No man steps in the same river twice...

Heracitus (556 bc) said, "No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man."

Apparently it is still true and also applies to women. 

YRA in the old Depot

If you can remember way back to June, back in the time before blistering heat, raging storms and suffocating humidity, I actually took two camp trips with friends for the purpose of checking out two state parks I had not camped before and to paddle different sections of the Yadkin River--also new territory. The plan was to camp the weekend of June 9 with Ruthie at Pilot Mountain State Park and paddle a section of river overseen by Yadkin River Adventures (YRA) in Dobson, NC. The weekend of June 30 (very near to my birthday), the plan was to stay with Ruthie and my young'uns at Stone Mountain State Park and all of us celebrate by paddling a different section of the Yadkin that YRA offered that skirts Pilot Mountain. 

Fashionista

The Pilot Mountain trip was great. This was Ruthie's first river trip and this section of the Yadkin has lots of class 1 riffles, made a little easier that weekend by recent rains. So recent and so heavy that a rest stop half way down had to be cleared for landing with a bulldozer, the river mud was so deep. Ruthie, who is the last person on the planet to call herself a fashionista was actually wonderfully color coordinated with our rental boats, about which I teased mercilessly and she took in good humor. 

We really did have a wonderful time, but reminiscent of my trip with Joan to DuPont State Forest, tragedy struck on the river a few days after we left. Two folks were out canoeing on the Yadkin without wearing life vests and one did not return. On the day Ruthie and I were there, two women put in with us, one experienced and one an newbie. The newbie had the good sense to wear her life jacket. Her friend who was actively instructing her had her life vest tucked behind her seat. I cannot emphasize this enough, you CAN NOT put on a life vest once you are in the water. Please just wear the thing. Ruthie is proof you can look chic in one. The woman giving instruction was so confident, and it was so hard not to say something to her, Ruthie and I just kept a distance ahead. 

It's a good 10 miles. It took us a little under 3 hours to make the trip. YRA takes you upriver and you take out under a bridge next to a field where your car is parked. Half way down the river is another bridge with a boat ramp (the one covered with mud that weekend with a small bulldozed path through the mud) where you can take out, rest and find a convenient tree if needed. All in all, a great river trip.

Which is a really good thing because when we came back two weeks later, YRA was too short staffed to take us on the Pilot Mountain run. Not a problem, we did the standard run over again. The river was considerably lower which made the riffles a whole new challenge. The trip took about 30 minutes longer and was a completely new adventure. Ruthie had her confidence up (and her great colors on) and it was new turf for Jessie, Ben and Sydney.

Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain State Park has a wonderful and fairly recent campground with on site water and
electricity--a rarity in North Carolina State Parks. Ruthie's RV was in the shop (I promised I wouldn't
tell why and I won't) so she tent camped as did Ben and Sydney. Jessie and pooch Franklin stayed in LibraryAnn with me. We had a birthday cookout to celebrate my 64th and Sydney's upcoming birthday and were joined by friends from Winston-Salem, Andrea, Brian and their cutie pie, Rowan. Andrea and Brian had not been on the river but they had been chasing Rowan all day, who was still full tilt. I'm not sure who in the crowd was more tired. Not Rowan.

Before we left, we visited a 1840's log cabin homestead at the base of Stone Mountain that was actively farmed until the 1940's when the war took may young men far afield and made it hard for them to return to backwoods life. The walk in through deep woods was exceptionally lovely. Further into the park we came across a lovely weathered clapboard church, still in use. It was right along a rocky creek and did not appear to have electricity. Worship was at 8:45am in the summer, probably due to the lack of air conditioning, so we missed the parishioners but loved seeing their beautiful church. 

The weather this summer has precluded much camping and as I had set a retirement date from my job of July 31, the summer has mostly been a mad dash to get everything at the library in order for my replacement. Poor weather was probably a blessing as I didn't resent the extra time at work--the library basement is blissfully cool and quiet. 

That said, I am taking my first long distance trip to Canada starting August 19 through Labor Day (I say that actually writing this at the end of my first day in Virginia). I am curious to see if the fantasy of long-distance travel that caused me to purchase LibraryAnn pans out in reality. The weekend jaunts have certainly been worth it. Stay tuned...