We were set to meet at the put-in at Greer at 8:30 a.m., however, Igor had car trouble and got stuck on the side of the road on the way to the river. Luckily, he was able to reach Sandy before we all lost cell service at the put-in. All in the group except Sandy and Deb Moore decided to go ahead, hoping that Igor would be able to get his car taken care of and they could meet us on down the river. Apparently, small town friendliness prevailed and a gentleman was kind enough to stop to help Igor, drive him into town to get a new distributor cap, take him back to his vehicle and help make a quick repair. Sandy, Deb and Igor were just an hour or so behind us and met us at the lunch stop!
A big thanks goes out to Mike Dale and Tony Cernosek for helping to rescue me and my 6 year-old granddaughter just a short time after we were underway. I missed a turn to the right and was stuck on the left side of a downed tree in fast water. Ellie was not amused and everyone within a 100 yard radius was aware of it, I am sure! I feel quite certain she would have never paddled with me again had Mike not helped me get through a slot in the tree without tumping her into the river.
We only saw one eagle this trip, but we also saw a deer, an otter family, a beautiful zebra swallowtail butterfly that joined our group for a while (picture attached), and an armadillo (that was actually alive).
The rain held off for us - making it the first time I have ever paddled the Eleven Point without being caught in a rainstorm. Even though the outfitter told us that all of the campgrounds were now accessible with the exception of Greebriar, we found that there was really no easy access for that many boats. So, we ended up paddling all the way to Bose Mill, which was just 2 miles from the takeout. We had a few brave souls who took the plunge in the Blue Hole, despite the fact that it was overcast and not a particularly warm day.
We didn't have the typical potluck this trip, although we did have food to share and plenty of fixings for s'mores. Since we were so close to the takeout we were able to enjoy a leisurely pace of drinking our coffee, enjoying breakfast and breaking down camp Sunday morning. Several of us stopped at the Mexican restaurant in Pocahontas, AR, which was great as usual.
Thank you everyone for paddling with me and also a big thanks to everyone who helped me since I haven't led a trip in a long time. It's great to be back on the water. It was a wonderful trip and I look forward to the next paddling