Hello Everyone,
This may be a bit of a long one as WIFI has been a little hard to find and sketchy at best recently. We are currently in Richland, WA in a huge tri-cities area enjoying a Canada Day off...of course we had to double up on paddling yesterday for a total of 83km to get the day off, but it was completely worth it.
I realize my blog updates have not been as frequent as i would have liked, partly due to the lack of wireless networks and partly due to the fact that in the general happenings of things, not too much has occurred recently other than wake early, quick breakfast, pack, paddle, quick dinner, and sleep. We had a huge arrival in Wenachee the other day, easily the biggest crowd we've had yet. There was a great deal of community support which was great to see. We also got another free dinner....AWESOME! We haven't really done too many massive arrivals but in Vantage the other day we had a pretty good crowd and some media there greeting us...after an extremely difficult paddle. It was only 30km but it was pretty strong headwind most of the way and a paddle that would take a couple hours with current, took 5 hours going rather slowly. I've begun to notice how difficult a paddling day has been if my trapezoid muscles by my neck start to get sore, otherwise it just feels like a good workout.
The day before our team took advantage of a day off in Wenachee and travelled up past a tourist Bavarian style town called Levensworth and headed up an 8 hour mountain hike to a selcuded glacier lake calle Coal Chuck Lake. After 4 hours of hiking up steep switchback trails we finally crested a ridge and saw the most beautiful glacier lake and glacier that I've ever seen. The water was a shade of green I cannot describe and the mountain was just breathtaking. The water was also super cold, and myself, colin, matt, and dave could not resist taking a swim in the hypothermic waters. The swim was a grand total of 15 seconds, after which my extremeties were tingling. I know what you concerned friends and family are thinking, "Andy this is not smart" but really, how often do you get to take a swim in a secluded glacier lake? While it was some of the coldest water I've ever been in, it was totally worth it. There should be pictures of the hike on the main page of our site, inclding a beard i made out of old mans beard that i found in a tree while waiting for the group to catch up. Easily my favourite picture of this trip.
Today, being Canada Day, we are doing some partying in the park we're staying at, and i'm going to try and catch some delicious bass in the bay. Managed to find a fishing store and get worms as well as replace the rod I broke before I left London.
We have only a couple of weeks left in this trip, and I have mixed feelings. I am really excited to get home and see my family, but at the same time, this has been one of the singlemost amazing experiences of my life and part of me does not want it to end.
Thats about it for now, I'll try and be more frequent as we go further, but it all depends on the networks.
Till my paddle brings me home,
Andy
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