Icebreaker training

With this year's Everglades Challenge looming, a bit of time on the water makes a big difference, not only in training but the psychologybehind maybe the body can do another nearly 500km (300+) paddling race in six or seven days once again, is immeasurable.

Thus off Dawn (SandyBottom), David (Floatsome) and I set Saturday morning, for some distance and an overnighter on our local Jordan Lake. This will be David's first Everglades Challenge--his experience as a competent sailor and avid triathlete and IronMan should stand him in good stead, but this will be his first kayaking "expedition." Thus a bit of off-water camping was also on the weekend's itinerary.

We got a good 32kms (20 miles) in on Saturday, in perfect cool weather, but were thwarted from reaching the lake's inlet of the Haw River, with a couple of kms of ice, broken up on the fringes, but solid the further we went--and about 7cm or so thick. A bit dodgy for paddling in, so we turned around and headed back to set up camp. The soft sound of crackling ice--haven't heard that before.

It poured all night, our first rain for about three weeks after the average -9C temperatures we'd been experiencing for the past fortnight (hadn't quite appreciated how chilly it actually was until I converted from Farenheit!). After breakfast, we headed off into the fog...

... the view across from our campsite just peaking through as the sun rose...

and the stillness relished.