Beaverdam Stream

We got her back up there!

Carrying a 70+ pound canoe with one other person isn't the most difficult thing to do, but carrying a 70+ pound canoe with one other person through bug-filled woods on a hot day is a completely different story. Not only is it a challenge to keep a good grip with sweaty hands, but to try and fight off swarms of mosquitoes and deer flies while stepping over fallen trees and protruding roots without dropping the canoe seems like a sick joke. How can anyone possibly avoid the blood-sucking mosquitoes and the flesh-tearing bites of deer flies with 70+ pounds of canoe in their slippery hands, all the while stepping over the rugged forest floor? The answer is, NOBODY REALLY DOES!

The trick is to take frequent and abrupt breaks, and to be back on the move before the bugs catch up, getting so bad that it is impossible to breathe without inhaling an insect. This is what Beth and I did one afternoon at Sunkhaze. Mind you, this was all just to get the canoe into the water. 

After what felt like a mile we finally got ourselves and the canoe to the water. I was relieved, but I knew that we still had the walk back as well as loading the canoe back onto the truck ahead of us. It was a small winding stream bordered in flowers, shrubbery, and the skeletons of trees that probably haven't had leaves on them for years. We took off with fancy paddles, lifejackets, and a shovel. The shovel was for digging up Purple Loosestrife, but we used it for everything but. 

The water was shallower than we expected in some places; at first because of a several beaver dams, later because that was just how the geography of the land is. The limiting factors may have slowed us down but it didn't stop us from progressing further into the liquefied pathways. We pushed on, hopping out of the canoe when necessary to push and pull our way as we zig-zagged on. Beth just hopped right out, shoes and all; I tied my shoes to the canoe and let the soft stream floor squish between my toes. There was a perfect balance between the water and air temperatures. It couldn't have been a more perfect day to be where I was, doing what I was doing. 

After reaching a point in the stream that required more knowledge about the location than we had or at least a map, we decided it would be best to turn back and try the other direction of where we started off. We climbed in and out of the canoe, pushing and pulling it over beaver dams, fallen logs, and other natural obstacles once again. We never ended up seeing any Purple Loosestrife. Even though that was the entire point of our afternoon venture, there was no where else I would have rather been. Besides, the absence of the invasive plant is what we were hoping to see (like that irony right there?). 

Furthermore, I learned some new canoeing terms, like when I learned the scooching technique for instance. I know now also that the next time I come to an obstacle while floating on the water will not be when it is time to turn around.