Total: 10 miles. We hopscotched from oceanside to bayside (checked out the no motor zones around the Cotton Keys--awesome bird-watching!), stopped at Lorelei's for a break (met some super Canadians, Rob and Lori, who will paddle with us tomorrow), went back to the oceanside to say hi to Sparrow at Bud & Mary's, then back to the bayside to arrive at the famous Robbie's Marina.

This is just one of the things that makes paddling in the Keys so extraorindary: pretty much wherever the wind is blowing from, you can find a sheltered lee either bay or oceanside, slipping between the island and often times under remaining segments of Henry Flagler’s famous railroad.

Feb. 1: Day 2 Paddling the Florida Keys

We left the Elks campground in Tavernier with a send-off from our hosts, Dave and Lynda, joined by two other paddling buddies, Cynthia and Christine. From Community Harbor, we paddled south, around the entrance to Tavernier Creek and proceeded past the Cowpens and through “Toilet Seat Pass.”

Now for those not familiar with this Keys phenomenon, Toilet Seat Pass is an official boat channel, marked by, you guessed it, toilet seats. This one, the original, has more than 100, posted on PVC pipe, by individuals, groups, Boy Scout Troops, family reunions, veterans, you name it. This particular one happens to be courtesy of the WWOW (Wild Women on the Water), of which both Christine and Cynthia are proud members. They’re mostly powerboaters, but these two are trying to get them to convert to human-powered paddling!

Mary & Bill Burnham, author of the Falcon Guide, Florida Keys Paddling Atlas, are on a 100-mile book tour by kayak, from Key Largo to Key West.

 Data

Thursday's weather: Partly cloudy, winds southeast 15-20 knots. In Buttonwood, waves were about a foot. An occasional set washed over our boats. You couldn't tell from standing on land, but the wind was strong out on the open water.

Mileage

We did 14.8 miles, probably our longest day of the trail.

Recap

Back a few years, Mary and I paddled the Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail, a ten-day trip marked by horrendous weather and animal greeters. That's an "animal greeter?" you ask. It could be a dolphin, an otter, ducks at Steinhatchee Landing -- any kind of animal that we'd spy in the wild, close up, that became our good luck totem for the day's paddle. We came to count on them, and animal greeters are now a personal superstition, something I look for on every trip. It's like they're saying, "I've got your back." Or, "You're with us now, on the water. Let's go."

I'm changing my tune on this two-week trip down the Florida Keys. This time, it's the great people who anchor the start and end of our days, that are giving us the "good vibrations."

At the launch, Frank and Monica Woll, owners of Florida Bay Outfitters, MM 104 B/S in Key Largo. Monica works for the state parks service on the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage and Paddle trails. An old friend, Mike Metzger, helped carry boats to the water. A new friend, Tom, who works in the shop, lent me a dry bag, last minute. And at the tail end, Dave and Lynda Williams met us and fed us at the Elks campground in Tavernier. I wolfed down three helpings f salad and a healthy portion of stick-to-your-ribs goulash.

The day's highlights was Dusenbury Creek and a series of canopied mangrove creeks nicknamed "The Grottos." Paddling them reminded us of our friend Josh Gregory, who showed us these gems some four years ago. He's in Kansas now, or Kentucky -- wherever. Josh, if you're reading this, call us or post on the site. We miss you.

I'm noticing a rather dispiriting aspect to aquatic life in the Upper Keys: the seagrass is coated with algae, which is also covering and choking the once-plentiful sponges on roots of the mangrove trees. I can only attribute this to an overall degradation of water quality. Honestly, it's hard to be effusive about the "beautiful nature of the keys" when the grass beds are brown and the sponges are dying. It's a bellwether for fish and birds, too, which seem to be scarce.

Coming out of Dusenbury, we got our first taste of the stiff southeast wind that would buffet us across Tarpon Basin and Buttonwood Sound. I was keen on reaching the Swash Keys -- the water here is that mythical tropical green so often associated with "Caribbean." I kept to the leeside of the islands as long as I could, but Mary opted for the direct route, slipping outside where she waited in the shelter of a small mangrove
island. Although about a mile apart, we kept in touch via radio. Eventually, the call had to be made. We slogged into a direct wind to reach the shoreline of Key Largo, where we enjoyed a quiet lee for the rest of the trip to the Elks campground in Tavernier.

See you on the water.

In a few days we’ll embark on a book tour like no other: Paddling 100 miles to the southernmost point in the US. Follow the adventures of travel writers Bill and Mary Burnham, authors of the FalconGuide Florida Keys Paddling Atlas, Jan. 31 through Feb. 13, from Key Largo ending with a finale party in Key West.

We’ll do book-signings, slide shows and “paddle with the authors” events to promote the new Florida Keys Overseas Paddling Trail and responsible travel along the fragile coral island chain. Check www.FloridaPaddling.com for the full event schedule and sign up for automatic updates if you’d like (“under newsletter”).

It was an ugly October for cyclists up in Portland. If you haven't heard, two were crushed to death by right-turning trucks in separate incidents less than two weeks apart. Final reports have been issued for both tragedies and each report sports some eyebrow raisers.

In the first incident, on October 11, a 19-year-old rider pulled up alongside a cement truck at a red light in downtown Portland, apparently intending to continue straight. The driver didn't notice her ride up next to his truck, and where she stopped she didn't appear in any of his mirrors. When the light turned green the truck turned and the rider didn't stand a chance.

 The following excerpt comes from the chapter "Fear of Heights" in my forthcoming book of climbing adventure stories tentatively entitled Life on the Edge.

The late afternoon sun slanted across the Garden of the Gods as I rappelled down the west face of Montezuma Tower, a tall, skinny fin ascended by a classic route up its north ridge. My partner, already on the ground, had gone to retrieve the packs at the ridge base. Below the west face, I pulled the double rappel ropes and began coiling them. A beer-gutted Texan in a tight western shirt, the plaid kind with pearl button snaps, and a yellow, sweat-stained Caterpillar cap sauntered over and asked, “How ju fellas get yer grappling hook up that mountain?”

What follows is a little story I wrote for a newspaper here in Colorado Springs a few years ago...enjoy!