Following our White Hill Lake adventure last weekend, I was eager this weekend to explore deeper into the interior swamps of First Landing State Park. Google maps suggested that the stream we crossed meandered quite a way into the park, and seemed to end in what looked suspiciously like a flooded cypress swamp. It just might, I though, be possible to paddle my way up the creek and into the cypress trees. There, I hoped to paddle around in the forest, which (having paddled the Roanoke River in Eastern North Carolina) I know to be very fun.

I anticipated some difficulties with this plan. I knew the creek was narrow, and I knew that it had some logs across it. After all, I had crossed it on one of those logs just last weekend. I figured that I would just get out of my kayak and drag it over the logs when it came to that. Easy, no - but doable.

The title of the post really tells the whole story. This was a bad plan, mostly because I drastically underestimated the number of logs across the creek. There were none in the first 100 yards of the creek. Then I dragged the kayak across the first one, the one I had crossed. It was difficult, but doable. I felt confident. 20 yards later, I ran into two in a row. Fortunately, the creek bent around a small point, and so I just portaged my way around the obstacle. 10 yards after that, another, and looking up the creek, I could see 7 or 8, each with no more than 20 feet of water between them. Well, I thought, that's enough of that. I had gone no more than 200 yards.

I stranded the kayak and walked a bit farther up the creek. It was difficult, as it was a swamp, but given that I was wearing neoprene booties, it wasn't so difficult. The wind rustled the swamp grass. A bald eagle flew overhead. I couldn't hear any sign of the city around me. I sat and ate a granola bar, and took some pictures.

My plan was bad, and my feet were wet. But it seemed a small price to pay. Here are the pictures: