Surviving a Trail Life Summer Adventure Endurance Challenge

By Jeff Manring

Saturday 6/11 – Driving from Michigan to Mammoth Cave, KY

We had a good drive south from Oak Park, Michigan to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. The two vehicles caravanned making three stops, the last one for dinner at Cracker Barrell in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

We arrived at the basecamp in Mammoth Cave Campground and set up our tents for two nights before the big canoe trip starting Monday.

Sunday 6/12 – Zip-lining was fun. Give me more!

We had a great time zipping five times through the woods above Mammoth Cave. A couple of the zips were long (~1,000 feet) and some of the lighter boys did not make it all the way across. One of the guides had to go out and rescue the stranded zipper. Even those boys said being stranded was a highlight. This was the first of our big three activities for the week and the only one I wish we could have done more.

We spent Sunday evening preparing to depart on the main event for the week: 4 days and three nights canoe camping on the Green River, going around Mammoth Cave.

Monday 6/13 – A very rough start to a long and challenging week

We had to get up before dawn to break camp and be at the pickup location by 7:30 with all our gear ready to load onto canoes on a trailer and in the back of a pickup. We had about an hour drive to the launch point.

We got on the river around 9:15 and our patrol of 12 started with devotions. We huddled our six canoes and went through the devotional materials provided for the week.

After paddling about an hour, we stopped at a waterfall. Many boys got out and climbed up on the rocks. Here’s a picture of my son Reid.

One of our boys slipped on a rock and got a big chunk of mud under his thumb nail. It hurt pretty bad, but Nathan toughed it out. His thumb improved day by day.

At the waterfall stop one of our patrol boats was taking on water, so we stopped shortly after the waterfall on the left side of the river. I thought the goal of stopping was to get water out of the leaking canoe and see if we could patch the hole. But next thing I know we are contacting base camp to have a new canoe brought to the location we were at. There was a private boat launch on the other side of the river. We ended up waiting three hours for the outfitter to find us and provide a couple new canoes. In hindsight, we were able to tape the hole and we should have swapped boats at a park we stopped at for lunch on Tuesday.

The river was moving fast on the outside of a slight bend and there was a downed tree in the water, called a strainer since the water flows through the tree and draws boats to the tree. A canoe from our patrol flipped over at the strainer. A couple of bags were not tied down and had to be retrieved. Thankfully neither bag went under water because the Green River really is green—you cannot see the bottom when it’s more than a foot deep. Other boys helped to the rescue to overturned canoe.

While we were waiting, some of the leaders were conducting canoe practice for some of the inexperienced boys to work on turns. Two boys in an empty canoe flipped at the strainer and the canoe lodged 4 feet underwater, caught on the strainer tree. It took about six of us to pull the canoe up from the tree in a very strong current. It was hard to just hold on to the tree while pulling the canoe to the surface. Great teamwork got it done!

After a couple of hours waiting, I decided to go in search of the outfitter. With three of the boys, we swam across the river and went up the boat ramp to find a farmhouse at least 300 yards away with soybeans planted in between. For some reason I decided not to wear socks with my water shoes. The long hike to the farmhouse gave me a huge blister on my right foot. It needed attention from the health and safety support the rest of the week. Lesson learned to wear socks with my water shoes. When we got to the farmhouse the outfitter was there and we rode with them to the boat launch.

After three hours we got back on the river around 1:50 p.m. and finally found our campsite at about 4:50 p.m. We setup camping on the rocks by the river side. We cooked over the fire: steaks and baked potatoes for dinner, then eggs and bacon for breakfast. Good food!

Tuesday 6/14 – A better day

We got on the river about 8:45 AM. We stopped for lunch at a park. Some hiked up the hill to a gas station and got some cold treats. The heat was overbearing. We stopped several times each day to take a dip in the river to cool off.

We set a world Canoeubing record of 8 boats! Canoeubing is a term coined two years ago on a high adventure canoe trek to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s kind of like tubing where you connect the tubes and float together. We held the canoes together by hand and the outside paddles kept us moving. We had 5 canoes in Michigan and broke that record with 8. The number of boats by row we had 1-2-3-2. One more canoe would have made a perfect diamond shape.

We arrived at our campsite before 4:00 PM. Across the river was a mud slide that several of the boys enjoyed. We had chicken quesadillas for dinner, cooked on hot coals. More sleeping on rocks, but with a little vegetation for padding.

Wednesday 6/15 – Paddled too long and missed camp site

On the river by 9:00 AM, we were the last ones out. We again pulled over for morning devotions on the river. We unknowingly missed the Wednesday camp location. Others paddling ahead of us thought it was too early to stop for the day. We stopped for lunch on a rock peninsula next to a small rapid to float through.

We found a sand campsite at 3:10 PM. We again paddled during the hottest portion of the day. The target campsite we missed had plenty of shade, we found out later.

We had pasta dinner cooked over the fire and added sauce, good dinner. Then we repacked our remaining food for the last time.

Sand flea bites appeared Thursday morning, disappeared for 2 days, then came back with a vengeance that were still itchy after being home a week.

Some of the boys worked on Canoeing Trail Badge requirements by practicing rescue techniques.

Thursday 6/16 – Day 4 on the Green River

We ended up only 30 minutes from ending takeout at the Green River Ferry. But since we were told not to return before 3:00 PM, we paused for a 3-hour lunch break at a great spot with shade and an island to float around in the quick current. We arrived at the ferry take out at 1:00 PM and made it back to basecamp to set up camp again for the last two nights.

SHOWER!!! Our only shower of the week felt great after 4 days and 3 nights on the river. Burrito bowls for dinner at basecamp was great! I slept from 8:30 PM to 6:30 AM.

Friday 6/17

Friday morning was relaxing. Our patrol helped prepare a great breakfast salad. We grabbed an early lunch before heading out to the Mammoth Cave tour.

The Mammoth Cave tour was over 4 miles in 3 hours. While the cave tour was very cool, I was done after an hour. My right foot blister still bothered me.

Ice Cream was a cold and sweet treat to beat the KY heat after coming out of the cool cave.

Friday’s BBQ dinner was fantastic. The Campfire program was great. Our patrol did a skit and troop MI-0518 sang the Walk Worthy of the Lord hymn. The final devotional time was a nice cap on the week.

Saturday 6/18

We were up at 5:30 AM, we left before 8:00 AM CT, and we arrived home by 5:00 PM ET. I am thankful I stayed awake driving the entire 8-hour drive.

What a week to remember. I am glad I could recall what I could six weeks later. I hope you enjoyed this summary of a busy and challenging week.