“It was going to be an exciting week,” I thought the night before. I was thrilled to be accepted into the River Fellows program and was excited to learn all about the river. In my haste, I forgot to set an alarm and woke up the next morning in a panic at 8:45. I scrambled to get ready and rushed to school to go kayaking. When I arrived, we grabbed our PFDs, (no not the documents) Personal Flotation Devices. We also filled out a chart with our strengths and weaknesses. Some questions were: “I feel comfortable on the water,” or, “I like learning about our community and how the river relates to it.” I don’t remember the actual questions so don’t quote me. But anyway, the idea was to put a rock on things we were “rock solid” with, (I’m hilarious I know) and a leaf where we had room to grow. Get it? Hmm.
We were also told the plant leaves were violet (I think) and edible, and our initial plan was to eat them as an oath of commitment to our fellow Fellows. But we decided against it after we discovered it had been growing near the lawn. They put a lot of stuff on that lawn, OK! But I digress... after receiving our new fancy “Rite in the Rain” TM waterproof notebooks, we set out on, and I quote, “The worst bus at GPS, that also doesn’t have air conditioning.” I’m serious. After learning where we were headed for the next week, Mr. Paul gave us the bad bus [addendum from Mrs. Couch- this is the adventure bus!!] . Ultimately, it turned out to be fine. After getting on it, usually wet and dirty, we just stopped caring. After a fun bus ride talking (but mostly complaining) about our weird summer reading books, and Abby Claire and me arguing about the repetition and sadness of “Into The Wild,” we finally arrived. The bus stopped at a put-in a little past Williams Island, which is managed by the TWRA, Tennessee Wildlife Resource Association. There were lots of butterflies all around and we stopped to eat lunch before embarking in the kayaks. Chef Brad was very considerate and supplied us with brownies. Once finished with lunch, we looked at the kudzu surrounding the land next to the docks and were told about it and how it had invaded large parts of the county. Then we took a picture after applying 3 layers of sunscreen.
We were then instructed on maneuvering the kayaks, and possible dangers around the river. And while easing some of our fears, we managed to scare ourselves silly after Mary Claire asked if snakes came near the kayaks. They responded with, “Just don’t go under the trees, so they don't drop on you.” You’ve never seen a group of girls turn white that fast, though that may have been the sunscreen. Regardless, we climbed into the kayaks that Outdoor Chattanooga brought for us.
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that Outdoor Chattanooga employees were with us that day. Terri and Bailey went with us while Sunshine helped us load and unload kayaks. We learned about their partnership with the mayor to encourage Chattanoogans to get out and be active. We found out they have a rental program for kayaks and more, so anyone can come out and be active. After setting out, it was a race to the finish! Well, not at first. After many failed attempts at turning the kayaks, which were sea kayaks designed NOT to turn, we had eventual success and leisurely drifted downstream with the help of the current. We saw lots of beautiful animals, like kingfishers, ospreys, GBH as Ms. Couch has dubbed the Great Blue Heron, lots of insects and turtles, and even some fish that jumped out of the water. About an hour in though, the ominous dark clouds we saw far behind us when departing, had started to gain on us. We saw the fabled rock we had heard so much about from the freshmen, but were told to quickly keep paddling. During our panic to the Pothouse, Caroline and I started an epic splash war, with poor Ellie usually getting stuck in it. We continued rapidly paddling towards Pothouse, which speaking of rapid, that’s how it got its name. Historically, there were three different rapids, which are now covered with water because of the dam, called the pot, the pan, and the skillet. Apparently, when the rapids were there, explorers lost their pots, pans, and skillets when their canoes flipped.
Back to paddling...Mary Kate was the intelligent one in our situation, and decided to put on her rain jacket during a pause to look at wildlife. Even though we were still on the edge of the storm, it was hot, and we still had sunlight on us, she refused to take it off, insisting that when she took it off it would start raining. And lo and behold, literally one minute before we saw the house, it started
pouring; not your average little sprinkle where you could still see the sun, but heavy thunder, lightning and downpouring.
Luckily, we were right next to the house and got out quickly. Unluckily, besides Mary Kate, we were all soaked and couldn’t hear or see very well. We all paddled our kayaks into the shallow water around the house, (and standing on very slippery rocks I might add,) lifted our kayaks out of the water into the 4 foot high bank above us. I, unfortunately, was at the back when we pulled in and tried pulling my kayak closer, only to fall backwards into the water. And in a desperate attempt to not float downstream, I latched onto another kayak before pulling myself back on to the rocks. After pulling our kayaks onshore and wading through some poison ivy, that luckily none of us got, we stood on the porch to “dry”, which was just taking our clothes off and going inside in our swimsuits.
Once inside, and after drying and showering off, Ms. Mariah Prescott came to talk to us about the Tennessee River Gorge Trust. We learned all about the organization and what they do for the river, and how they work with lots of different people. Then she told us about her job specifically, and how she started as a volunteer and worked her way up to water pH tester. She explained how important testing is in problem areas like ‘the peanut butter bowl’ which is a section polluted with sediment to the point that it’s brown. The TRGT also does lots of work to the land they own, lease, or work on. And on their land there is also a bird banding/ tracking lab, and a reptile and amphibian center. They also work with local elementary school children to raise interest and involvement in the river.
After her presentation, we decided to play Monopoly while dinner cooked. Ellie and I are good at deals, and after driving everyone else bankrupt from Boardwalk taxes, we went down to eat. Terri and Bailey made homemade vegetarian lasagna, which was amazing. We then brought cookies upstairs and began our night of excitement. It started with talking about boys, and then decided to go on a night hike. Fun. And for the cherry on top of scary things that night, Ellie and I walked outside first, only to see a big, black dog with glowing eyes. Now, that might not seem scary, but Ellie and I are huge Sherlock fans, particularly the new BBC version. And we had just recently watched the “Hounds Of Baskerville” episode, which, to those who haven’t seen it, is about a rabid, evil, giant black hound with glowing eyes. Needless to say, we ran inside screaming, and scaring everyone else. Once we worked up the courage to go back out, it turned out to be a sweet old dog wandering around, who we promptly petted and fed. The hike was beautiful though. We turned out our lights and listened to the frogs and owls, and watched the beautiful fireflies. On returning, most of us decided to sleep, but our room didn’t. You see, Ellie’s birthday was the next day, so we decided to stay up till midnight to wish her one. Afterwards we finally slept. And I’ll let someone else write about tomorrow.
