"Go West, young man" is a phrase often credited to the American author and newspaper editor Horace Greeley, of New York Tribune fame, concerning America's expansion westward, related to the then-popular concept of manifest destiny. It was first stated by John Babsone Lane Soule in an 1851 editorial in the Terre Haute Express. "Go west young man, and grow up with the country." Greeley later used the quote in his own editorial in 1865.
Unfortunately, the tale doesn't end there. (Sigh...)
My great, great, great uncle Ailbeart Riffster happened to be in New York when that infamous editorial was published, and being relatively lazy, (It's a Scottish thing. You wouldn't understand), he fancied the notion of free land, ripe for the taking. At this point in the tale, it's important to note a couple facts about Ailbeart that were not common knowledge to later historians. First, Ailbeart was as dumb as a stump. In fact, in the great debate of 1840, in Edinborough, Ailbeart actually lost an argument with a stump. To suggest he was dim witted is to be exceptionaly kind. Second, he seldom bathed, believing that water and soap stripped the body of one's manliness. When Ailbeart approached Mr Greeley for further details regarding his "Go West" editorial, Mr Greeley took one wiff of Ailbeart and told a bit of a fib, thereby saving countless travellers from a painfully odoriferous quest. Mr Greeley explained to Ailbeart that the editorial contained a misprint, and that those seeking their fortunes should actually go east, not west. Ailbeart was last seen paddling his kayak out of New York Harbor, heading toward the rising sun. Family tradition says Ailbeart will someday arrive in Scotland, where, hopefully, some kind Riffster will turn him around.
Like Ailbeart, we shall also be heading east. The tentative plan is to meet at the launch site at 8:00am, where we'll drop off our boats. From there, we will shuttle as many vehicles as possible to the landing site in Astor, then return to our boats and set sail. Our objective will be two fold. The primary objective will be to clear and fallen trees which block the river. Because we are geocachers, we will also pick up any trash we might find along the way.
One significant caveat: I have never paddled this stretch of river. I have no idea what this journey might entail. This could be the most strenuous quest I've ever undertaken, or, it could be a simple, lazy drift downstream. Ya gotta go, to know. We should expect the typical Florida paddling hazards, to include very large alligators, venomous snakes, wild hogs, black bears, mosquitos, ticks, hornets, dehydration and sunstroke. Looking at what I presume to be the route we'll take, I see no way to get rescue folks to you in the event of an emergency. As such, if you are not comfortable in such an environment, I would suggest you do not participate in this event. Another warning: The launch site is known for being peopled by rednecks. As such, I strongly recommend you do not leave anything valuable in any vehicle parked there.
Those without kayaks should go to either the launch site or the landing, and pick up whatever trash you find.