Since we were in a camp full of other people, we woke up early. There was coffee, the fire was still going, and we were delighted to see that the sun was out. Spirits were high and Frank Sinatra was on the boombox.
Not only did the Megaboaters make us coffee, but they had brought a giant sack of breakfast burritos… AND they gave us all the ones they didn’t eat. Seriously, those folks were our heroes. I exchanged contact info with one of them in case we ran into trouble down the line (HI, GIULIA!) and Steve and I paddled off into the sunshine. There’s a pretty good chance we’ll never see a single one of them again in our lives, but I like to think that if we pay enough kindness forward it will somehow make its way back around to them as a thanks for their hospitality. The last we saw them they had split up the boats and were milling around in a small rapid, laughing and bobbing in five different directions down the river.
The current picked up substantially from that point on, which was a good thing since the wind did as well. We pulled over to wait out one small squall, but for the most part the day was clear. The biggest difficulty we ran into was trying to locate a campsite for the night. The river was lined with housing developments, country clubs, and RV campgrounds that were NOT particularly welcoming, and the quiet spots were riddled with poison ivy.
Eventually we cut hard across the river to land for the night on a wooded island; we nearly missed it fighting the current. We were relieved to find the area free of poison ivy, and tried to ignore the bullet casings and piles of bear poop scattered around.
Other than the fact that we ate nothing but burritos, the most remarkable event of the day was passing a log fully loaded with very large snapping turtles. We are no longer dangling any appendages in the river on paddling breaks.