Lost and Found
By Hannah Smith ’09

“Don’t get eaten by an alligator!” This was the last piece of advice I received from several people before striking out on a great adventure: a canoe trip in the Florida everglades. 

As I write the majority of this story, I am sitting on a beach on the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Islands looking at the Gulf of Mexico. The trip that brought me to this place was one of the most difficult challenges I have ever conquered. There were times when I felt like I had never failed so many times in my life. However, our team always managed to pull through and find success. 

Last spring at William Jewell College, I went through an extensive interview process and was accepted into the Pryor Leadership Studies Program. Pryor Leadership Studies is an internationally recognized academic program that is experience-based and prepares students for real-world leadership. One of the course requirements is a two-week excursion with the North Carolina Outward Bound School. From the bits and pieces of the trip I had heard from previous Pryor students, I was excited about the adventures that awaited me in Florida during our Outward Bound course.

On December 28, thirty-eight Pryor students and Jewell representatives left Kansas City and flew to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Each of us had been given a detailed clothing and supply list and diligently prepared for the course weeks in advance. The Jewell contingent was split up into four groups before we arrived at the Outward Bound base camp in Everglades City, Fla. I did not know the members of my group very well, but that was sure to change during the next two weeks. After meeting our two instructors, preparing and waterproofing our gear, and receiving a vague overview of what we would be doing, our group set out on our journey. 

Our instructors informed us that we would be going on a unique adventure to start our trip: a swamp hike. A van dropped us off on an old logging trail approximately eight miles from our canoes. Equipped with a compass, map and final destination, we were challenged to find our canoes using these instruments. This hike soon became the longest eight miles of my life.

The first two miles were relatively easy but it went downhill from there.  Our group trudged through ankle- to knee-deep mud in the prairies we crossed and waded through shin- to thigh-deep water in the swamp. Somewhere in the middle of this labyrinth of trees and downed logs, I became the lucky finder of a cotton mouth snake. My heart was beating double-time after that encounter and I was for getting out of that place as fast as we possibly could. 

We finally made it out of the swamp and started across a saw grass prairie. That stuff definitely lived up to its name and sliced at our exposed skin. Four hours later, our group stumbled upon the most amazing thing of the day: pavement!  We had finally made it out of the wild, wild swamp to the roadside park where our canoes were waiting for us. This eight-mile trip had taken us a grand total of seven hours to complete and we watched the sun sink over the horizon in victory.

After eating an amazing dinner, we unloaded our gear and prepared to set off on our paddling adventure. Our instructors wanted to board up about fifteen minutes down the river to get away from the highway. Boarding up was an interesting endeavor to say the least. Each canoe had two large boards in the bottom that were placed across the top of the canoes to create a floating platform. Anchors were dropped from the bow and stern of the middle canoe, making the platform home sweet home for the night. However, our group did not make it thirty yards before we came across two fallen trees blocking the river. Since it had been a long day, we decided to camp on shore and conquer this obstacle in the morning.
 
Our group, which we had named the “A Team” in honor of the A names (Ann, Anne, Annie, Andy, Ashley…), woke up refreshed and ready to take on the world. We reloaded the canoes and had to carry them over the trees we had encountered the night before. The A Team made it to the place where we were supposed to have stayed the night before at lunch time. The remainder of the day was spent pulling ourselves through the mangrove tunnels that overshadowed the sorry waterway they called a river. As we neared the end of the day, we hit what we thought was a dead end. We could not find the place where the river continued on through the trees. We turned around and boarded up less than one hundred yards from the spot where we ate lunch. 

We were told that the path we were traveling on would take us about two days to complete. Whoever said that was wrong. The A Team spent about four days back-tracking, scouting and pulling our way through the spider-infested mangrove forest before we reached the river, which was large enough to allow us the use of our paddles.  December 31st was spent paddling on toward the New Year. We stopped long enough to light some sparklers, make a few cheers, and catch our breath before paddling on. After taking a wrong turn yet again, we decided to board up and got to sleep at 4 a.m. Our group received a blissful three hours of sleep before de-boarding and setting out to find the path that would hopefully lead us to the Gulf of Mexico.

Camaraderie grew among our group members as we blazed the trail through the dense mangrove forest. At times, the trees were so close together that the river disappeared somewhere under the roots, forcing us to use sheer muscle power to pull ourselves through openings smaller than the breadth of our canoes. Somewhere around sunset we encountered a force of nature that laughed in our face with great contempt: low tide. The water level fell three feet and we were forced to saw through numerous fallen trees that made the river nearly impassable. With the rising of the full moon came the rising of the tide. Hours later, the A Team maneuvered their way around one last tree and paddled out into open water.

The sight was breathtaking! The moon reflected off water that was more than three feet wide. After a few more hours of intense paddling, we landed on one of the Ten Thousand Islands. This was our first land experience in four days and our sea legs made walking nearly impossible. We were exhausted partly because it was 6 a.m. and partly because of the three short hours of sleep we had in the past forty-eight hours. 

Four hours after landing on the island, our instructors had the courage to wake us up for re-supply. Never before had I seen such a group of weary wanderers. The journey for that day was not as intense and we paddled three hours before making it to our destination: the Gulf of Mexico! We camped on a beach looking out at the gulf, enjoyed our first dinner in three days, and slept more that night than we had the previous two combined.  Life was good!

The next two days we spent reaching our ultimate destination, Pavilion Island. The open water paddling we did was cake compared to what we had been through in the mangroves. Our largest obstacle was the horrendous head wind we experienced on the second day. It took us nearly twice as long to go the same distance as we had the day before. The A Team prevailed and we made it to Pavilion in time to see the sun set over the horizon.

After two weeks of living on a canoe, not showering, taking care of personal needs off the side of the boat or in a bucket, exerting a great amount of physical and mental strength, seeing the Gulf of Mexico, and developing a new family, this trip has become an amazing addition to the list of adventures in the life of Hannah Smith. Bring it on.