So, when's the trip?

Fighting flash flooding, freezing temps, and fire

When’s the trip? That’s the number one question I’m asked and the answer is . . . I don’t know . . . not just yet. My best guess is probably sometime during the month of May. But the long-form answer takes into consideration a lot of factors.

Flash Flooding

The Cahaba is temperamental with its water flow. It’s incredibly sensitive to flash flooding as the river’s number one threat is water run-off and the silt that accompanies it.

I’ve got to find the sweet spot of reduced rain without launching head-first into drought season. Asking Alabama to not torrentially rain for 9 to 14 days straight is a big ask. I don’t mind a little rain, but a lot of rain can cause some dangerous situations quickly. A rushing river is nothing to sneer at. And while I love adventure, I don’t have a death wish. Safety first.

There’s at least two problematic spots I’m concerned about given too much flow. Though, the river as a whole becomes unmanageable with how much it swells. Check out this side-by-side comparison between winter flooding and early summer flow at the same spot at the Leeds launch.

Winter and Summer

Freezing Temps

I refuse to do this trip during any sort of cold. While it’s true I go camping at least once a year during sub-zero temps (usually at the autumnal/winter turn), that’s purely so I can acclimate and survive the winter season. Alabama likes weather extremes. This morning saw 29 degrees outside. Later this week we’ll see 80-degree weather. Given the two: give me the heat. If I do wait for too long into the summer then it’s not the heat that’s the challenge but rather the low-flow. At least the first third of the Cahaba is peppered with rocky shoals. The longer into the summer I wait, the greater the chance I’m gonna drag the kayak for a nice distance. I don’t think this is the worst of all possible options. It may take me longer, but I’ve got time.

I do also have to wait for classes to end. I teach up through the end of April; so, there’s no way for me to escape the real world before then. If you have any sort of negotiating power with the weather, I’m here to toss in my bid for a beautiful May float. But, if not, I’ll take what I can get. My preference is to do the float all in one trip, but if I have to break things up, I will. I have set aside the whole summer for this adventure. It’ll happen, one way or another.

Fire

The most recent hiccup thrown my way stirred up at around one o’clock this morning. I don’t store my larger equipment at my home. I don’t have enough space. Graciously, my dear friends Sara and Shea store my kayak alongside our other boating equipment. Round about 2 a.m. I awoke to text messages:

“We woke up an hour ago to flames. All animals and people are safe but our boathouse and gazebo are a total loss.”

All my paddles and life jackets are somewhere in that inferno. Despite the fact we call that the boathouse, that’s not actually where we store our boats. For whatever reason we’ve never stored the paddles and preservers in the same structure as the kayaks. So, the kayaks are okay.

I’m really grateful my loved ones are safe and thankful the fire did not spread to the home even though it did melt half the siding off. We still don’t know what caused it. And while this is an incredibly minor setback, it’s still equipment I’ll have to go about replacing. I’m not overly concerned about the loss. Things are replaceable. People are not.

I am reminded of a quote I heard way back by G.K. Chesterton:

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

This quote usually noodles around in my head most times in life when things seem tricky or unexpected. Adventure comes with challenges and surprises. I’m here to accept them as they come. The uncertainty of the timing of this trip is just another element of the adventure.

So, there you have it. I’m aiming for May if all things work out.

Onward and upward!