Cold Feet

“To go or not to go?” That was the question. Well that was part of the question. “To go canoeing early Sunday morning on a section of river not easily navigated at low water on a cool fall morning, with a short window of time?” That was the bigger question. Would we get cold feet or…get cold feet? The adventurous spirit prevailed and we decided to give it a go.

It was Heather’s first time on what I’ll call the lower section. It is the “Suburban Hillsborough” section of the Eno which meanders by the long backyards of the in-town homes. It was my fourth time along the route, though first with company. A loaded boat will not pass smoothly at normal water levels here. Two people make a loaded boat in this case. We packed light: camera, paddles, and a bucket of shoes. Yep, a bucket of shoes. Knowing that our feet would get wet, but not knowing if we would need to portage around fresh snags or hike up a steep bluff, we each brought hiking shoes and water sandals…and we used both.

It ended up being a mild adventure with no major unexpected obstacles (although the look on Heather’s face said otherwise when I almost tipped her out of the red boat as I clumsily tried to climb back in while losing my footing in a suddenly deep pool of water). We paddled calm stretches of flat water, snapped photos of falling leaves and mirrored canopies, walked and dragged the shallows (after awhile your feet don’t feel anything!) and eventually glided to a quiet stop up the mouth of a downtown feeder creek.

Cold feet warm up eventually.