While the sun shone brightly this morning, it was still cold and blustery as I launched into the Marshy Hope River. A 10 knot wind was following the tide out and the temperature was barely in the 50's, if at all.
I had two choices, follow the tide downstream where the map shows a fairly wide river or turn against the wind and tide and go upstream into the Idylwild Wildlife Management Area. That wasn't much of a choice for me.
I hadn't gone upstream very far before I scared up a flock of about 30 Canadian geese from a field close to the river. For whatever reason, they landed in the water right in front of me. 40-50 Mallards had been snuggled in near the shore when the geese landed and they moved out into midstream.
The geese took off again as I drew near again but the ducks just paddled to one side of the river as I paddled away from them. Most of my experience has been the reverse; the geese usually hang around while the ducks take flight a lot faster.
I passed under two bridges and past a few houses as I moved away from Federalsburg. The 50 foot wide river quickly narrowed to 20 feet as I entered the Idylwild WMA. With the river that narrow, lots of trees hung way out over the river and lots more were down. I was paying attention to the river depth because I didn't want to get stranded way up the river at low tide with no water.
The Marshy Hope soon started breaking off into small channels. I hit a couple of dead ends blocked by downed trees and had to backtrack. Somehow I got myself twisted around because instead of meeting me head on, the current was coming at me from a channel on the side. It took some time for the GPS to establish my location but once determined, it was easy to agree with it and I soon got myself straightened out.
The current was moving against me at about 2 knots. The wind had died though and it was warming up. I had pulled up next to a downed tree and let the current push me against it while I made a couple of notes. I swatted at a bug flying around my face and knocked my glasses into the water. Rolling my sleeve up I tried to feel for them in the murky water but it was too deep. Cussing the whole time, I pulled into shore, got nekkid and started to wade out into the water.
One step and I was almost chest deep in the water. And the water was cold, somewhere in the low 60's. And the air hadn't warmed up as much as I'd thought. I took a second tentative step but that only took me deeper. There was no way I was going to be diving in those kinds of conditions, not even for a $300 pair of glasses. Still cussing I hopped around trying to get dressed again and managed to get everything covered in mud. Needless to say I had a crappy attitude after that and quit for the day.
My first thought was to go back up to New Hampshire for a new pair. Then I thought I'd go to a new doctor in New Jersey. Then I thought I'd go to Wal-Mart's in Florida. By the time I got on the road I had decided to go to a local Rite-Aid drugstore and at least look at those cheapy glasses they sell. I found a pair for $15 that seem OK for now.
Why wasn't I wearing Croakies? I had been wearing them all the time since I lost another pair of glasses by swatting at a bug on a New Hampshire lake a few years ago. A couple of months ago I broke the frames on my glasses and replaced them with some wire rims. The Croakies were too big for the wire frames and since they fit so tight and I don't like the other protectors anyway I lost a $300 pair of glasses.
This is a trip I think would be worth coming back to finish (when I'm wearing my Croakies).