dried apricots

Greetings! This is Stephen, and this is my first post on here. This will be the first time ever that I grab the food and clothes that I can carry on my back and leave society for several days. From the family and friends I've talked to, most of them think of this trip as some kind of extremity. Even though we live in a time where it's common for people to rarely go camping, or even never leave the busy streets and shopping malls, I think that we should all be reminded, atleast every so often, that the natural world is probably the most beautiful thing that a human being can experience. I'm glad I have a canoe so that I can have the ability to go explore the natural world. And I'm glad that I'll be experiencing it with three friends who are ready to have a great time together. Surely I will learn a lot from this and memories will be made.

-Chief Sacajawea

Hey everyone, it's Brandon! Just wanted to say hey, and let everyone know that we're merely just over a week away from our launch and we're all getting really excited!! Today me and the guys went grocery shopping together to get most of the rest of what we need to complete our packing. Daniel has immense experience packing, as well as the rest of us being (former UPS employee's, Boy Scouts, and minimalists), so we take great care and detail into packing our gear into the smallest space possible. I posted this poorly done video to show everyone Daniel's gear being packed, and to see kinda what's going on in our heads right now. We will be updating almost daily soon, so keep checking back!

Normal guys...

The four of us all had a meeting this past Friday to go over the last gear that we had left to buy. This coming Friday we'll go out together and grab all of our food for the trip (I'll give a break-down of what we're bringing when I bring it all back home). I haven't written in a while because I am SUPER busy at work! On that note, I want to really drive home the fact that all four of us are regular guys; we don't spend our every waking hour out on the River doing extreme kayaking/canoeing feats. We go to work, we've got bills and commitments just like everyone else. But that just goes to show you what people are capable of when they put their minds to something.

I haven't had too much time to really think about the trip at all this last week, but I can't wait for it to get here. After all the hussle and bussle of the Christmas season, it's gonna be so awesome to leave all the noise behind and loose myself in nature once again!

I've also had some interest from a few people concerning what kind of gear we are bringing, so I think that as the trip gets closer, I may just go ahead and list everything that we're bringing along, to give you all a good idea of what we've got to work with. Stay tuned!

-Daniel

Salutations...

Hi friends and readers! This is Brandon and this just happens to be my first posting on the blog. I’ve been canoeing with the Riverbluff League for some years now, and it’s about time I stepped it up and started talking about why I ride the waters. Today I really just wanted to come on here and express the sheer excitement and anticipation I have for this upcoming trip. After witnessing one of my closest friends Daniel, cross the entire St. Johns in 9 days, and mostly by himself it got me to thinking… What are the limits of a person? Physically and mentally? Is it really possible that someone in the right shape and mind set can accomplish such a feat? None of the four of us going are Olympians by a long shot, but I believe we all possess the spirit of adventure and determination to do something as daunting as this. Just this summer I had arthroscopic surgery on my right shoulder and was pretty much incapacitated for over two months. Looking back, just the preparation for this canoe trip has made me a better person. Just a few months ago I could hardly lift the groceries, but through training and the help of my friends I feel like I can climb a mountain. My mind is sharp and these have been some of the best months of my life. That being said, this voyage is going to be easily the most difficult thing I have ever been crazy enough to see through. Canoeing might seem like fun recreation to many, but if you’ve been on the water for more than a day or two, you know what the risks are. Considering the time of the year and distance we’re traveling there’s plenty of time for the elements, hardships, accidents, and the fear of death. The benefits of completing such an adventure far outweigh the possible downsides though. No matter the cost, the experience to be completely immersed into nature, just me, the paddle, and the earth we come from, are alone tugging at my heart until the day we depart.

-Brandon

Goodbye, David

Just yesterday, my good friend and one of Riverbluff's greatest canoers/kayakers, David Heath, left for the Marines. As most of you know from our previous trip, David wasn't able to travel the entire St. Johns with me in March due to a shoulder injury. He was hoping to finish up the four more days he missed on the River before he left, but didn't get the chance. But who knows? Perhaps he'll have the opportunity again in time. Good luck, David; you'll be missed, my friend!

Elements...

Today is exactly the kind of day we're hoping we won't get on the trip coming up: cold and rainy. There is a worse kind of day, though, which all kayakers and canoers know; cold, rainy AND windy. This triple combo can really mess up your day! Traveling on the water cold and wet all day, plus being chilled by wind, can get you sick, so we're taking some precautions.

We're all getting a rainsuit (jacket and pants) that is completely waterproof and windproof, and as a plus just also happens to insulate. Triple-threat clothes for triple-threat weather! I picked mine up for $10 the other day, and gave it the best run-through test I could at the time: I put it on over my clothes and went in the shower with the water turned all the way cold! I only had a t-shirt and shorts on under it, but still stayed quite warm and dry. Oh, and this particular rain jacket has a waterproof hoodie as well; BIG PLUS!

One other waterproof item is a must; rubber boots. Good ol' cheapo rubber boots will work great to both keep out the cold and the water around our feet, and the rainproof pants can pull right over the tops of them. An extra item that I'm still debating on is waterproof gloves of some kind, though I wouldn't say that they're an absolute necessity.

Now, one problem with cheaper waterproof gear is most of the time they tend to insulate too much. The plasticy material that they're made our of keeps water and wind out because it pretty much keeps everything out. It also keeps everything IN on the inside, including your body heat, so that after a while it can feel like a sauna! Why not just buy some breathable waterproof gear, you might ask? There are two reasons: 1) all four of us are pretty much totally broke, and 2) we enjoy doing stuff with everyday, "average Joe" kind of gear, just to prove that the gear doesn't make the man, the man makes the gear. We might get a little sweaty,sure, but if we do end up putting on the gear mentioned above, then chances are that the weather is pretty nasty, and sweating would be preferred as opposed to facing the elements directly.

Quite honestly, I can't wait to be back on the River again! We've been planning this trip since summer of this year, and now that we're within a month of the start date, I'm definitely getting antsy!

Nature...

What is it about nature that draws us so much? This is a question that I ask myself almost daily. Maybe it's because in nature we find something very similar to ourselves; something that is living, moving, striving to grow to its full potential. In nature we find the unpredictability that is so characteristic of life, and with that unpredictability a sense of newness, of fresh beginnings, of freedom. These are things that many times are completely opposed to the artificial world in which we live. In our artificial world that we have created, everything is lifeless. TVs, microwaves, toasters, computers, cell phones; these things can't grow, they can't improve. Yet these are the things that we now use--that we now RELY ON--to exist.

Humans were made from the earth, and so they belong with the earth. I think that being out in nature connects us to something greater and more transcendent than ourselves; to that Source of life from which all life stems, from each blade of grass to every human. By our very nature, I believe we long for nature, because it reveals to us a part of ourselves.

-Daniel