Ultimate Hugh Heward Update #13

Mark reports 6:42pm

The river is raging - the soggy bottom boys have been hoofing it, making their way to the comforts of Unadilla Boatworks.

Big shout out to Ron Sell owner operator who has offered a hot shower and a dry place to sleep. He restores boats and builds wooden kayaks and canoes...imagine that? I wonder what they will have to talk about?

"The river is rising with all the rain, there are sections that I wouldn't run down river let alone trying to paddle up river" - Mark P.

Mark reports the fun meter is running high despite the weather and river conditions, which as I write is getting worse with the temperature dropping. It appears the Intrepid 4 can't stop laughing; personally I think its dehydration and hypothermia setting in.

They have nicknamed this section the "Highway to Hell" as their goal is to make it to Hell Michigan by tomorrow night. Blisters are abundant.

Factoid:

There are two leading theories cited by residents for the origin of Hell's name:

The first holds that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schön und hell!" - translated as, "So beautiful and bright!" Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck.

The second holds that after Michigan gained statehood, George Reeves was asked what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell for all I care." The name became official on October 13, 1841.