What do I think of this trip? After more than a month to reflect on it, I have to say that for me it was a real adventure. Adventures are not vacations. A vacation is a trip to the beach, a fancy hotel and a cold drink. Adventures are unpredictable.
Someone else on the trail might have all favorable winds, sunshine and warm nights. Or they might have seven out of nine days of rain. In our case it was some of all of these things. But mostly it was coping with strong relentless headwinds.
At the end, I was pretty tired. I figure I had one or two more days of paddling in me, but that was it. I balance the 
effort of paddling so many days in those difficult conditions with the experience of being in such remote wilderness locations, with camping in such beautiful surroundings in places that were so different from each other. I balance it against what I learned about paddling and about myself. I balance it against the sense of accomplishment I feel at pushing through difficult times and completing the trail, and I say it was worth it and that I would do it or something like it again.
The Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail is along one of the biggest wilderness areas I have ever been in. Florida has done a marvelous job of laying out the trail, with wonderful and 
varied campsites spaced at appropriate distances. Florida’s published material on the trail (Big Bend Saltwater Paddling Trail: Your Guide to Paddling Florida’s Big Bend Coast) is an invaluable tool for planning. It is right on the money when it says this trip is not for the novice or inexperienced kayaker. While the distances between campsites is not long, every day’s paddling takes you out onto the open Gulf of Mexico where conditions can change fast and are often challenging.
Finally, the Commission should consider allowing permits from south to north on the trail. Permits are only granted for north to south travel. This is probably appropriate for certain parts of the year. However, the prevailing wind seems to swing from northwest to southwest or southeast as we move into spring. Changing the permitted routes would ease some of the headwind issues we experienced.
NOTE: All of the photos on this page were taken by John Resch, my partner in crime on this adventure. Thank you John for permission to use them here.
