Book One: “Adventure is at Hand: June
29-July 1, 2012”
It was a long, hard days of work. Weeks of planning this
adventure and I’m starting it exhausted from electrical work, high heat and
heavy traffic. The sounds of idle cars and honking horns build my anticipation
for this much needed get away. My first real adventure since Joe left. Couple
of hours later I finally have the truck loaded up with my gear and kayak and
I’m heading to John’s house. John is the kind of character that everyone needs
in their life. Happy go lucky, manly, unique, rugged, collected, educated, and
traveled.
Knock, knock… I arrive at John’s and I am starving, haven’t
eaten since 10:30 and its now close to 7pm. I snack on some chili and a brat
while John loads up and then we hit the road, Northwest, not to far but remote.
It’s just what we needed.
We arrive at Kelly’s Ford after a slow drive down a dirt
road and we commence our expedition. Light is slowly fading so we need to hurry
so we can set up camp. Our kayaks are packed with the essentials for an
overnight trip. My gear consists of my kayak, paddle, water bottle, water
filter, solar charger for phone, the phone, my sleep system (hammock, bug net,
rain fly: all by eno), a military blanket, my air pillow and sleep pad, Petzel
head lamp, eno string lights, flint, Pocket Rocket stove inside my GSI cook
set, some Clif bars, a dehydrated meal, life jacket, first aid kit, hat,
glasses, some toiletries, rope, my KSOs, and what wasn’t on my person was shoved
into my 35 liter dry sac. Let’s not forget the important stuff, My axe,
machete, and survival knife strapped onto the bow of my boat! A light pack for
a light trip.
John brought the Half Dome 2 tent from REI, like the one I
have, as well as his hammock, his trusty corncob pipe (which he fashions like a
sir), his necessities similar to my gear set up and food. John was the chef for
the trip providing his famous homemade chili (well famous to us), cheese, chips
and beverages. For breakfast we will have eggs and bacon and my meal will be
our lunch for the conclusion of our trip.
Ripples expand as we set our boats into the Rapidan. We
board and paddle southeast towards Old Mill. The heat hugs you like a heavy wet
blanket, but the water is refreshing. We dip our hats and arms in the water as
we go to keep cool. It’s not too deep though, the boats drag in some spots and
it’s hard to keep pace but we need to find a site to camp before night fall. We
get about a mile in and decide on a little island, sandy and clear to stay the
night. The water is so low and it’s been dry out so there is no fear of the
water rising on us. With our boats docked we start to put up the tent to sleep
in since there are no good trees around to hammock.
The wind begins to pick up and we look into the distance.
Storm clouds are billowing and lightning streaks across the sky. The weather
man said it was going to be clear until tomorrow night… what is this? We hurry
the set up and get everything put away and get in the tent to wait out the
storm. Only a few seconds later we realize that the tent has collapsed on us
and our options are limited.
Scrambling inside the tent, we emerge to be pelted with wicked
hail as we gather the gear and tent and shove it into the kayaks to keep from
losing everything. Visibility is low and fear sets in as the storm grows
strong. The crack of the lightning vibrates your body as your heart pounds into
your chest like a hammer. It’s close, a little too close.