Travel & train

I'm working my way west and south, heading back home after an interesting and enjoyable visit to the Northeast.

I said goodbye to Rob Friday and drove almost as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Yesterday I drove west from there for six hours or so and it seemed twice that long.  Finally I made camp for the night at Salt Fork State Park in eastern Ohio.  The central feature of this park is Salt Fork Reservoir, created by building a dam on a tributary of the Muskingum River.  I was tired from the driving, and faced the mentally-tough transition from a "must get where I'm going" state of mind to a state of relaxation and focus, but I managed to get out on the reservoir for a 60-minute early evening paddle.  Because I'd paddled hard Thursday on the Hudson up at Newburgh, I planned to make this session an easy one, but the abundance of ski boats and other motorized craft on the lake made that difficult.  I went out there and tried to roll with the waves and facilitate my body's recovery as much as I could.  I felt terrible in the boat, but then that's the whole point of a recovery paddle: move your tired and sore muscles and get some blood flowing.

It poured down rain overnight.  Fortunately I've got a good tent that kept me dry and cozy.  A front must have come through behind the storms because today's weather has been the most pleasant I've experienced in a long, long time.  As I drove southwest through Columbus and Cincinnati I enjoyed sunny skies and low humidity with a temperature around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

I arrived in Louisville with plans to put on the Ohio River at the boat ramp in Carrie Gaulbert Cox Park.  (What did I do before Google Maps was invented?  It's the best tool ever for finding access points to rivers and lakes.  The satellite view is particularly helpful in identifying what sort of access there is--beach, boat ramp, etc.)  The Ohio made Salt Fork Reservoir look like a placid pool thanks to the many, many power boaters out there enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoon.  A few barge rigs passed through to stir the pot further.  But once I was in the boat I felt good (what did I say about that recovery paddle?), and I had fun working on dynamic stability while doing four one-mile pieces at a pace of 7 miles per hour.  For recovery in between I paddled for a half mile at 6 mph. Once I'd finished that workout I spent the remainder of the 90-minute session playing around with the motorboat wakes.  I got several sweet rides in the last ten minutes.

It's only about six hours from Louisville back to my house.  If all goes according to plan, my next paddle will take place on my home water on the Memphis riverfront.