DONE! (OK, let's start on next year...)

(Click the page at right for the full story)

Wow, what a beautiful weekend! The weather was perfect and everyone appeared to have a great time.

I, however, had an ordeal getting through this thing, but boy, did I enjoy it.

Walter Palmer, Dawn McMillan of Ocean Isle and I left the Wildlife boat ramp on Friday afternoon about four. Dawn's little kayak couldn't get her around the lake in time, so she turned around at the park, leaving Walter and I to fend for ourselves. We made it around the lake and up to the McNeill's pier in time to score some scraps from the Friday Fish Fry and then we paddled the next hour in one of the darkest, starry-est, prettiest nights ever.

Nearly 40 walkers left the state park visitors center Saturday morning, with about half heading north and half, south. We're trying to understand which route is the best; to suffer the hot sun on Bella Coola at the end of the trip, or trip over the trail at the end. Organizer Grant Egley says he'll probably just let people go either way every year.

I discovered on the walk that there are essentially two trails one can take. From the dam, stay along the shoreline and cross both of the park piers (five miles.) If you have a bicycle, just get off the walking trail at the campground and hike to the swimming pier parking lot (three miles.)

Now I think I know why people have looked at me like I'm crazy when I've talked about walking bikes along the trail (Insert joke here). They perhaps have only walked the five-mile hiking trail and did not take the two-mile shortcut. Also, by taking the shortcut, you miss the trails that are the most hilly and difficult terrain.

I'm not crazy, honest!

About two dozen cyclists of all ages turned up on Sunday for the bike ride, which left the Wildlife boat ramp and the campground near the sailing club at about 10 a.m. They broke into two groups with the faster adults going on ahead and the families with young children and grandparents following up the rear in the casual, party group.

Monday's swim went like clockwork, with the group beginning on the north shore and swimming to the dam. Two children, Samantha Lane and Andrew Powell, both 10, finished the four-mile journey.

Russell Smith is helping develop a one-day event. Here is what he did:

 - 6:15 a.m. - Bicycled from park entrance to dam (12 miles - 1 hour)

 - 8:30 a.m. - Swam from Dale's to dam (4 miles - 2 hrs., 42 min)

 - Noon? - Walked from dam to park entrance (12 miles - 3 hrs., 21 min)

 - 5 p.m. - Kayaked from Dale's to the dam (4 miles - 1 hour)

 

Thanks Russell. We're going to look at the possibility of maybe holding several events in one day, either on Labor Day or as a one-day event in itself.

For more details, get a sneak-peek at the full-page spread in Thursday's The News Reporter. Click on the image at right.

We have a lot of work to do, with the most challenging task of figuring out a schedule for an event like this. Do we make it a four-day event, or cram it all (shorter routes) into one day? Do we do both?

What do we do with the bicycle ride? The two challenges are crossing the dam and keeping people from riding on the trails. Let's try to meet at the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16. Please email me if you can make it.

Yours, at 14 miles paddle, 17 miles walk, 17 miles bike and 4 miles swim!

Mark Gilchrist