Day 5

What do you do when you have 15 mph winds in your face, a kayak FULL of water, and 7 miles of lake to cross? Just keep paddling. Today we had an appointment to be locked through a dam 7 miles from our last camp site. The original appointment time was set for 4 o'clock which would have given us plenty of time to sleep in, maybe fish a little bit and still make it there on time, but instead the lock operator called around 11:30 and said we had to go through at 3. We thought: "Ok, no big deal it's only 7 miles. We can make it." That view point lasted right up until about halfway across the lake when we decided to just give up on bailing water out of our kayaks. The wind and waves were so strong that if we stopped paddling we were moving backwards. We made it to the dam right on time, just as the lock operator was about to leave. We couldn't help being filled with a great sense of accomplishment as we looked back at that seemingly hellish lake and down at our kayaks full of water. After we were locked through the dam into the Apilachicola River (woohoo!!) we took a two hour break. During that break I walked into town and bought four cheese burgers, two large fries and a large Dr. Pepper from a Hardee's half a mile away from the dam. At that moment, that was the best tasting food I'd ever had. We got back on to the river around 5:30 and were just barely able to find a suitable camp site before dark. Aside from the hog prints in the mud and the howling coyotes in the distance it should be a great spot to spend the night.