It seems hard to believe I've been out on the road for a year already. After selling the house and stuff and quitting my job, I set out on June 15th, 1999. And so many memories.
I started as far as north and east as you can go in the United States, the Cobscook Bay area in northeast Maine. This is an area of inter-connected bays where sightings of bald eagles and harbor seals are common place. I located 3-4 eagle nests, each containing 2 half grown chicks. A couple of the bays held several colonies of seals with young pups. When they saw you coming, the seals would hit the water and disappear. Then you'd give up and turn away and there they would all be, trailing along behind you.
The rugged and dramatic coastlines of West Quoddy and Cutler would be difficult to match anywhere. The pine topped, granite cliffs climb 50-75 feet overhead and provide some wonderful, picture postcard scenery.
Great Waas Island is made up of huge slabs of pink granite and is best remembered for the 100's of seals sunning themselves on one of the large outer points.
Launching from a Harrington, Maine boat ramp one day, I was greeted with hundreds and hundreds of red starfish of varying sizes. The general feeling among the locals was parent starfish had come in to feed on baby mussels and spawned there. The young had a ready food supply when they matured somewhat and had no reason to go elsewhere.
Frenchman's Bay is probably the best single body of water to paddle on the U.S. eastern coast. On one side is Schoodic Peninsula and Schoodic Point. The peninsula is 1-2 miles of pink granite ledges and boulders. Schoodic Point is slabs of granite ledges projecting out into the Atlantic Ocean. These absorb the brunt of the waves coming in off the ocean. Waves normally splash 15 feet up in the air and more than 40 feet during severe storms from the east.
Mount Desert Island lies on the other side of Frenchman's Bay and is the largest part of the Acadia National Park system. Granite cliffs line most of the northeast coast of MDI, some climbing to 100 feet, making them the highest coastal cliffs in North America. Thousand foot mountain peaks in the background provide a truly inspiring view from the water. The hiking is great too and the mountain tops yield spectacular vistas from all directions.
The Porcupine Islands and Iron Island, also in Frenchman's Bay, are great trips in their own right. With 50+ foot cliffs and caves and many unique formations, you can spend hours and hours just drifting around taking it all in. Seals, bald eagles and the occasional porpoise can be seen while paddling. If you're really luck, you might even see a minke whale. sigh!;
I had minor surgery in October. I wasn't allowed to paddle until the end of the year but was on the road again in November anyway. I went down the eastern coast of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland but, following the doctor's orders, didn't paddle (much).
I spent a week or so on Assateague Island at the tip of Maryland in the Atlantic Ocean. Wild horses, white tailed deer and Sika deer (a Japanese deer that bounces up and down as if on a pogo stick) wander this National Sea Shore at will. It was nothing to come back to camp and see all sort of fresh tracks passing through your campsite.
Not being able to paddle, I headed up into the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Single digit temperatures and high winds drove me south into the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee/North Carolina where I hiked for a couple of weeks. White tailed deer, including many 6-8 point bucks were plentiful. Wild turkeys were a little less plentiful. I even got to see a mama black bear and 3 cubs out in a field. That was really unusual.
I got my first taste of Florida paddling on the Halifax River on the eastern coast right after Christmas. I was greeted with warm temperatures, blue skies, pelicans, palm trees, white egrets, stingrays, and dolphins. New Year's day was in the 80's and absolutely perfect. I spent New Year's eve in the middle of a bay watching fireworks displays from several different towns as well as a few private ones. I'd turn one way, watch a bunch of displays, and then turn to catch another display off in another direction.
My second dolphin encounter had several of them herding a school of fish right into where I sat watching near shore. A few days later I was right in the middle of 2 groups of dolphins coming from opposite directions that happened to meet as if they were long lost relatives. They frolicked and cavorted all around me for many minutes, several of them jumping part way out of the water and one guy jumping completely out. I was so entranced I never even thought of the camera.
My first alligator experience came when I stumbled upon 5 of them sunning themselves along a bank on Lake George. One by one, they panicked and hit the water, two of them swimming right under the boat. When there were no more signs of activity, I turned to leave, and there they all were, 20-30 feet behind me in a semi-circle. I actually sat there for 10 minutes or so writing up notes on the experience before paddling off.
Just before I left Florida in May, I snuck up behind an 8 footer. It too panicked with me being so close and turned around and headed for deep water. Guess what was directly in its path? Yup, me! It came charging to within 20 feet of me before it saw me and veered off to the right.
I'd have to say I saw 100-200 alligators this past winter. Sometimes none, sometimes 15-20 in a day. I saw some less than 18 inches long and a couple 12-14 feet long. They certainly make a trip more interesting. Bear in mind, the Perception Acadia I'm paddling now is only 12 feet long so some of them are larger than I am.
I only had one manatee experience in the water. That was with two moms, each with a nursing kid. The water we were in was a very dark tannic color, kinda like onion soup. I watched them for 30+ minutes as they swam back and forth under the kayak, feeding, nursing and being curious. The little bitty heads and front flippers on those huge 400-500 pound bodies is probably what makes them so adorable. That and their gentleness and total lack of fear.
Birds? Birds are everywhere in Florida in the wintertime. Brown Pelicans, White Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Great White Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Wood Storks, Rosette Spoonbills, Bald Eagles and I don't what all. They're everywhere, including the campgrounds, but nowhere more concentrated than Merritt Island right next to the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral. You don't even have to get out of the car because there's a wonderful scenic drive through the wetlands. I'm not a real bird person but this is a 'gotta do' on anyone's list. I was there in January so your mileage may vary.
Till my dying day, I will never hear the word Canaveral without a shudder. I took an early morning walk, looking for seashells, a couple miles past the Cape Canaveral National Seashore. On the way out I passed a couple of tents pitched on the beach and no one else. On the way back it was a different story. Not less than 15, I repeat, 15, men totally naked men were hanging out (pardon the expression) on the beach. And did I get some looks as I passed by.
When I think of Georgia, I think of peaches, peanuts, pecans, Savannah, and Jimmy Carter. Now, I also think of mountains. Northwest Georgia is where the Appalachia Mountain chain begins and runs all the way up into Newfoundland (I think). Not very many big peaks but lots of them. Lots of hiking trails in the Chattahoochee National Forest. A lot of people on bicycles pedaling up mountain roads on which I was continuously shifting gears to maintain forward momentum. Many deep gorges and even some lakes at 2500 foot elevations.
I met many interesting people on the water, on the trails, in the campgrounds and through email. Several of them I paddled with and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.
So, it's been a wonderful year and I don't regret a single minute of it. A little lonely at times, but I've seen and done things I never thought possible. I've been fairly mature in my decision making processes and haven't put myself in harms way very often.
Will there be a second year? You can bet yer sweet patootie! Coming in from the road is not even a consideration at this time. I'm trying to move west but I'm not doing so very fast. There's just so much to do and see everywhere. I'm considering things like hiking the 2000+ mile Appalachia Trail sometime, canoeing from the Allegheny to the Ohio to the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, circumnavigating one or more of the great lakes. Ahhh, so much to do, so little time. But I'll give it my best shot.