In May of 2013 Heather and I attended her cousin's wedding at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD. After the reception some of us walked around the Inner Harbor area near our hotel. It was at night, a near-full moon was in the sky and the water was still. As we reached a spot where we could look out at the expansiveness of the harbor I got to thinking... The harbor is connected to the Chesapeake Bay, the Chesapeake Bay is connected to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal is connected to the Delaware River, the Delaware River is connected to the Schuylkill River... I think I can paddle here. Heather looked over at me as I was gazing over the water and she knew something was up.
When we returned to our room for the night I pitched the idea. Heather was not pleased, but who would be when a partner comes up with a scheme like this? This was not the first time I had decided to make a trip down the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers and the first time did not go so well as documented here: http://sparkcrafted.blogspot.com/2011/08/great-adventure.html
In my first attempt I had run out of water and food and the distance, wind and waves proved to be more than I was prepared for. So I could completely understand her trepidation.
This time over the course of a year I planned and mapped the course and then re-planned and remapped the course. I had also done more paddling leading up to this trip and my conditioning was much improved.
Now I will document this trip through this blog in seven parts to equal the amount of days it took me to complete the journey. I hope the readers find it as fascinating a trip as I found it to be. It had its ups and downs, highs and lows, but I don't regret it one bit. There are many ways to travel from Philadelphia, PA to Baltimore, MD, but this way is mine.
It could be said that I may be a little obsessed with human-powered travel. I am okay with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment