Down East

I want to find a way to sum up the paddle portion of the journey. After getting stymied yesterday afternoon by wind and tides near the coast where the river grows to several miles wide, and we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to finish, the conditions unexpectedly changed in our favor this AM. We just finished 175 miles of paddling over 7 of the last 8 days. Now we’ll be in Kinston tonight and Raleigh tomorrow to regroup and attempt to re-engage on the hike. We expect to use Raleigh as a home base for some day hikes over the next couple of days to make sure we are both healthy and ready to continue.

So to sum up the paddle in a word, I would say: rushed. Everyone has encouraged us to slow down and enjoy the journey, but Mother Nature dictates otherwise. Somewhat typical of North Carolina in August, thunderstorms were in the forecast for every day of the paddle, with increasing probabilty as the day went on. Each day we were up with the sun around 6:10, quickly packing, eating, and outfitting the boat for the day. We were usually on the water a little after 8 and hustling downriver, trying to complete each paddle before the afternoon and evening thunderstorms rolled in. To our credit, this actually worked and we somehow managed to not get rained on while on the river. Some days we just made it before the skies opened up and some days there ended up being no rain at all, but the all day threat of the unknown kept us paddling hard to the finish. 

The start of the paddle where the river is shady and narrow

Paddling between 6 and 9 hours a day, I have developed muscles in my shoulders and back that I didn’t know I had. We could not recall ever paddling more than 20 miles in a day, so I’m proud that we managed to average 25 miles day after day.

Having to pull off the river last night in New Bern turned out to be a blessing, as it allowed us some time to wander around a beautiful historic city and enjoy a leisurely dinner with some local seafood.

The end of the paddle where the river is several miles wide, and wind, waves and tide come into play

Two happy campers, ready to get out of the sun