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Kayak trip 2017Kayak trip 2017
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June 2017
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  • 71footprints
  • 7days
  • 1countries
  • 140miles
  • 128 photos
  • 5 videos
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  • Josh Slaughter
    Day7

    End of day, end of trip

     June 27, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Well, I hope you all aren't disappointed in me. As some of you know, my wife had already planned on picking me up today because of an appointment I have tomorrow. The plan was to bring me back tomorrow afternoon to finish the trip. Well, during the day today I decided that I would end the trip here in Lebanon. There are several reasons for this, let me explain

    1. My butt is killing me.... As I mentioned before, this seat is fine for short trips, but as the days have progressed it has been cumulatively getting worse. I'm going to have to find a new seat that doesn't kill my seat quite so bad.

    2. My wife having to make this journey again tomorrow. She doesn't like interstate driving and it will save her from having to make another 2 trips down and back.

    3. Repairs to the kayak. I had no idea how many logs and branches would be scattered in the river. From several boaters that I talked to, this is how it is all the time. When I left the lock Monday morning, I had to push my way through almost 2 miles of driftwood and trash. This did a number on the hull of my kayak. There are several duct taped gashes on the underside that need to be properly repaired. I really do not relish the thought of having to repeat this after going through Old Hickory lock.

    4. No more solitude. As I get closer to Nashville, camp sites are harder to find and all you can hear at night are dogs, cars, blaring music, and people.

    To sum it up, I will not be bringing my handmade kayak back to this river. I hit way more logs in one day than I have in the entire 7 years since I made it. Add to that the trash that is ever present and I do not know if I'll ever return to this river. I'm going to try to find a cleaner river to kayak. Again, I hope I didn't let you all down to much.

    Btw, total mileage for the trip was 132 miles.    Read more

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  • Josh Slaughter
    Day7

    Cave

     June 27, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Found a cool cave in a cliff, there were a lot of these scattered throughout the day. I didn't explore all of them because my kayak wouldn't fit in them. This one I had to move several logs to get in. I couldn't go very far back because my kayak was to long to get around the turns.

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  • Josh Slaughter
    Day6

    Civilization...

     June 26, 2017 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    As I get closer to the city, all I hear is dogs barking, people talking, music blaring. Give me the solitude. Please.....

    And an observation, it seems that every camp site i have chosen has been a prime deer hangout. I'm getting very used to the sound of them blowing. For those that don't know, that is their alarm sound to let other deer know that something is wrong. They are always right up to my campsite before they alarm. That must mean my camo is good. Oh, and the wind is blowing the other direction. Even I'm tired of smelling me. Baths in the river can only go so far...Read more

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  • Josh Slaughter
    Day6

    End of day

     June 26, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    It was such a perfect day for paddling. The sky was beautiful, the water was beautiful (after i got out of the trash from the dam), and I felt great. I had originally planned to go 20 miles today, but I didn't. So I went 26 instead. That will allow me to have a shorter day on Old Hickory lake.

    Explaining the discrepancy... When I walked into carthage, I turned my gps tracker off so that it wouldn't include that in my mileage. Well I forgot to turn it back on when I started back. I went well over half a mile before I remembered. So, my total mileage for the day is around 26.    Read more

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  • Josh Slaughter
    Day6

    Camp for the Night

     June 26, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    You might wonder why the tarp is all buttoned down. Well, I haven't tried it out like this yet. And it's supposed to rain a little tonight so I figured it would be a good trial. Also, I needed some pics of it like this for the hammock forum where I learned how to make the hammock and bug net. 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak. Should have at least gotten a bird and a goat with a stone....Read more

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  • Josh Slaughter
    Day6

    Camp site for the night

     June 26, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    I can't get over these old growth trees. They are huge. The one that is leaning would proudly take 3 men to get their arms around it. It's on a corp of engineers island so that's probably why they are still here. There are a bunch of them.

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