I have been asked a few questions that I want to respond to in these next few blogs. The first is who is paddling with me and how did we meet. The second, which I will answer later, is what obstacles do I foresee on my journey.

When I first conceived of this trip I envisioned doing it alone. I don’t have a partner and most of my friends are older than I am and not as physical in the outdoors. In the past I would have hesitated to even think of doing something like this alone. But in my emotional despair and desperation after my husband walked out, I hiked the Continental Divide Trail solo. This taught me that I could not only do things like this alone, but that I could find ways to enjoy the solitude. I discovered it was better to do it myself rather than to let the lack of a companion stop me.

When I was mentioning this paddling trip to my friend Dot, who is a few years older than my 65 years, she immediately became interested. We met about twenty two years ago through a rag tag group of people who met weekly to paddle. Eventually we became a group of about five who met for years in the spring, summer and fall months for a weekly white water run down either the White River through Rochester, Bethel, Royalton, Sharon and West Hartford VT, or in the class III rapids of the CT River in North Hartland, VT. Dot has spent most of her adult life as a excellent finish carpenter and cabinet maker. She loves to dance and play old timey music. She knits, canes chairs and is really generous. Years ago she rode her bike across the country. And she LOVES to paddle.

After Dot joined me for the first three days she was hooked. She at least hopes to paddle with me to the end of Vermont. She pulled in our mutual paddling friend, Joanie, to join us for day four. Joanie is a very accomplished white water paddler who in her 70’s is still participating in kayak races. She has a daughter who was on the US paddling team. But Joanie leads a very busy life and I am not sure we will be graced again with her presence on this trip.

It is interesting for me to switch gears from solo adventuring to paddling with a companion. Of course there are pluses and minuses to this. Scheduling and pacing are two of the biggest challenges for me when adding a partner. But on the other hand, I will feel a lot safer in the river and it will be great to share conversation and laughter with Dot. I discovered when hiking that not having anyone to share the beautiful moments with felt like a real loss. It will be a gift to have Dot to share with me the beautiful sunsets, the haunting call of the loon, the beaver smacking her tail on the water and the eagle soaring overhead. I will also be glad to have someone to share the freezing cold, scary moments when we feel like giving up.

I appreciate all of you who are interested enough to read what I write. I value your comments. It leaves me feeling like you, too, are along with me on this journey. I will try to respond to all questions, but there may be a bit of a delay in my response, just as there will be some lag time between my actual experience on the river and my writing it up and getting it posted. Hopefully, just as I become more experienced in my paddling the more I do it, I will become less of a Luddite over time and be able to post on a more regular basis. Thanks to all of you who have pointed out misspellings etc. I am always glad for the opportunity to improve. Keep those questions coming!