04-10-2015

Friday, April 10

A storm came through during the night with strong winds and bringing much colder temperatures. John slept through the entire storm. Disappointingly, we had planned to finally have a warm breakfast, but the wind and cold prevented that – peanut butter on tortilla instead! This was the most brutal morning yet with wind and temps.

The already swollen river rose overnight and the current increased. Whitewater conditions existed where we had to put in our boats, in addition to a large log just off shore. I was scared! John pushed me off – no problem. I continued downstream, hoping John made it. I finally heard a dear voice behind me saying, “I love you!”

Strong current was over ridden by the strong 40-50 mph winds. We encountered whitecaps and had to continue paddling if we didn’t want to go backwards. In the midst of the tiring paddle, however, we saw some cool wildlife: an eagle guarding its nest, a small herd of deer running along the shoreline, swallows diving at and playing with us.

Upon entering Huntington Reservoir, I was surprised at the lack of water – it was just a river. Now I understood John’s previous conversation with the Army Corp of Engineers, when he asked if we would be able to get to the boat ramp. We even “lost” the river at one point and were in very shallow water – our paddles even touched the bottom, but we were very fortunate not to have to pull the boats.

We found what was once the boat dock. John pulled up to shore, unfortunately, just as he pulled his skirt off a wave washed over his boat and filled it with water. The bilge pump came in handy!

After John emptied his boat, we pulled the boats up a steep, sandy hill. We are impressed how well the wheels work. We couldn’t have made this trip without them! One of the best investments we made for this trip (along with sponge and towel)

The first thing I checked out was the restrooms. I knew there were restrooms here but was concerned they may not be open yet. Happiness – they were open AND had hot water!

We had just set up our tent (It was soooo windy – we thought if would blow away. It reminded me of playing with a parachute in gym class in elementary school) when Rebecca from the The Huntington County TAB came to interview us. She had barely left when Terry and Dawn Wanner arrived with our Nelson’s chicken dinners, salad, wine, and our first food box.

After dinner, we did some laundry since we had running water and a great breeze. (wind? At what point does a breeze become a wind?)

I’m afraid it is going to be another cold, windy night!