AT CEDAR CREEK RV PARK IN CAVE SPRING GEORGIA

The first thing I noticed was the wide, level, packed gravel campsites backed up to a fast moving creek.  After our last location this looked like a piece of paradise to me.   The setting was not nearly as beautiful as the park but certainly in better shape and more civilized.  We backed our fifth wheel into a site which put the creek right into the view from our back window.  Most of the rigs in this park were older and we later found out that the park actually maintains several travel trailers and fifth wheels that they can rent to folks who want to camp but don’t own one.  The Cedar Creek RV and Kayak Center also offers kayaking and tubing on the creek.  This is a quiet place probably because it appears most of the people here are working during the week and gone most of day.  After yesterday’s marathon driving and chaotic set up experience, I could use a quiet day with no activity.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

We spent most of yesterday mapping out our BIG TRIP and making reservations.  Today we decided to take advantage of the kayaking offered at this campground.  They drove us 6 miles up the creek and dropped us off with kayaks, oars, and life jackets.  The only instructions I heard was look for the V in the shoals. I had never kayaked in a fast moving creek with shoals before, and in fact I had no idea what shoals were.  The “fast moving” part was great because the current did most of the work.  You just needed to keep the kayak in the middle of the creek heading in the right direction. Not too long into the run, we came upon our first shoal.  By the way, for any readers not schooled in the ways of creeks and such, a shoal is shallow water area and I found out from experience, filled with large rocks!  Of course I plowed right into an embankment and immediately heard in my mind the departing words of the clerk, “Our policy is if you break it you buy it”.

Over the next four hours I really tested that policy but there was one spot in the trip where worrying about the price of the kayak was the least of my worries.  We had been told that two members of the crew were going down the creek in a canoe at the same time because there was a fallen tree across the creek that had to be cut and removed.  The men stopped to cut up a tree which we naturally thought was their goal and gave it no further thought.  Suddenly I noticed just in front of what sounded like a section of shoal with really fast moving water (what we city kids would call “rapids”) was a huge tree about three feet in circumference and much too high to go over.  The water was rushing with speed and force unlike those we had already gone over. I was trying to slow or stop my kayak with no success and ran right into this tree harder than I realized.  It swung my kayak around and put me in a parallel position to the tree with the water rushing into the kayak.  I frantically climbed out onto the tree only to have the water fill the kayak almost taking me down with it.  My big concern was not getting my eyes wet because of my recent cataract surgery and the doctor’s instructions of no swimming.  If he was worried about chlorinated swimming pool water causing an infection, I can’t imagine what he would think of this green-brown looking stuff!  Just in the nick of time, here comes my knight in shining armor to save the day.  Jim got out of his kayak and instructed me to hold it while he tried to grab my kayak.  The rushing water was powerful and kept pushing the kayak under the tree.  It was upside down now and filled with water being wedged under this tree.  Suddenly I realized my leg was caught between the tree and the kayak and being pushed in a direction God did not intend it to go.  To make matters worse, it was my bad leg with the plates and screws holding it together.  I had to get my leg out of this trap without falling off this tree and I honestly can’t tell you how I did it, but I did.  Together Jim and I got the kayak to a perpendicular position to the tree and were able to take the pressure off.  Once that happened, we could empty it and move on. No matter what happened after that, it was much easier.  Kind of like life itself!  Once the hard stuff is over, the rest gets easier.  During all this, my water bottle washed out of the kayak and I was concerned about littering the creek.  Low and behold, just on the other side of the shoal was my water bottle stuck in the high weeds at the bank’s edge.  Kayak, mankind, and nature were all returned to their former state.

We had lots of fun and I laughed so hard at one point I could not stop and thought I would tip over.  Jim had gotten out of his canoe to help me again, but this time he stepped into a hole and was slipping and sliding around the rocks with his arms in the water and almost looked like a wild bear fishing.  Every time Jim had to get back into his kayak I heard this involuntary yell because he has a bad knee and he would have to bend it farther than it liked.  His kayak was longer making it harder to see what was ahead and he displaced more water than I, so he got stuck more often.  His poor knee got a real workout today.  The final act of humbling from the creek was just as we reached the bank. Jim was getting out to pull his kayak out of the water and almost slipped and fell into the water.  Of course, I laughed at his expense even though he had caught his balance and made it out OK.  Then with that silly smile on my face I started to get out and did slip sitting in 10 inches of water completely soaked.  Luckily we were only yards away from our RV and clean dry clothes.  Another fun adventure to add to our memory book.