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Time to Paddle (Or, the Only Time We Regret Skipping Arms Day)

Thursday, February 25, Do All the Things! (Day 5)

Today was the day we were gonna do ALL THE THINGS with Russ & Anne! First, we were going to kayak out to Cas Cay. Then we were going to hike out to Red Point. And finally we were going to get a geocache! ALL THE THINGS! (Also there may be a cool refreshing beverage involved at some point.) Check out the pic below to see where we were heading.

We set off from the Eco Tours marina where Chad and I rented some bright yellow sit on top kayaks! Like pretty much every day this week, it was a lovely day in Paradise to do anything (or everything) and that includes paddling.

Especially, through and around mangroves. Paddle. Paddle. Paddle. I’d always heard how mangrove swamps are, well, swampy and smelly and rather unpleasant to be in. But these mangroves were not that at all because the water was moving through them. Being in the little mangrove tunnel was lovely and cool and completely relaxing.

The water was amazingly clear which was nifty. At one point Russ pointed out the upside down jelly fish and I could see them clear as day! It was a little weird being able to see the bottom, but not being really sure how deep the water was.

We arrived at (on) Cas Cay – even Ping who spent the trip in a dry sack tethered to my kayak. He might be a flightless water fowl, but I wasn’t taking any risks.

Kayaks safely stashed, Chad and I watched in amazement as Russ & Anne produced chairs, a cooler, snacks, shoes and tons of other stuff from their kayaks. Man those things hold a lot of stuff! Thus ready, we set out for the hiking portion of the trip!

First stop, the Blow Hole! Super duper cool! (Yes, I know, I’ve said that about pretty much everything down here. But it’s true. Super duper cool. Leave me alone, I’m struggling for modifiers.) The big waves come barreling ashore, making this POP / BLURP noise and BOOM! Water shoots through the blow hole. It really is fun to watch!

Onward and upwards. The trail was not bad at all. Some previous cachers were fussing about it in their logs, but come on people; put on your hiking shoes and deal with it. (Also, read the dang cache page which says, don’t do it in flip flops.) Thanks for the peace-of-mind broomstick, Anne!

It was incredibly windy as we made our way out the trail and we were fortunate to be able to watch a sailboat try really hard to get anywhere…

And a dude set up his kiteboarding kite. Which, once we saw him in action, looked a little to extreme for my tastes.

As it turns out, Chad had picked his sitting spot appropriate when we arrived. Because when I finally bothered to look at my GPS, I realized he was sitting on it. Or, more accurately, above it. Good job Loyal Sidekick!

Well, time to move on. We headed back down the trail and around the bend and to the hermit crab racing area. You might think I’m kidding. I’m not. And there were hermit crabs EVERYWHERE; including the trees. Yes. In. The. Trees. Which is a place I do not think hermit crabs should be…above me.

We had to make the obligatory stop for Chad to check out the redneck wind chimes that had been loving assembled over time. (Also proof that yes, there are rednecks everywhere.)

After exploring Cas Cay on land, we put on our snorkeling gear – yes, all that was ALSO in Russ & Anne’s kayaks believe it or not! – and walked into the water. The mangrove roots are called fish nurseries and we were not disappointed! Holy moly! Plus we saw another barracuda and the back half of a grouper, so that was super cool. The water, like elsewhere in these parts, was warm and happy and full of surprises, like the trunkfish Anne pointed out.

The kayaking and snorkeling and sun exposure had worn Chad and I down. So we didn’t venture too far afield for dinner, just down to the Hull Bay where we did a little beach walking before food – because it’s there.