At the end of the meeting Rex yells "load 'em up" and we haul all the boats down to the water. There were 178 paddlers this morning, a record for the Rumble.
No one is allowed to start until Rex gives the signal from the lead boat.
The St. Croix River is rocky and shallow here--several times we had to get out of the boat and walk. To get to our first rest stop we had to follow Rex closely, making a Z pattern to get around the rocks. Even our fearless leader got stuck a few times!
We saw a deer along the shore in the morning, and several bald eagles throughout the day.
We were glad to become reacquainted with old friends like Jan, who has been on all the Rumbles we have done and many we haven't.
Throughout the afternoon we had to walk a few more times when the water was too shallow and rocky for even the flattest boats. Finally we arrived at our landing, which was very muddy. Five people ended up in the mud when they tipped their boats at the landing. We managed to exit safely.
We had to wait an hour and a half for the bus to our campsite, an Equestrian Campground about 6 miles from the landing. Fortunately we were on the first bus.... it made three round trips with the last group arriving at camp after 6 PM. There were no indoor toilets or showers, but I took an icy cold rumble shower and Bill washed off his muddy feet. Shy people usually don't partake of the Rumble showers!
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