Third time's the charm, right? I had originally planned on leaving Wednesday, but we were waiting for my solar panels to come in the mail, and they were slated to arrive Thursday, so we decided we'd leave Friday. But they were re-routed and didn't arrive Thursday, and they didn't arrive today (Friday) until 1:10pm-- ten minutes after the cut-off time that we had said was reasonable for me to get going. So we're leaving early tomorrow morning for real this time! It's a ~4 hr drive up to Lake Itasca (a contraction of the center part of the Latin "Veritas caput," meaning "true head". Because it's the true headwaters of the Mississippi). Then I'll pack up my boat, and get in her ON WATER for the first time! I joked to my Aunt and Uncle that I'll push off and wave goodbye and then sit for a couple hours just a few feet from shore as I try to figure out all my new gear. Hahaha. Anyway, I'm going to start off nice and easy, just a few miles a day at first. I've got portages every day for the next few weeks it looks like, and I think that will be pretty taxing, and I don't want to burn out right at the start. Although I was doing some cardio and weight training before I left DC, I am fully expecting these next few weeks to be the REAL training.
Yesterday, I packed everything into the kayak one more time, to make sure it all fit since I got so much more gear and food compared to what I brought up on the plane with me. It's a tight fit, for sure. I have more stuff on the deck than I'd ideally like to have, but I'm sure I'll get better at packing, and I might find there are some things I can live without (no clue what those might be right about now, but hey, you never know). In the video at the end, you can see that the cockpit is full. On the water, I'll be wearing some of that stuff and the rest will be shoved down past my feet in the cockpit. As you can tell, it was getting dark and the mosquitos were getting gnarly, so I didn't bother doing a complete packing job of the cockpit. But you get the idea. And, hey! This is the first video I shot on the new GoPro! I don't know if you're as obsessive and love watching videos about how to pack efficiently as I am, but if you are, I hope this video delivers.
I imagine that my trip will be feel like more packing and unpacking (as I set up camp and break camp every day) than paddling. It's not the funnest task in the world, and getting everything to fit in dry bags can be weary-making. I've decided to just make this my meditation of the day. Go slow and methodically, one thing at a time, so I don't do something stupid or end up hurting myself just because I'm impatient (yes, I've already scraped off a flap of skin on one of my fingers trying to stuff my sleeping bag too quickly). I can't afford cuts and scrapes, especially for avoidable dumb reasons on this trip. Major exercise in trying to improve grace and patience.
I imagine that my trip will be feel like more packing and unpacking (as I set up camp and break camp every day) than paddling. It's not the funnest task in the world, and getting everything to fit in dry bags can be weary-making. I've decided to just make this my meditation of the day. Go slow and methodically, one thing at a time, so I don't do something stupid or end up hurting myself just because I'm impatient (yes, I've already scraped off a flap of skin on one of my fingers trying to stuff my sleeping bag too quickly). I can't afford cuts and scrapes, especially for avoidable dumb reasons on this trip. Major exercise in trying to improve grace and patience.
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