This semester I decided to go on a trip the Outdoor Adventure Center. Actually, I decided I had wanted to go on this trip a year ago in the winter of 2015 at Scholars Day here at OSU. I had been sitting in a meeting for prospective ENR scholars and Esther mentioned a sea kayaking trip they were going to take to the Florida Everglades and 10,000 Islands. Immediately this drew me in to and helped my seal my decision for choosing ENR Scholars.
This trip was nothing like I had expected it to be. I heard I would be sleeping on beaches, kayaking all day, and spending time in the sun. All I could think about was adventure and how great it all sounded. I didn’t consider the strenuous activity, the bugs, and the heat. Truthfully, I was mostly worries about alligators, and I didn’t see any of those during my time in the water, I did get to camp next to a baby one though.
Throughout this 10-day journey there were a lot of highs and lows, along with some self discovery and mindfulness. Some of my favorite experiences of the trip would include the drive down there. While feasting in Wal-Mart parking lots and playing hackey sack at any moment we could get, the group instantly bonded with one another. We also played a game called five minutes of fame, it was uncomfortable talking about yourself for five minutes but I enjoyed hearing about everybody else. Tasks were abundant, from loading the kayaks, cleaning the kayaks, cooking dinner, cleaning up, directing the group and navigating. However, they held everyone accountable to be a team player.
Once we got to the 10,000 Islands, we spent an entire day kayaking for about seven or eight hours. This was pretty irritating because the tandems were having trouble learning to navigate, those things are hard to get the hang of, and kept bumping into the mangroves and other single kayakers. I kept getting ran into so I decided to hang out in the back most of the time with one of the other leaders, Harry. Harry asked me random questions at the time like what I was thinking about and how I was feeling. Later that day he explained that he was trying to get others to practice mindfulness. He gave us prompts for the rest of the trip and these soon became a highlight to look forward to every day.
If I had to pick a favorite experience, I couldn’t do it. I loved too many aspects of this trip. I could pick a favorite experience from every day, but for the sake of this paper’s length I will just name a few, but don’t worry there are many more than this. The ultimate experience was waking up at 4 a.m. to go paddle through a bioluminescent channel and catch the sunrise on Panther Island. The bioluminescence was unlike anything I had ever done before. As I scraped my paddle against the water’s surface glowing sparks shot off in every direction. The beauty of a glowing channel of water with a full sky of stars above you head is indescribable. I also like coconut bowling, Ethan and Harry snuck off to get some coconuts and surprised is with them. We turned it into a game by setting up our Nalgene’s as pins, our headlamps as strobe lights, and the coconuts as bowling balls. It was even better accompanied by the opening of the golden egg and s’mores. I also enjoyed our zero day, probably more than anything honestly. We didn’t paddle at all this day and just stayed on Panther Island, in the shade while some read, some napped, some drew, and some aspired to build a kite. It was nice because all of our clothes got to dry and we got to rest. Also Stan’s, a memory that I will never forget.
The most important skill I learned on this trip would have to be navigation. Everyone on the trip, excluding the leaders and the leaders in training, helped to get us back to the marina on the last day successfully. I also learned a lot of the Everglades how the public views them as opposed to how they should be seen, along with the programs in place to protect them. Teamwork was definitely enhanced as well as mindfulness and perseverance. This trip has led me to want to develop another skill, trip planning. I would like to be able to go on a trip like this again one day, but without the assistance of the OAC. I would like to plan and navigate myself.
Although this trip was one of the best experiences of my life, there were some lows. No matter how I adjusted my seat, the plastic kept digging into my back rubbing it raw every time I paddled, slowing me down substantially to adjust it every couple strokes. On the second day, I was way behind the pod with another girl, Hannah. She asked me what was wrong and I instantly spewed everything on my mind, from my broken seat to the wind blowing my kayak in the other direction and everything in between. It was comforting to know that I wasn’t the only one having a hard time. At that time, me and her were the only non leaders in single kayaks, everyone in the tandems were beginners, and those things are much easier to control due to the power and rudder they have, so in retrospect we weren’t doing too bad, but I didn’t know that then. Also the sun had burnt me so bad that a layer of my lips had been shed and there were blisters on my neck. I learned to cover everything, sunscreen doesn’t completely shield you. Along with there being a crack in my bowl at the bottom, so I ate a lot of sand. Not to mention the no see ‘ums and the mosquitos. My hand and my feet were open season. Although everything else that was covered up wasn’t so bad.
If I had to give advice to someone else aspiring to go on this trip I would say push through the first couple days. The leaders will challenge you and so will the elements, we did a successful sea launch into the Gulf of Mexico our second day, a feat not many people thought we could accomplish. I would also say bring enough clothes to cover your body all the time, gloves and a buff are personal recommendations for those who burn easily like me, seriously my hands were scabbed even two weeks after from the sun. Also I would say invest in some good camping gear. My own pack towel, bug jacket, wool socks, and mountain pants were very useful and helped to reduce a lot of stress. Also practice mindfulness, even if your leader doesn’t encourage you to. Most importantly, keep an open mind and share with your group, it will bring you close and make the journey a lot more enjoyable.
