Today, I love the feeling of sore muscles.  Sore muscles today means heavily used muscles yesterday. Something so physiologically heavy happened that my body continues to tell the story. I strut around with the soreness as with some invisible trophy of physical self achievement.  The inscription: “Yesterday, I lived!”  

Spiritual Scientist

And as I have raised two daughters, or at least accompanied two daughters while they were too young to easily fend for themselves on earth, I have often positioned myself to experience another type of soreness. A spiritual soreness.

It’s a soreness that can throb suddenly, especially when “I”  finds himself doing an activity that “we” were recently doing. But as a spiritual scientist I have often set up experiments to deliberately invoke and isolate this unseen wonder of human existence. To study it.

Experimental Apparatus – The Deerlick Trail 

The worst part of the four-mile trail run is the beginning. 1.25 miles straight up the Deerlick Trail,  climbing 1000 feet or so to gain a rocky outcrop and a pleasant look down on the Hot Springs Valley and the Homestead Resort. Another mile traces the ridgeline, climbing even higher, and then a series of steep-falling, short, back-to-back hairpins re-connects the ridgeline to the valley. Only the last mile, following a few holes of the golf-course back down to Hot Springs, are what I would consider gradient pleasant for a two-legged creature.

The “I”

I had run-walk-ed, then run-run-walk -ed, and on the last day run-run-run -ed the four miles of the Deerlick Trail when I was at a business conference here earlier in the spring.  On that first day, when I was beaten into walking submission less than halfway to my goal, the itinerary for I’s next two days was set.  I doesn’t like to be physically beaten.  I challenges himself all the time to be tough physically and mentally and to let challenges like running to the top of the Deerlick Trail inspire him into his next day of life.  I dangles his own fat carrot of self-worth and pride in front of himself on these steep trails of mental and physical challenge, and even experiences moments of self-satisfied euphoria on the immediate heels of accomplishment.  Euphoric was I after run-running all the way to the rocky outcropping on my last morning, beating the sun’s rays to the peak.  Triumphantly I ran along the top of the ridge. Giddily I  tap-danced down the steep hairpins to the valley below.  Pridefully, full-chested, I did my best gazelle along the edge of the golf course as the golfers, I tells myself, looked on in amazement at this powerful force of nature, equal parts mind and muscle, come down from the mountain to strut before the “them.”

The trail along the golf course. Credit: Scott Turner

The Catalyst – A Unique and Dangerous Walk

Anna had laughed at me the first time I suggested the hike.  She considers “hiking” to be a mere euphemism for “dangerous walking,” and why would she bring any kind of danger into her vacation?  Didn’t we come here to relax?  She wasn’t even given a vote about coming here anyway.  And!  Anyway, she’ll lose pace with the Kardashians.  Kylie is getting her lips done but isn’t sure she should. A hike? Ha! In the morning? Double Ha!

But there is a playfulness to her protest that is attractive and promising. Though it is true that as her teen age has advanced she has lost much of her interest in dangerous walking, part of me knew that she wouldn’t let Brooke and I go without her on this particular adventure.

You see, we came to the Homestead Resort for the first time as a family to better distinguish this vacation from our countless other beach vacations. This one is different.  After this one, Anna is off to college.  And though she imitates a shallow youth in her protests and some of her guilty pleasures, the Anna I have come to know for 18 years would know how much her life is about to change, and the physical distance these changes will create between me and her.  My Anna would know the value of one last daddy-daughter-daughter adventure.

And sure enough, when Brooke and I walked out of the Homestead towards the DeerLick Trail, the deep and thoughtful Anna I know was not staying by the TV to make sure Kylie’s lips would come out OK.  She was taking one last dangerous walk with her immediate family before striking out on her own.

The “We”

I didn’t have high expectations.  Neither of my girls has been showing the masochistic tendencies of their father.  They don’t beat themselves up physically the way I do, and other than swimming neither has been very active this summer.  I thought that our hike to the summit could become a hike back from the trail to the summit at any moment.

The author with his daughters.

But the stars were aligned for the Turners that day, which might be another way for saying that each of the Turners on the Deerlick Trail knew that this hike was different than every other one we had ever made together.  There was no, “I can screw this one up, because there will be another one tomorrow” attitude.  There was no getting on each other’s nerves.  There was no taking one another for granted.

We enjoyed each other. Joy from each other. The climb was tough, and two of us weren’t in shape for it, but we helped each other. When we reached the rocky outcrop, we celebrated with each other. We took pictures. We laughed. We sent pictures to Anna’s boyfriend (Amazed he was about Anna’s dangerous walking). We made fun of Brooke, and Brooke didn’t care. She fell down like a newborn giraffe in front of other hikers, feet separated from knees, and then did it again when she tried to stand up, and Brooke laughed at herself to help us laugh at her with her. We thought we would be tired after the climb to the rocky outcrop, and want to turn around to go down, but we were undivided in our decision to take the long way home. To finish the hike. Anna with another fake protest. Brooke now feeling her oats. We walked the ridge, then fell through the hairpins. The woman working the remote golf course snackbar was happy to see us when we tumbled off the mountain. Our “we” was putting off a glow, and she was stuck out here all day with nothing but her “I” and some old ladies playing golf to keep her company.  She gave us free water bottles and said she was bored. Mommy was at the pool now and wondering about us. We had been gone a long time. We sent her pictures. We walked carelessly down the valley — the most beautiful way to walk. Without a care, talking about silly things. Finally we landed in the one street town of Hot Springs.

The “I” Again, And Spoiled Country

The one thing I should never do, as I press my limits and try to make myself larger, is to invite others into my solitude. Once Anna and Brooke had walked the Deerlick Trail with me, once we had struggled together to the top, giggled our way along the ridge, and laughed our way down and back to the resort, that four miles of trail in the western Virginian mountains was changed forever.

How do I know? I finished the experiment. I ran-ran-ran it the next day.

And when I got to the top, to the rocky outcrop, all I could see was the absence of Anna and Brooke. No euphoria on the trail along the ridge – only absence. Red-faced exhaustion. And soreness? Yes! Soreness in the hairpin turns, at the place where Brooke and I stopped to do a photography experiment.  Soreness as I imagine the voices and the souls around me, sharing the trail with me. A different feeling in my chest, now, as the golfers see my descent. Hollow. Lonely. Sore. The trail was full yesterday. Today, just me. Just I. And I knows that if ever I am on that trail again, that soreness will return. The days of solitary euphoria on the Deerlick Trail are gone for ever.

The Conclusion of a Spiritual Scientist

My wife notices that the screen has my attention more than it usually does. We are at the beach with our best family friends. I stare at this screen, and in this screen I only see Anna. I left her in a dorm room at N.C. State University a few days ago. I will miss her.  She has spoiled almost every physical space I know.  She has spoiled the white space of this screen.  Nowhere will ever be the same without her.  All is spoiled.  I am sore.  And yet . . . I somehow realize that I love this soreness even more than I love physical soreness. I love it for its depth, its intensity, and for the larger sense of accomplishment it represents.

The Trophy

My journal from 15 years ago reads:

June 3, 2004

As I write these words, I find myself immersed in the chaos of eastern American family life.  I am dug into it, this human life, and still digging. Other human beings around me, close to me, need and depend on me, so that my existence seems inseparable from theirs. Amy, Anna, Brooke and I are linked together, conglomerated, in such a way that to even imagine the absence of one of the parts causes a sinking, simulated pain somewhere deep inside where the bonds with these other humans form and strengthen with no mental effort or special attention from me.  Sometimes I only know the strength of the connections, and the raw, nerve-like nature of the emotional tendons between us by imagining the immense pain of one of the parts being torn away. A gaping hole, with dangling nerve endings, ripped sinews and profuse soul hemorrhaging would be created!

Less imagination needed now.  Though I still have remote access to her, a certain level of extraction has begun, and when I return to my house, a bedroom will be empty.  No experiment.  Something so spiritually heavy happened that my soul continues to tell the story.  Abrupt, intense soreness!

I love it.  My heart carries it around as one of its greatest life trophies.  The inscription: “Yesterday, We lived!”

A mural by artist Emily Herr on the wall at Vasen.

Want to to know why we’re excited to partner with Vasen, the newest brewery in Scott’s Addition? It’s because of their commitment to the outdoor scene in Richmond and the environment generally.

Case in point: Väsen announced today that it has joined 1% for the Planet, a global organization that connects dollars and doers to accelerate smart environmental giving. A network that spans more than 60 countries, 1% for the Planet includes member businesses, nonprofit partners, and individuals working together to support environmental organizations through everyday actions and annual commitments.

Väsen, which officially opened on July 29, 2017, is on a mission to create one of the nation’s most sustainable breweries and has pledged to donate 1% of annual sales to support nonprofit organizations focused on the environment. In addition, Väsen will work to promote responsible brewing practices, sponsor outdoor stewardship programs, and advocate for greater public awareness of issues facing the environment.

A recent night at Vasen.

“At Väsen Brewing Company we’re true to our name,” said Nathan Winters, Väsen’s marketing and environmental director. “The Swedish word ‘väsen’ means your inner essence or way of being. For us, that means a steadfast commitment to environmental and social responsibility in everything we do.”

Located at 3331 Moore St, in Richmond, Väsen makes unconventional ales that celebrate those who share an appreciation for the outdoors. Working with Virginia farmers and energy producers, Väsen’s goal is to achieve sustainable brewing with 100% reuse and recycling of its resources. Together with 1% of the Planet, the brewery will collaborate with other 1% for the Planet members to have the greatest impact on protecting the planet.

“Our member companies have donated more than $150 million to our environmental nonprofit partners to date,” said Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet. “Currently, only 3% of total philanthropy goes to the environment and, only 3% of that comes from businesses. The planet needs bigger support than this, and our growing network of member businesses is doing its valuable part to increase giving and support on the ground outcomes. Our members lead with purpose and commitment, characteristics that consumers support. We’re excited to welcome Väsen to our global network.”

We’re really excited to be partnering with the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest to give away four tickets to the event on Aug. 19 in C-ville. First the details, then the catch.

Deets: The Va. Craft Brewers Fest goes off at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. for those with VIP tix) on Aug. 19 at IX Art Park in Charlottesville. It features a ridiculous amount of Virginia craft breweries — almost 100 to be somewhat exact. You can buy tickets here or you can win them right here, two sets of two of them of them, in fact — a $120 value for each set of two. But that’s where the catch comes in…

Last year’s Va. Craft Brewers Fest in Charlottesville.

The Catch: Our friends at the Va. Craft Brewers Fest aren’t just purveyors and promoters of great Virginia beer. They also want to make our fine commonwealth a better place to drink beer. To that end: To be eligible for the tickets to this huge party, you’ve got to visit our friends at Keep Virginia Cozy, an RVA-based group dedicated to cleaning up Richmond and our fair state. Check out their Facebook page here and consider signing up for their next event, which (what are the odds?) starts an ends at Vasen Brewing Company in Scott’s Addition. Once you’ve liked them on FB, shoot us an email (andy@richmondoutside.com) and you’ll be entered in the giveaway.

And finally… Next Monday (Aug. 14), we’ll pick two winners at random and send them an email with a code for their free tickets. Simple as that!

Volunteering note (one that’s extremely family friendly): Registration is now open for the James River Regional Cleanup.

The Cleanup is an annual event of the James River Advisory Council and for years has attracted hundreds of volunteers from Lynchburg to the tidal James, who roam the shorelines on foot and cruise the water in boats to clean up trash, an effort that is a tremendous benefit to the river, its wildlife, and the people who visit and enjoy the river. JRAC even provides refreshments when it’s over. There are numerous official cleanup sites to choose from. Last year 700 volunteers joined together to collect 530 bags of trash and 296 bags of recycling.

Mark your calendars now: James River Regional Cleanup on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017. Or click this link to learn more.

It’s no secret that we here at RichmondOutside are big fans of animal cams — especially the RVAOspreyCam (but also this one of grizzlies in Alaska) — so we were excited to see the news this morning on Maymont’s Facebook Page that their cam featuring the the two new river otters is operational. Click here to check it out.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Maymont, they’ve got a really cool event coming up on August 6 at 1 p.m. at the Nature Center (home of the otter cam).

Rare at Maymont it’s called, and the five-hour program offers the ability to “Learn about the rare, endangered and protected animals of Virginia…Science Matters, an educational initiative of the Community Idea Stations, along with Maymont educators and community partners, will provide hands-on activities for the whole family. Enjoy interactions with animals and their handlers and in-depth discussions with wildlife experts. It’s a unique opportunity to explore the important issues facing at-risk and protected species in Virginia. This event is in conjunction with the PBS Series RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark, which will air on WCVE PBS and WHTJ PBS July 18, 25 and August 1 at 9pm, and on WCVW PBS July 20, 27 and August 3 at 8pm.”

In 2011 our friends at Keep Virginia Beautiful started a program called “30 in 30,” i.e. 30 grants in 30 days, to “empower groups all across Virginia to make an environmental impact in their own communities.”

Keep Virginia Beautiful’s “30 in 30” program awards small grants — anywhere from $500 to $1,000 — for projects in four categories:  Community Beautification and Greening, Litter Prevention, Recycling, and Cigarette Litter Prevention. New this year: five bonus grants of $2,000.

Since 2011, KVB has provided $178,000 for 230 different projects at schools, colleges, parks, counties and towns, environmental groups, associations, nonprofits, and service organizations.

Online applications were accepted throughout April, which panel of expert judges reviewed in May. KVB announced their “30 Grants in Thirty Days” recipients each day in the month of June on social media and their website, and I thought it would be cool to highlight the Richmond-area recipients as a reminder of the hard work put in by so many groups all over the region to keep RVA shiny and bright.

Friends of Pocahontas State Park

The Friends of Pocahontas State Park received a $500 for their beautification project to help maintain the existing gardens around Pocahontas State Park. Funds awarded will be used to purchase a leaf shredder, as well as additional native plants to improve the landscape gardens. Volunteers will use shredded leaves as mulch in the flower beds, which saves the park money by not having to purchase mulch to replenish the gardens each year.

Richmond Guardian Angels

The Richmond Guardian Angels received a $500 grant for their beautification project, “Positive Messaging at Our Feet.” The Guardian Angels will construct raised flower beds in selected front yards  in Jackson Ward. After completion, they will work with youth from 6 Points Innovation Center to paint and stencil the beds with positive messages. This is not only a Beautification project, but also a beautification message.

Robious Elementary PTA

Robious Elementary School PTA received a $1,000 grant for their composting project. The PTA will use the grant money to teach children about composting and to beautify the school grounds. They will improve the existing garden beds and install a composter. Gardeners from the area will be brought in to teach the students about gardening techniques. This grant will provide the students at Robious Elementary an opportunity to learn outside the classroom and gain knowledge of how various food waste can be recycled into compost instead of going to landfills.

Linwood Holton Elementary PTA

Linwood Holton Elementary School PTA received a $750 grant for their recycling project, “Doing the Rot Thing.” The PTA will use their grant money to fund a composting program for the school. They will build four compost bins in the garden and teach the students about the composting process from start to finish. They will be using organic waste, generated by the school cafeteria, to show students how leftover food can be repurposed and kept out of the landfills.

Richmond Clean City Commission

Richmond Clean City Commission received a $1,000 grant for its litter prevention project. CCC sponsors programs that encourage citizens to clean their environment. Their goal is to support sustainable prevention and measurable reduction of litter within the Highland Park community. They will use their grant money to fund educational outreach materials, and to support clean ups in areas where there is already an excessive amount of litter.

Va. Oyster Shell Recycling Program

The Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program received a $2,000 grant for their recycling project. Currently, the VOSRP at the VCU Rice Rivers Center recycles waste oyster shell from more than 60 Virginia restaurants, 30 seafood retailers, and the general public. The group returns the shells to the Chesapeake Bay instead of it being lost to a landfill. With funds provided by us, VOSRP will support expansion into the Northern Virginia and further into the Central Virginia areas, including Mason Neck State Park, Leesylvania State Park, Fredericksburg, and Henrico County.

Renew Richmond

Renew Richmond received a $1,000 grant for their beautification project to install a new community garden and orchard at Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church. Funds will be used to purchase edible plants, seeds, and fruit trees for the garden. This project will offer Jackson Ward neighbors, churchgoers, and passers-by from the surrounding community an opportunity for contemplation of natural beauty and greenery in a neighborhood with limited access to green space.

Groundwork RVA

Groundwork RVA received a $1,000 grant for their litter prevention project in the Highland Park neighborhood. Their plan is to create an anti-litter video that is written, directed, and performed by neighborhood youth. Once the video is complete, they will invite family, friends, and neighbors to view the movie and participate in a neighborhood clean up. After the debut, they will plan monthly litter cleanups for residents to conduct in Highland Park.

The Times-Dispatch’s Vanessa Remmers has an update today on a story we posted about last month. Chesterfield County is proposing to lease a portion — about 1.26 acres — of Larus Park, a Richmond park near the intersection of Huguenot and Buford roads, to build a water pumping station that would increase the county’s water supply. Chesterfield’s Board of Supervisors has already approved the project. It is scheduled to go before Richmond’s land-use committee Tuesday at 1 p.m.

A stream in Richmond’s Larus Park. Credit: Leonard Adkins

Some residents near the park oppose the plan on legal grounds, arguing, writes Remmers, that “city code states in part that Larus Park cannot be leased for anything that would result in development of the public parkland…Opponents have also questioned whether the deed that transferred the land to the city allowed for such a proposal.”

City attorney Allen Jackson responded to those questions in an opinion to City Council members. Click here to read the T-D piece.

A couple weeks back we introduced a non-profit new to RVA called Keep Virginia Cozy. Litter pickups are a big part — though not all — of what they do, and I’d love to see their footprint grow. If you’ve been down to Pony Pasture between Memorial and Labor days, you know that trash is a constant challenge. So, while we wait for people to figure out that it’s not that hard to leave the park with the same stuff they brought in, let’s support groups like KVC that are doing something about it.

Picking up trash near Texas Beach on the north bank of the James River. Credit: KVC

Here’s the info — and here’s the link — on their next event, a Pony Pasture cleanup:

Hey everyone! I just want to say thanks to all of y’all who came out to our last cleanup down on Belle Isle! Your efforts pulled upwards of 40+ bags of trash out of our beautiful river!! Sadly though, there is still trash to be had.. We are going to set our sights on Pony Pasture and the surrounding rocks that people like to hangout on. As per usual there will be coffee and donuts provided by Sugar Shack Donuts, to get everyone hopped up on coffee and sugar so you can have energy to grab as much litter as you can in 3 hours! I really want to extend a warm thank you to everyone who has come out to our past cleanups…and those of you who have taken the extra step and made a donation for our cause. None of this would be possible without y’all! Thank y’all from the bottom of my heart! I hope to see y’all and all your friends down at Pony Pasture on July 22nd at 8:45 a.m.! And as always…remember….. Be kind, Smile at strangers, Pickup litter, and Keep Virginia Cozy!

Teta Kain, a longtime paddle master on the Dragon Run, doesn’t know with certainty the origin of the cypress swamp’s name. But after making more than 300 trips down the 3.7-mile portion of the Dragon that is open to the public only one month each year, she does know what the place means to her.

“Pleasure, beauty, and a place that I love. It’s my river. I know that’s an unfair thing to say but … it stirs serenity and excitement, too. It’s very exciting to me,” said Kain, whose slight build and short stature belie the influence the 80-year-old wields in her unofficial role as “Queen of the Dragon.”

Every year since 2006, she has taken about 30 trips down the Dragon, a pristine waterway roughly an hour’s drive from Richmond. But she doesn’t get tired of it.

“I never get on that river and say ‘Oh, I have to do this again.’ I never feel that way about it,” she said in her heavy Maine accent. “I think, ‘Here I am.’ “When you get out at Big Island and you just go around that first bend and those cypress trees are beside you, how can you describe that?”

Her journey from her childhood home in Bar Harbor to the Dragon Run has taken a meandering path, just like the waterway that works its way through the counties of Essex, Middlesex, King & Queen, and Gloucester. At 17, she headed to Boston for nurse’s training and then on to the Air Force. She met her husband in Texas; they got married in North Carolina, and they are still together after 55 years. She moved to Gloucester in 1986, and about three years later retired from Langley Air Force Base, many years after changing careers from nursing to advertising and public relations.

It was about that time, she explained, “Somebody just told me about Dragon Run, and the name, as it does to many people, just fascinated me. So I went up to see the river and one of the people on the board (of Friends of Dragon Run) at the time asked me if I’d do bird surveys on the river. … I’ve been a big bird-watcher for a long time, so I started doing monthly surveys, with my dog, on the river. … I did these inventories every month for about five years (on Big Island).”

Then, a chance encounter altered her course.

“I didn’t like to canoe but I went down the river in a kayak (with) a couple who said just get in and try it,” Kain said. “Immediately I said, ‘I love it.’ And I went right to Farmville and bought me a kayak, ‘Old Blue,’ the one I’m in now. It has at least 1,000 miles on it.”

By about 2000, she had acquired 13 kayaks.

Teta Kain with a Butterfly. Credit: Bay Journal

“Kayaks just kept happening to me. Somebody would say, ‘I’ve got this kayak I don’t want it anymore, do you want it?’ … It didn’t happen that quickly, but it just kept evolving.”

A few years later, a man from Tappahannock, Gordon Page, heard about Kain’s informal trips down the Dragon Run and wanted to try it. He enjoyed the excursion so much he offered to help Kain on her runs through the million-year-old swamp. In a 3-hour kayak trip, it’s common to spot osprey, bald eagles, egrets, turtles, muskrats, beavers, sycamore trees, river birches, red maples, dogwoods and huge bald cypress trees. It is fed mostly by underground springs and empties into the Piankatank River about 40 miles downstream. Years ago, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Nature Conservancy did a study on the more than 230 rivers and streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the Dragon Run was ranked second in ecological significance.

“Gordon and I led the trips for about, I guess, three or four years and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people kept hearing about it,” said Kain, who added the only advertising was word of mouth and the Friends of Dragon Run newsletter.

Since Friends of Dragon Run is a non-profit, it can’t charge for the trips, but they soon turned them into fundraisers.

“People often offered us money for a donation,” Kane said. “They were fascinated by this unique waterway and wanted to help preserve it.”

Bald cypress trees on the Dragon Run. Credit: Bay Journal

It wasn’t long before another major player, Bob Hancock, joined their team.

“My second wife, Marty, went to the same hairdresser (as Kain) … and I met Teta and we got talking about the Dragon,” said Hancock, who lives near the river. “She offered to take me and one of my sons down the Dragon. So she took me down there and I guess you could say I got hooked. By the end of the season, I had three kayaks. Now, I’ve got six.”

He also had a trailer that could carry 10-12 kayaks.

“Suddenly, we were in business,” Kain said.

With the interest growing in the Dragon, the three were taking kayakers down the river more often. The daily numbers eventually grew to 12 paddlers plus a crew of five “to keep everybody happy and safe and comfortable.

“That’s pretty much how it evolved, not anything very structured. It’s just kept rolling.”

Kain, who has been the group’s paddle master since 2001, finished another season in May, but is taking a step back from some of her duties. She won’t be organizing the trips or have much behind-the-scenes responsibilities, but she will be there every day to guide the paddlers and be the interpreter.

According to Hancock, that’s the perfect role for Kain, a naturalist who has traveled all over the world and is well-known throughout the state. She continues to give presentations on Virginia’s different habitats, as well as presentations on butterflies, moss, spiders (one of her favorites), fungus and more.

“She is the Dragon Run,” Hancock said, adding it would take about six months to talk about what she means to it.

“She can teach you about every bug, whatever is in there,” he continued. “The main thing that always struck me was all these things that I look at and think are pretty, the grasses and vegetation, but she would tell you the right name and the names of all the birds, and when you’re with someone who can … it’s like you have gone back in history. She kept us interested (on the trips).

“To me, when you go on the Dragon without Teta, you might as well go on the Mattaponi. If you go on the Dragon without her, it’s like seeing diamonds without knowing they are diamonds because they are covered in mud.”

And she knows every inch of it, from the put-in at Big Island to the take-out at Mascot.

“There are a few plants, I mean individual plants” she looks forward to seeing. “There’s one called false nettle and it comes up beside a tree every year. … It’s like seeing an old friend, but I look forward to that plant coming up every year.”

She doesn’t just point out the flora, fauna and wildlife. She becomes a storyteller to make the learning experience fun. However, after telling many of the same stories over and over, she admits a change is in order.

“I need to upgrade some of my stories. I try to every year,” she said.

Hancock has heard many of the stories over and over, but they don’t get old to him.

“It’s sort of like (an actor) giving a play a 100 times,” he said. “They have done it many times … but the people in the audience have never heard it.”

With 17 kayaks on each trip down the river, the line can stretch out as much as half a mile from Kain at the front to Hancock at the back. Each paddler is given a walkie-talkie so they can hear Kain narrate the adventure, but that doesn’t solve all the problems, said Hancock.

“She’ll sit there and tell you about birds, and when I get there the bird is gone,” he said. “You have to be at the front of the line or close to her. If you are at the back, it’s not the same program.”

And according to Kain, it’s not the same river each trip so she has to be able to modify the program from one day to the next.

“What really amazes me is how much it changes from day to day in the spring,” she said. “You can almost see the vegetation growing before your eyes. The evolving of the plants and the life on the river from day to day is astonishing to me.”

The trips down the Dragon are held from the first or second week of April to the first or second week of May because that’s the only time the water is high enough that it can be navigated. However, the group is looking into adding another paddling season, just a few weeks, in late October.

“Winter is nothing like summer,” Kain said about the being on the Dragon. “At this moment, it’s pretty vague. We are trying to clear out other parts of the river. We are hoping we are going to be able to offer something in the fall because there is so much demand for it. We are doing a lot of exploring on the river, a lot of talking to people who own property, seeing what we can do to make another trip.”

She can’t hide her enthusiasm for the Dragon Run during an interview that turns into a history lesson. “Being beside a tree that is 6 to 700 years old and touching it; I never, never get tired of that feeling,” she said. “It never goes away, the awe that I feel … of the river that it’s like it was thousands of years ago.”

She’s not the only one who feels that way.

“I’ve actually had people tear up when they tell me at the end of a trip how they feel about that river,” Kain said. “They have tears in their eyes because it’s so beautiful to them, so pristine, so isolated. And many of them are like me, it’s hard to describe because there are so many feelings. I haven’t had very many people complain. Some are just speechless because it’s just stunning and beautiful, too.”

She’s already looking forward to her next trip on the Dragon.

“When I was 62, I said I can’t see me doing these things when I’m 65. But the day never comes when I wake up and say, ‘I’m too old to do this.’”

When she was approaching 80, she thought it would be awful to hit that milestone, but now says, “This really is kind of exciting.”

As for the origin of the name Dragon Run, Kain subscribes to one of the most popular theories, that it has ties to the Portuguese who settled along the river and had a word in their language that was similar to “Dragon.” But more important to her is the reaction to the name.

“The name (Dragon Run) …. fascinates you; it did me the first time I heard it.”