Summer is upon us here in the south and with it the heat and humidity can make being outdoors pretty miserable. Luckily, the one thing that makes it tolerable is water. Today, I'll be joining the Georgia Conservancy for a day paddle down the Broad River near the Georgia-South Carolina border. While I do have my own kayak, I didn't feel like loading it up super early this morning and instead opted to rent one from the outfitter the organization is working with for this trip.
After a drive of about an hour and fifteen minutes, I arrived at the Broad River Outfitters Post and quickly found my group. We did some quick introductions and gear checks before loading onto a couple of old shuttle busses and making our way to the put-in. Along the way, one of the canoes on the trailer came loose and nearly fell off after hitting a stop sign, but we stopped and re-secured it before any real damage was done.
The put-in requires us to carry the kayaks and canoes down a hill of broken concrete to a sandy section of the small river. We each in turn launched into the water and immediately had to navigate a small rapid with a sharp left hook to it. From there, we gathered the boats and began paddling the river. I prefer sit-in kayaks like my personal one, but I'm using a sit-on boat today . . . and one that doesn't provide much of any kind of back support. That may be a problem.
The Broad River is a tributary to the Savannah River, but we won't be paddling that far. Luckily, we're going south with the current, which is fairly strong and so, it's easy to be lazy when I want to. The water here is muddy, but very shallow and while I can't see the bottom, I occasionally drag across it. I do my best to avoid the underwater boulders and do a pretty good job of it. We hit a couple of sections of tiny rapids, but nothing significant during the first third or so of our voyage.
At about the four-mile mark, we beach the boats on a large island that splits the river in two before allowing it to rejoin on the far end. We take a lunch break here and I enjoy a peanut butter sandwich that I threw together before leaving the house this morning. As we eat and chat, our guides do some scouting trying to determine our best course for progressing further down the river. They had paddled this area a week ago to get a feel for the challenges, but the water level and rate of flow are a bit higher today changing things a bit. They decide that we should paddle the left side of the island through a couple of class 1 rapids. Anxious to get out of the heat and back on the water, I volunteer to go first, but one other guy beats me to it and quickly makes his way through a couple of quick turns and over a couple of spillways to arrive back at a calm part of the river. I follow immediately after he finishes and enjoy the adventure it. I'm no expert paddler, but this was well within my skillset to navigate. After I get through the rapids, I beach my boat again and away the rest of the group to come through. Surprisingly, everyone makes it safely and no one went in the water. Nice job!
From there, it's smooth paddling the rest of the way. However, the lack of back support is really starting to be a problem and I find myself stretching my back constantly trying to alleviate some of the discomfort I'm feeling. I'm also noticing that the sunscreen I put on my legs doesn't appear to be having much effect as they start to turn a nice shade of baked salmon.
Another three miles or so and we once again, beach on a large rock/small island on the left side of the river. I take advantage of a large area to lay flat on my back. The rock is very warm from the beating sun and acts as a heating pad on my aching back. I think I actually dozed off here for a few minutes, but soon, I decide to join some of my fellow adventures along the edge of the rock for a dip in the cool waters. With my back leaned up against he rock/island, the pain is held at bay for a bit.
Soon, we're back on the water and making for the finish line. Along the way, we pass one side of an old, abandoned bridge support. I scan the opposite side of the river for its counterpart, but to no success. It's interesting that one would be here in such good condition, while the other is no where to be found. Perhaps, the stones that it was comprised of were hauled off for other projects in decades past.
Finally arriving back at the outpost where we first started, we disembark from our boats and say our goodbyes. It was a great trip and I'm glad to join these good people for it and the noble cause they support. I just wish I wasn't in so much pain. I'm looking forward to sitting back in my car seat. After placing a towel down on my seat to keep it from getting so wet and changing into a t-shirt I brought along, I glance at my GPS tracking app. We paddled about 11.2 miles today and it was pretty glorious. I'm looking forward to getting home though and enjoying my comfortable chair and a cold beverage.
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