clue where the 2nd one
went. We weren't entirely screwed! Of course paddling a canoe with one
paddle isn't the easiest thing in the world. This led us to the 2nd time
we flipped over. During this occasion we flipped and again our gear
went floating down river. I went this time to catch it all. JD stayed
behind with the boat which was stuck against a rock with the river
flowing into it. I made it about a mile down the river before I was able
to get all our hiking gear. It took him some time for JD to get the
boat unstuck but he managed. We met up on the side of the river with
our hiking gear, the canoe, life jackets and no paddles. I didn't see
the last one float by and JD didn't notice it when he was catching up to
me. At this point we were literally up a Creek without a paddle. I
start to look around on the shore for something, anything that could be
used to keep us going just to get to a road so we can either get new
paddles or get off the river. JD had other plans though. He walked away
from the river onto a goat farm just over the ridge. The farmer was
there drinking a beer (this was about 10 am on a Thursday) and tending
to some fallen branches from a storm the previous night. JD asks the man
if he had any canoe paddle and if we could buy them from him. Luckily
the guy was extremely nice and didn't immediately yell at JD for
trespassing. Unfortunately the man didn't have any canoe paddles. He
did offer to give us some extremely old row boat oars for free. He
referred to them as antiques. They were sturdy and wooden, weighted
about 10 pounds each and definitely old, but most importantly they were
free and could be used to get us where we needed to go! We gladly
accepted them! This is probably the best trail magic JD and I received
during our journey!
We flipped over
one more time on the first day. Again the canoe got pinned against a
rock due to the current of the river. This time we were smart enough to
tie all of our equipment down so nothing went down stream. I unhooked
all our stuff and JD took it all to the side of the river while I
struggled with the canoe. It took some time but we finally got free and
continued on our way. The first day of aquablazing ended early, around
3pm at a dam. The company we purchased the canoe from was based at this
dam. They drive our boat around the dam and let us camp on their site
for free. Additionally we were only a few blocks from a laundromat which
allowed us to dry all of our gear that was by this time soaked. This
included my phone which despite being in a zip lock bag decided it
wanted to join in on the fun. This is one of the reasons why an update
was delayed.
We got back on the river
the next day and had a much better day. We learned from our mistakes
and individually bagged all of our gear. The day before we bagged our
packs with a trash bag and only important items in zip lock bags. After
everything got soaked I bagged my tent, extra clothing and sleeping gear
separately in trash bags which kept everything dry! We also strapped
our bags to the canoe so that we weren't loosing items down the river.
We only flipped once that day. We ended up camping for the night at a
place with picnic tables and a privy. It might have been private
property but there were no signs and no one caught us so we were good.
The
rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We did decide to be stupid on
our last day on the water. We knew there were no serious rapids and we
knew we only had a few more miles to go before we finished, so the last
day out we did "night canoeing." This was stupid as we could not see
anything on the river or shoreline. We went over a few rapids but
luckily nothing dangerous. We ended up finishing the night at
watermelon park just outside of Harpers Ferry, WV around midnight. This
was the first night we both "cowboy camped" which means we just slept
on the ground with no tent. In the morning we sold our canoe back to the
people we bought it from. JD and I then took a bus from Harpers Ferry
to Washington DC. I left the trail here for a friend's wedding. For the
past 4 weeks I've been off the trail. I went to the wedding and then
went to NYC while I waited to hear back from a job I applied to. On
Friday July 18 I finally heard back from the job. They decided to go
with another candidate so I am heading back to the trail!!
I
will get back on the trail in Waynesboro despite the fact that I have
already canoed past here. I plan to hike in the Shenandoah park which
should help me to get back in hikers shape. I plan to get back on the
trail on July 27. I will continue to post after that! I can't wait to
get back on the trail and finish! Stay tuned for more updates!
PPS. Sorry for the long update, this was part of the reason why it took so long as well, I knew the entry would take some time!
Brent And Tammy's Wedding
Couldn't ask for a better view for July 4
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| Hedwig and the Angry Inch a Broadway show with Neil Patrick Harris. I won lottery tickets to this while in NYC. |
Neil Patrick Harris signing autographs after the show!
I don't remember what this is, but it looked cool!
