A few months ago, I wrote an article for Arkansas Outside called, The Stoke. Over the course of the summer, I found myself searching for my own. Call it the “dog days,” blame it on the hot weather, or maybe I have just been distracted. Whatever the case, I was finding it hard to get “stoked” about my usual activities. Save for one nagging idea in the back of my brain that just wouldn’t go away.
Allow me to back up a little bit. I have a very eclectic taste in outdoor activities. My first love and passion was, and will always be, whitewater kayaking. I never feel more in tune with myself and my surroundings than when I’m running a river with friends or surfing a wave. Most recently, I have also rekindled my passion for cycling, both road and mountain, and last fall, I began dabbling with rock climbing, fly fishing, and trail running. All of these activities are awesome and I always come away with something. But none of them do for me what kayaking does. Recently, however, I’ve had a need for something more substantial than an afternoon at Rockport or a lap around Cedar Glades on the mountain bike. Something that pushed my mental faculties as well as my physical stamina…something…”epic”.
If you haven’t noticed, stand up paddling has finally made it to Arkansas. “SUPing” has definitely been gaining in popularity on the coast, but has moved inland. I tried it a few times and found that it rekindled a love I once had for flat-water paddling. Paddling flat water has a rhythm all it’s own. Slower paddle strokes, quiet, open expanses of water, and that feeling of being “small” all allow the mind to wander. Sometimes not focusing on anything allows the world to become the most clear. Needless to say, I purchased a board.
Back to that nagging idea in the corner of my brain. Each day on my drive to work, I cross over the 70 West bridge on Lake Hamilton and for as far as I can see in both directions is water. Some days the water is glassy and there is a low fog rolling over the water from where the cold water flowing out of Blakely Dam mixes with the warm water of the main channel. These are the days where the voice in my head is the loudest. At one end of Lake Hamilton is Blakely Dam, the eastern terminus of Lake Ouachita. At the other end is Carpenter Dam, and in between is 18 miles of water that to my knowledge had never been paddled in one shot, from end to end, on a SUP.
I wrestled with this idea for a while. Struggling to find the “stoke” to begin.
“I’ll wait for fall.”
“I need to train more.”
“I’ll wait until someone can go with me.”
You know, all those excuses you give yourself. But every time I crossed that bridge, those voices became quieter, and the one telling me to “do it” grew louder. I decided to listen to the latter and on a random Thursday morning at 8 a.m., my board and I slid into the water below Blakely Dam and my adventure began.
If I were to regale you with the story of the trip, you would undoubtedly find it boring. Nothing too exciting happened on the water. I struggled both mentally and physically and the majority of the adventure took place inside my head. At 2 p.m. on that random Thursday, I paddled next to Carpenter Dam, snapped a picture, called my shuttle driver, and there on the dock while waiting for my ride, I found something…
My Stoke.
When Jeremy can’t be found on the water somewhere or a trail somewhere else, he has been spotted at Ouachita Outdoor Outfitters in Hot Springs, helping others find their own Stoke.
