All roads lead to roam: Kayaking on Little River

Got up EARLY yesterday and roused the troops to go canoeing with the JSU Field School on Little River.

They go a few times a year, we have not been before because we don't have boats. The trip leader e-mailed that he was able to borrow some (from Legacy!) and they would be going Wednesday.

Heading over Guntersville Lake just after the sun was up.

When we arrived, we discovered-no canoes! Just kayaks. We have not been kayaking before and were a little wary. Then the folks who have been before started talking about the different sets of rapids and which ones they wiped out on.

We nearly bowed out, but I decided in the end that we all needed a little adventure. Besides, the kids have never been phased by 55 degree water. I figured we'd come out okay, even if there was a dunking.

It was SUCH a pretty day-sunny, 75 was the high and the clouds melted away as the day warmed.

My vessel for the day!

The kids were in smaller kayaks, which we decided were not what we want-they had to pull over and flip them when they got full. Mine had holes, the water drained out-but it also came in when the boat smacked down over any rapids and my butt and legs were soaked all day!

They let us launch straightaway, paddling upstream for about 20 minutes.

I had a horrible time getting going, but finally got it figured out.

My boat was hard to keep straight, it was very prone to catching the current or the wind and going off course. I got that worked out, the rest of the day was much better-either that or going WITH the current and the wind was easier than against it.

The folks who had their own boats were helpful and very kind with the advice.

I paddled a long way and finally saw the goal-that rock-and started looking for the kids, who had launched well ahead of me and not floated directly into a bunch of bushes with briers.

As I rounded the little bend, there they were, under the rock! Chan had found a bird nest and they were all hanging out in the still water by the shore.

Ben, being a stinkhead.

Stuck the camera in the water and pointed it all around while we waited for the rest of the group.

Ghost leg and foot!

We formed an armada to get a group pic, which was taken from the top of the big rock by Larry, the group leader. But I could not resist one from my perspective!

Here are 2 of his pics from the website:

I am in the only red boat!

Chan and Ben appeared from under the cliff for this one but Jake stayed put.

Jake has been doing better the last couple of days, so he decided some salt for that wound would be great and spent the night before reading their chat history.

I made him come anyway, spring sun is a cure-or at least a balm. It took a while, but he perked back up.

Heading down, we could hear toads calling on the banks.

One of the folks went to investigate and picked up this guy below. We think Fowler's toad:

He was very happy in her warm hands!

The kids all said they like kayaking more than canoeing. Chandler said it was good because she could go explore side streams without having to coordinate with anyone-then proceeded to call Ben over to join her at several of her stops. hehe

They saw lots more toads!

Our lunch stop at Dragon Rock. Testing out the legs, it had been about 2.5 hours of paddling by here.
I had to crawl out of my canoe, my ankle was having none of it.

Watched people get flipped here, though we all made it fine, yay!

Up on the dragon head.

Ben, tired of waiting for the spring water to refill our bottles (we had our water purifier!)

decides to cross the streams and use his hand to direct one trickle into the bottle while catching another nearby. Quite smart!

Dragon Rock!

Full of pep(peroni) and back in the boat!

Little River is SO clear, it was hard to tell how far under the rocks were in places!

This was an awesome triple-drop, SO much fun!

I REALLY liked the foot rests, they were on a little track, so I moved them up through the day to give my legs a break when they got tired of being in one position.

Figured out if I pushed against my legs, my strokes were much stronger.
Though today my sides ache!