To The Woods - Day 6 - June 2, 2015

Kayaking day! I've been looking forward to kayaking for a while, and it finally happened today. The only downside was that it is June 2 and it was ridiculously cold outside. I dressed for summer (because it is summer) , when I really should have worn very warm clothes. It didn't help much that I got really wet when I was in my boat, so basically I accepted my fate of a frostbitten death which luckily never came. Anyway, the day started with an excerpt from Walden by H.D. Thoreau that used extremely detailed nature writing in the form of a reflective narrative, a prose I suppose (haha). He would write about observations and draw meaning from them using creative writing techniques like symbolism, personification, and metaphors. I kept the way Mr. Thoreau wrote this piece in mind throughout the day, as we did another hike through a small section of woods during which I made observations that I would draw meaning from while writing about the experience later.

When we arrived at Eastwood Metropark, we split into two groups. One group kayaked while the other group hiked and vice versa. My group hiked first, splitting up into three more groups, one group with each guide. The hike was quite small, only about half a mile or so long, but it took a long time as we often stopped to listen to birds or talk about wildlife in the immediate area. The section of trail we walked on is part of both the Buckeye Trail and the North Country trail, two long-distance backpacking trails. This very small portion of trail lay nestled between a small hill and the Mad River, unfortunately not very far removed from the wide open grassy sports fields of Eastwood Metropark. Walking down the set of dirt and wood stairs at the start of the trail, I recall the time I rode my bike on this trail, whizzing past all the beautiful plants and river scenes without giving them a second thought. This time, however, I was slowly walking, so I had time to observe all the bugs, plants, and animals I could. I found myself fascinated by the high concentration of sycamore trees in the area. These trees are beautiful with bark-less white and grey tops and bright green leaves. Our guide spent most of the time talking about the birds flying above and the sounds they made, which I didn't really find as interesting as the trees and bugs hanging out around me. One thing I learned about birds is that chimney swifts, the very common black-colored bird you see flying around all the time, need dead trees to live, so cutting down dead trees isn't really a good idea. We focused heavily on invasive plants. When in the woods, you can easily identify an invasive plant by seeing if its leaves are being eaten or not. If they are, then the plant is most likely native. We also learned how to identify poison ivy more easily by looking for the opposite mitten shape on the outer two leaves of three leaf groups. As we made our way back to the lunch area, we came across groves of hemlock and wild strawberries. Apparently, these strawberries are invasive, but they aren't really harming anything. I ate one. I guess it was ok.

Beavers seem to have worked on this tree a bit. Noticed this when we stopped to talk abut some birds. 

Small patch of wild strawberries

After hiking and eating lunch, it was finally time to get in a boat. The instructor gave a quick crash-course in life jacket safety and paddle-handling before turning us loose to paddle around. I had gone through a couple levels of a kayaking class with the same guy before, and I thank my lucky stars that he didn't recognize me. Because of my prior experience, it didn't take me long to get my bearings in the boat. I was pretty good at taking really tight turns and gaining speed. We followed the instructors on a route around islands in this little lake. The water here was so calm. It wasn't very clear or pretty, but if you could get ahead of the mass of high school kids in boats you could appreciate how calm and smooth the surface of the lake was.

A little away from the group I could enjoy the calmness

Kayaking 

More kayaking

After getting back to the school, we were tasked with writing something like what H.D. Thoreau wrote in that passage from Walden using observations (all five senses, of course) and trying to get meaning from them. I had a little more trouble connecting with nature today than I had at Aulwood or Cox, but I'll give it a shot anyway: (I'm doing it in the form of a reflection)

I can remember the green surface of the water, a wide floor of stained glass with islands in the center and bridges overhead. Dipping my fingers in the glass, I hardly felt water; no, it was too light to be water. It must have been a thicker version of the air around me, freezing the skin near my fingernails. My nose was stuffy, so my mouth hung open. The wind constantly smothered my face as I paddled along, drying my mouth, leaving a stale, hard taste. This may have been a freshwater lake, but the salty smell of sediment being stirred by the water constantly drills holes in my nostrils. Coming back onto land, the line of kayaks bumps against the docks, thump thump thump, a giant made of hollow plastic meandering along a wooden boardwalk.

I feel like this writing piece isn't the best that I could do, hopefully tomorrow whatever we do I'll be able to tackle the task a little bit better.