March 31, 2007

The Best Meal I Ever Ate

Saturday night we camped in Assateague National Seashore Park before heading out to the back country on Sunday. (Orange Line) After filling the kayaks full of water and other supplies to last us three days we began our long slog toward the Green Run campsites.

The shallow water made it a slow paddle. We angled out away from shore to gain a little speed, aided by a slight wind out of the North. It had been a good while since I've put in some distance, and the loaded boat made my body groan with each pull of the paddle.

We decided to stop on the tip of Pine Tree to eat lunch. We were out quite a distance so it was a bit of a paddle to come in for the refueling. A short stop for a bite to eat, and before long we pushed off, heading again away from shore and into deeper waters. We angled our way toward the cut through by the Pirate Islands. Having never been there before I was constantly second guessing where the campsite was located. But as luck would have it I guessed correctly and before long we dragged our tired butts out of the kayaks and began setting up camp.

Another grueling chore...arriving only to continue to burn calories hauling up the essentials and making camp. By the time we sat down to eat - an easy meal of chili and mashed potatoes - we were exhausted. As the food was served someone made the comment 'This is the best meal I have ever eaten'. Immediately we all agreed. It WAS the best meal I had ever eaten and I felt like I had earned every single bite.

(Purple Line) On Monday we headed out after chatting with a ranger who had come out to look for a mare she needed to shoot with a contraceptive dart. We paddled around a few of the guts and got in close to several groups of ponies to get some photos. As I sat in the kayak wishing the ponies would get closer they suddenly bolted toward me, running out of the bushes.

The park ranger walked out of the brush behind them, carrying her dart gun. She raised it and fired, but I think she may have missed since she put the rifle down and walked over and picked the dart off the ground. We paddled away as to not interfere with her duties, and soon found an even larger group of ponies to photo.

It was a short paddling day, which I was thankful for since it gave me a chance to recover a bit from the previous day's paddle and to catch up on some reading. Before long though it was getting near dusk so we walked out to where the kayaks were beached to watch the sun set over the bay. Before the lights turned dark I thought I saw a kayak turn out in the bay and start heading our way, but after waiting a good bit for them to show up they never did.

After an awesome sunset we turned around to continue the show and watched a full moon rise above the trees, another awesome sight. But as dark surrounded us we called it a night.

(Green Line) On Tuesday we packed the kayaks for the trip back. We had originally planned to stay another day but the weather outlook was not looking good so we decided to play it safe. But there was still a good breeze blowing out of the north and a fog thick enough that we often navigated by compass. Reading the GPS I could see our speed often fell to 2 MPH threatening to make it a very long day. We tried to stay near shore as much we could to cut the wind but the shallow water slowed us even more. About half way back to Pine Tree the wind slackened a bit so we paddled out into some deeper water to gain some speed.

By the time we got to Pine Tree we were tired, cold, and grumpy, but pulling out the stove and heating up soup in a can did wonders for the spirit. As we headed away from Pine Tree we stayed closer to shore until we reached Tingles. By then the wind was slacking so we once again took to deeper water for the short distance we had left to paddle.

Overnight we stayed in the park one last time, recovering a good bit before the drive home. The warmth of the car felt good after a cold and breezy night.

The trip seemed like a blur. On the trip home I made note that the paddle out to Green Run seemed like it had happened weeks before. It was as if the trip was already a distant memory, but one that I will do again and again.

Pictures

Woody