January 1st Birmingham Canoe Club Feast on the Beach. No water to paddle, but we had a great turn-out and some members went on a polar plunge. It was in the 60'sF but the water was cold. I did NOT do this.
January 4th - Limrock Blowing Cave. With John S. and Arlene Z., Donna and Danny, Dave H. our trip leader, other members of the B'ham Grotto. Water levels were low; air temps were chilly but not too bad. I got perhaps up mid-thigh deep in water on the walk out. I love this cave.
January 11th Mulberry Fork. With many members of the BCC and HCC. In the Jackson Antix 2.0m. Level a bit below 2 ft on both online and bridge gauges, but it felt like more. I had a dry hair day (I have tried not to do this but it was cold). lol
January 14th - 20th GCA Florida paddle 2026.
01-14 I drove down to Wakulla Springs State park lodge to spend the night. It was approximately halfway on my journey to Homosassa Florida, and it was delightful. The lodge was built in the 1930's and has been kept specific to that period. The elevator is under renovation so I didn't get to see it. It was an interesting journey because Verizon had a multi-state outage just as I got below Montgomery Al, and I had no cell service or map guidance after that. I did have the GPS working on my phone, through my truck dash, and was able to figure out the way without a paper map. But still.
The lodge had water turned off because of repairs, and though they were supposed to be finished with this before my arrival, it wasn't finished until after midnight. They had filled the bathtub with water and provided a bucket for flushing toilets, and plenty of bottled water for drinking/brushing teeth. This was not a big deal, but I had to chuckle at timing my visit right when Verizon was out and the water was off.
01-15 The next morning I took the Wakulla Springs boat tour for $7.00. I highly recommend this tour, and will do it every time I visit. Alligators, water birds, a resident otter, and several manatees. The ranger told me the manatees are from the Homasassa herd and have only been visiting since about 25 years ago.
After breakfast at the lodge, which I also recommend (the breakfast was a voucher I purchased when I reserved my room) I headed by Devil's Den dive site on the way to Homasassa. This is a very cool spot, smaller than I imagined, but gorgeous inside. I didn't have any buddies with me so I didn't dive or snorkel, just checked it out.
I arrived at the Chassahowitzka Hotel which is next to the campground parking area where we base the trips out of each day. There were 21 of us in the Hotel.
Joan S. and Patty C. joined us this year. We went to dinner at a place called The Freezer that had a simple menu - steamed shrimp, mussels in garlic and butter, smoked fish, clam chowder, cold beers, potato chips in a bag, a small cup of slaw or mac n cheese. I tried the mussels for the first time ever and they were delicious. The amount of food we got was amazing and it was affordable and fresh.
01-16 to be continued...
--- it's January 27th and I haven't been able to paddle local water again. There was water last weekend but it's cold af---
Feb 1st Birthday Beatles party at Ranellis.
Feb 6-13 Ski Solitude in Utah. I had a couple of falls that made me feel vulnerable. Decided to start back with a new workout regimen at The Pound in Trussville. High intensity cardio workouts aka what crossfit was, but they break the bar-bell stuff into the first 30 minutes. This is good for me because I have left shoulder issues. It really does suit me better to be with a group than to do machines with earbuds.
Feb 20 - 22 Bham Grotto Guntersville Getaway. Feb 21st ridgewalk.
March 1st Ridgewalk with Dave and Shay. Video here.
I have been slack with updating this! And I will be aggrivated later because I use this to keep up with stuff. I have pics for these activities I may add later as I find time.
March 7-8 Mulberry Fork Races. I did not race; I gate judged both days. I did not camp. Great weather, low water which made the lines tougher and more entertaining to watch.
March 15th Ridgewalk with Dave and Reed. We returned to some great leads; on the way to them I found one small qualifier (Reed checked it out for me, as well as a couple of nerd holes I found on the March 1st Ridgewalk). Dave had found a super nice new pit opening, but as of this time it is not a qualifier. We will return. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE.
March 29th Logan Martin lake paddle with Joan S. We took our long boats and put in at the Dam, paddled over to Back Porch restaurant for lunch, then paddled back to the dam. We wore drysuits due to predicted water temps. This was nice because we shed them where we docked our boats and had lunch in street clothes, them put them back on for the paddle back. Drysuits are genius.
April 11-12 Locust Races. I only went on the 12th to observe, because I had a gig on the 11th at the Italian festival.
April 11th Italian festival. I played with all 3 of my brothers in a band for the first time ever. We had Wyatt P, Chris R., and others on guitar, horns, and keyboards. I played guitar and bass. It was really fun!
April 17 - 19 NOC Spring Fling. I stayed with Mary in Andrews NC. We had dinner at the Hoppy Trout Friday evening - delicious and they have a great new location.
I paddled the Nanty on Saturday Ferebee to the Falls parking. In the Jackson Antix 2.0m. With Mary, Fish, Clare, Becca. My left shoulder has been bothering me and it flared up on this trip.
We had a nice dinner at Iron Wok in Bryson City. Sunday it was colder and very windy, so instead of paddling Mary and I hiked up to the Panther Top fire tower.near Murphy. Gorgeous.
April 25th Joel Booth Celebration of Life. A great paddler and friend, Joel passed away after a long battle with multiply myleoma. We held a celebration of life at the B'ham Canoe Club beach property.
May 2nd Fast Track Kayak Class. I helped on the Saturday of the 2 day Fast Track Kayak Class held by Helen Hays at King's Bend on the Locust Fork. Surfing the very nice wave there my left shoulder made me miserable. Andy S. surfed too and his right shoulder was bothering him. Got a doctor's appt soon thereafter with the doctor who is treating Helen's frozen shoulder. When I started whitewater kayaking in the 1990's, one of the first things the instructors told us is that it's hard on shoulders. They weren't lying!
May 3rd Dive at Blue Water Park with Bethany. I wore my 5mm and 12 lbs (ugh) and it was fine. This was my first dive of the season there; and perhaps my last ever with Bethany there as she is moving back to Florida at the end of May. We will have to visit her in Florida. Yes my shoulder bugged me walking with all that gear.
May 7-10 SERA 2026. Hosted by the B'ham Grotto at Camp Maranatha near Scottsboro. I worked registration and checking badges at the front gate. Beautiful weather and a super fun day-glo dance party Saturday night. Proud of my grotto!
May 10th Mulberry Fork. In the Antix 2.0m Level perhaps 8" - low but everything goes. My shoulder hurt so yes this was stupid in some ways but it was also awesome. With Peggy, Andy L. Peggy helped me lug my boat. short sleeve NRS top and shorts - I love it.
May 12 Shoulder Doctor Visit. Got x-rays. My left shoulder has an inflamed rotator cuff - tendonitis. And a bit of arthritis which is not surprising at my age. I got a cortisone shot and 6 weeks of PT coming up. It feels wonderful now but I know it's the steroid. My right shoulder is bionic - labrum tear repair in 2004 and it's still awesome.
