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END TO END
It's 12:30 am and I finally finished packing the truck. It's hard to believe that
after months of trying to downsize loads to pack into an 18-foot long kayak, that I would still be up
packing at this hour.
Come sunrise this morning Karen, (my companion), and myself will be setting off
across America. I will be starting a project that I will call the Sea America Expedition. Its main
purpose is to see the United States, How people live here, and the many different areas that we can
experience through the eyes of a sea kayaker. (That of course, being myself.)
Although the title of the expedition would lead one to believe that this trip would
be exclusively a coastal adventure I feel that I need to share as many things about America as I can.
(Plus it keeps my partner Desmond busy.) So since the expedition has no set schedule, no real
deadline, and no major financial support, I guess it would be alright to report about any place that I
damn well please. (Besides, Desmond tells me that I can write any thing I want in our WebPages,
including naughty words.)
So with all that out of my system Let's all take a sea kayak adventure with the
Urban Eskimo's and the Sea America Expedition.
Sunrise comes early and hard, especially when you only get about 4 hours of sleep.
We stumble around each other trying to avoid colliding as we continue our wake-up process. The
excitement hasn't quite hit us yet, as well as any caffeine. Finally we are in the Sea America Mobile
and heading down the road, without a drop of coffee in us yet, not yet.
Its about 7:00 am when I meet up with Phil Warner. Who the hell is Phil Warner? You
might be asking. Well, my friends, Phil is an Environmental Consultant for a company called HGC,
(Hydro-Geo Chemical), and is also vice- pres. of the Connecticut Sea Kayakers, (ConnYak) and basically
just a good friend. We had decided to meet up for a quick breakfast stop, and farewell wish.
"How's the trip looking? Did you get all of the equipment you needed?" asked Phil while
poking around through the tightly packed Sea America Mobile. "Yea, mostly everything, I didn't
get any thing to film with which I was hoping to do but it is a very slim budget" I replied.
"Well let's get some breakfast, and I'll show you something that might help" says Phil as we
walk into Friendly's restaurant backpack and all.
To make a long story short, Phil and Karen had both pitched in and got a video
recorder for the trip. Phil had told me that his wife was not too happy about the whole thing but he
figures that a trip like this has to be filmed. (As far as I know they're still married.) Basically
that is how this venture has been being supported. Friends, Family, and a couple of outfitters. (All
of whom will be mentioned throughout these articles).
So we hit the highway with Phil being the last familiar face that I will be seeing
for awhile.
The 10-day ride across the country will be a good way to make the transition from a
nice warm bed to not knowing where your next bed will be. Karen and I will practice primitive camping
methods. Even though I have some of the latest and most compact, lightweight, zoot capri, camping gear
from Eastern Mountain Sports, the need for simplicity will be beneficial when I end up in unforgiving
territory. Besides the fact that I will have more room for food and water, having less comfort gear
will mean faster set-up and breakdown times when I pull into a camp sight. The downside of this
reasoning will be the weather conditions, especially the temperature.
We drove on through the eastern parts of the country at a non-stop pace. Trying to
get in as much of the mid and southwest states as we possibly could. It's amazing how 10 days out in
the wide-open spaces of the high plains and the desert southwest can go by so fast. The scenery that
we experienced was endless and breathtaking. From the flat plains of Missouri and Kansas where you
could stare out at an endless horizon, to the 10,000+ foot mountains of Colorado where it seemed like
you could touch the sky. The 4-cylinder motor in my truck was certainly getting some hard mileage put
on it. I don't know if it was the altitude or just the steepness of the hills but I felt that I could
have pushed it faster. Time did not seem to matter at this point. You could just sit there and stare
out the window at the slow moving scenery, and listen to some mood setting music on the CD player.
Spectacular!
Our first paddle adventure was going to be Lake Powell, Utah. This is a fresh water
lake that is about 350 miles long with a coastline of about 1500 miles. The coastline consists of
various canyon features, from steep 150-foot walls to deep twisting crevasse type nooks and cranny's.
This has to be one of the most mystical places I have ever paddled. The sounds that echo through the
canyon walls are magnified and altered in such a way that a call of a passing Raven could be mistaken
for a legendary spiritual Indian critter god or something. The shapes in the canyon walls and the
shadows would combine so that your imagination would never rest. To be out in a place like this is
something that every sea kayaker should put the time aside to do. The cost is minimal and there is a
wide range for skill levels.
So after a few days of paddling at Lake Powell we made our way out towards
California. We drove through the Extraterrestrial Highway of Nevada to Mono Lake, California. Mono
Lake was an interesting lake to paddle. What use to be a gunnery sight for naval operations, this lake
has been made into a nature reserve. Although there is still military activity still flying around at
low levels you can be pretty sure they won't bomb you, at least not on purpose…
Calcium and Lime seem to be the reason that this water is so crystal clear, at
least that’s what the pamphlet said. Tufa is what makes this lake really interesting. It is a
mineral that builds up from the bottom of the lake and keeps building till it reaches the air (or the
lake goes down to expose the Tufa tops) and stops it from piling up. An incident that had drained the
lake (About 60 feet in the mid 60's or so) has exposed these towering Tufa and has left stalactite (or
mite) pillars to paddle through. Interesting scenery and mountain settings of Yosemite make this a
very nice paddle. Note the crystal clear water will give you the urge to Eskimo roll, the millions of
brine shrimp (Sea Monkeys) will change your mind.
After getting through Yosemite and marking down future paddle sights in that area
we were left with a day and a half to reach Desmonds home where I would say goodbye to Karen and start
final preparations for Washington's unforgiving coastline.
The ten day trip across the country included a whole variety of outdoor activities
such as climbing, mountain biking, hiking etc, for information on any of these activities you can
contact me @ 203 284 9212 or email mfalconeri@snet.net .
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