Down the River

It is September once again and Labor Day weekend here in the US heralds the unofficial end of summer. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, we should expect a “Polar Coaster” this coming winter. Meaning, it will be freezing, frigid, and frosty.

So my friends and I went for an adventure last Sunday to take advantage of this fleeting summer. Did we go biking? No, done that. Hiking? No, done that too. We went kayaking!

I have never done kayaking before. I have been in a canoe a few times, but not in a kayak. The only “kayak” I have gotten into before was the search engine for cheap flights and hotels. Our group, three teams of father and son, were mostly first-timers, except for the one who planned this trip.

We went to this little Iowa town to meet our guy who would provide our equipment. We then drove through a winding dirt road and came to one access boat-ramp by the river where we parked our car. Then we were taken by a truck, with our rental kayaks, a few miles up the river where we were dropped off to start our journey.

The river was relatively quiet with only a gentle current. No big scary drop-offs, just a few rapids. Since it was also the end of summer, several portions of the river were shallow, so shallow that you could get stuck in some rocky portions.

It was the perfect weather for being outdoors that afternoon. Not too hot, nor too cold, and the water was cool and inviting for a swim, if in case your boat tipped over.

When we were dropped off the river, we were told that we were going to paddle 5 miles down the river to the station where we parked our car. We were given landmarks to watch out for. We were told that when we passed the first bridge, that meant we already travelled 4 miles. And when we passed the second bridge, that meant our destination was only half a mile away. If we missed that access ramp, we could end up paddling for several more miles to the next access ramp (or to Missouri?), so we had to be vigilant.

After some time paddling, we got the hang of it, and were able to drive forward, instead of going in circles. For me, a kayak was much easier to maneuver than the other paddle boats I have tried. It can be tiring though, yet it is a good work-out for the arms.

It was a great adventure to travel down the river. We saw several herds of deer drinking at the river bank. There were lots of birds flying above us and we even spotted a bald-eagle. There were fishes swimming around us, and thank goodness there were no piranhas or alligators in this river. There were other smaller creatures, like water-striders that glided across the surface and dragonflies that zipped above the water. We also passed some people fishing and saw two men who set up a camp in a secluded area of the river.

We stopped once to take a break and to take a leak. While resting, we also ate some snacks and took a drink of water (no, not river water, we’re not that adventurous). We tried our skills at skipping stones on the river as well. My son proudly said that he was able to skip a stone almost 20 times. Though that may sound impressive, the world record is 88 skips, so it was not even close.

We were enjoying our time together, leisurely paddling and floating down the river, but we got really excited when we saw the first bridge. Maybe it was reassuring to know that we were making good progress and that we were nearing our destination. After that, it did not take us long to pass the second bridge. It took us a little less than 3 hours to cover the 5 miles. Not bad at all.

The last mile of our trip seemed to have more rapids, which made us go faster, but I got stuck on the rocks in one of those rapids. And no amount of paddling or maneuvering could get me free. So I got out of my boat, waded in the river, and pulled my kayak out of the shallow waters.

When we reached our destination, two from our group took an unintentional swim as they were getting out their kayak. Or maybe they really just wanted to cool off before we pulled our boats up the boat ramp.

It was an exhilarating experience, and what a nice way to end this summer. Our arms may be aching, but our hearts were swelling with joy. We enjoyed it so much that we promised that there would be a next time.

Floating down the river,

Pinoytransplant

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(*Photos taken with an iPhone; I was ‘brave’ to bring my phone in this boating trip, knowing that my phone might take a swim.)