10 July: Days-33, Total-34; Miles-22, Total-1211 – Chuck

Last evening, I washed a couple sets of clothes before I took a bath, used the solar shower's warm water for both. It rained during the night and the almost dry clothes were as wet as before I wrung them.

Wanting to re-establish radio contact with Bill, I left my tent and other gear to dry on the shore and paddled out to the place I had radio reception with him yesterday. I was there before 6am and continued trying to call him until after 6:30. Back on the shore at my camp it was 7am and I was making breakfast when I thought I saw a hint of red on the water. The binos showed it to be Bill, evidently he had camped only a mile downstream from me. Unfortunately, he thinks I am ahead of him and he will paddle hard to catch me. He must not have had his radio on, my excited calls got no response, I even blew my whistle several times but he was over a mile upwind. I quickly packed and loaded the canoe, it was about 7:30 when I shoved off. It took another half-hour to paddle to the point at which I had seen him; he had an hour head start. Normally it takes me about three-four times his lead-time to catch him. So, it should take me about three or four hours, however if he is in his speed mode trying to catch me, it could take days. Hopefully, he will realize that having radio contact meant we were no more than two miles apart and that I would be waiting for him. If so, he would know that if he has not come to my camp within two miles, then I must be behind him. Also, he has probably already discovered that he was camped at least two miles farther downstream than he told me on the radio last evening and this would mean that he is ahead of me. Actually, all this is rather convoluted and a little much to expect an FSU alumnus to decipher.

The result is that I paddled hard into 15-25 knot winds and 1-2 foot waves with whitecaps & spray for seven hours and could not see him in the two mile expanse ahead. My progress was frustratingly slow. As the wind and waves grew in the afternoon, it took me 5 minutes to paddle 100ft. That is a rate of less than one mile in 5 hours, I found a semi-level spot on the windswept shore. The FSU grad probably figured this out hours ago and has been reading a good book while I have been rocking and rolling at a snail's pace.

Usually, I find a little cove, eddy or other protected nook to beach my canoe for the evening. Today, I was lucky just to find a small flat spot for the tent and a gravel shore (much better than mud). The strong wind quickly dried the gear I had packed while it was still wet. With my yellow tent up as an indicator of my location and half my gear strung about on logs and other driftwood I had made a pretty good camp out of a less than desirable situation. Seems good, huh; then I found the biggest bear tracks I have ever seen. They were a day or two old and about a hundred feet down the shore from my tent. I must not have checked that far away before deciding the site was bear safe. Well, it took me an hour to get set up and I really don't want to spend another hour packing just to get back out on the water to look for another site.

With lots of time to cook, I put some pepperoni in my heavy pot then started piling in carrots, green peppers, an abundance of onions, and a little garlic (some of the veggies need to be eaten within a couple of days of purchase). Topped with melted cheddar cheese and washed down with a Moosehead (beer), it was awesome. If Bill is still out there fighting wind & wave, I should really feel guilty.

My plan is to get in the bag early in hopes that the wind subsides then get at it early in the morn. If the wind doesn't abate, I might just stay here another day. Bill and I have discussed just such a situation and each expects that the other will be sitting it out also.

Before turning in, I'm going to go rub out those bear tracks in an attempt to make this camp a little safer.