The day I met stinging nettle and went for a loop...

Before Dave, before Emerald, the sky wasn't the only thing that was blue. I was chasing rivers and drowning myself in adventures. 

The day I met nettle I was in Kentucky. Solo camping in the Gorge. The plan was to stay for a week then make my way up north to a different place before the summer heat really took over.

As life does, things didn't go as planned and a week turned into a couple of months.

It seems like that was always my pattern, plan for a week, a week would then turn into the long haul.

Maybe one day I'll accept the fact that I enjoy slow traveling and not rushing.

This shouldn't be a surprise,

yet I always find myself shocked when it unravels that way. 

The sky was blue, I mean like real blue,

that deep blue that awakens something in your soul and makes you feel like you can do anything.

The kind of blue sky that briefly erases your own inner blues. 

It stormed a lot in the days prior, a flooded tent, a lot of debating if I even wanted to stay in Kentucky to check things off my list, quite a few nights sleeping in the tent with the weather radar showing I was in the red.

I stayed.

There was a different red I wanted to be in;

the Red river.

It grabbed my attention and I wasn't ready to leave until I experienced a few things. 

One of them was The Loop in Clay City.

I like doing paddles where I don't need a shuttle. 

I was solo traveling, I didn't want help, I didn't want to be a tourist, I wanted solitude and to do it myself.

I would research places that allowed for putting the kayak in,

paddle at your own pace, and then get out exactly where you put in. 

No drama with scheduling, no waiting to be picked up, no rushing down the river and missing everything. 

This also amazed me.

I was always an adrenaline junkie.

Faster, faster, faster- was never fast enough. Higher, higher, higher was never high enough. I loved to get my adrenaline racing any chance I could.

Jump out of a plane? yes!

Swim with sharks? Yes!

Ride the extreme roller coasters? Yes!

Anything that promised a rush was always answered with, yes!

Then kayaking became my band-aid. I was healing from a lot of life trauma and kayaking snuck in randomly one day when I was in Charleston, SC. I had already experienced canoeing a lot in Miami but kayaking was new to me.

It only took once. I was addicted.

It was a different kind of adrenaline.

It gave me the kind of rush that makes you, feel life, instead of trying to escape it.

It gave me a space to sit with my thoughts, to feel the moments,

to exist in the natural world

while escaping the fakeness. 

The day before meeting nettle,

I went to the put in spot to check it out and see what it looked like, another storm was rolling in so I couldn't paddle that day. I noticed it was a different kind of put in than I was familiar with. This one had a ramp that required you to slide the kayak down. There was also a bit of a current right there but once you were on the water it looked calm and still after you got about 10 feet away from the launch spot. I made a silly video like usual and decided to go back the next day. 

The next day was gorgeous. Perfect weather, I door dashed most of the day to pay for my camping spot and to get a quick bite to eat, I had half of a sub sandwich.

Since this was a 4 mile paddle I went out there around 3pm. That way I could take my time, see the wildlife, make videos if I wanted to, and then have time to drive back to camp and eat a real dinner before dark. 

Everything I read said you put in at the park area and then it does a loop...

a loop to me seems easy enough.

In my mind I was thinking similar to a lazy river type of ordeal. I knew the red river was a long river, almost 100 miles, I'd done a lot of research which was how I ended up at this particular spot because a lot of people said they do the loop frequently.

To me a loop, loops...

you put in and get out where you put in. I found out that day, the hard way, that loops can loop differently. 

My sister called while I was unloading the kayak. I talked to her the whole time I unloaded and then once I was on the water we hung up. 

I remember ignoring a weird feeling I had.

I brushed it off, thinking it was because I wasn't familiar with that particular type of launch area. 

I read everything I possibly could find online about this specific route, it seemed clear enough, it was a short 4 miles. Heck even walking 4 miles isn't that big of a deal so I figured all would be fine.

The current did seem a bit more dramatic than what people expressed online. We did have those storms that rolled in but I went anyway, ignored the weird feeling I had once again, as I rushed down the river quicker than I was anticipating. 

It calmed once I got about half a mile into it. It was gorgeous. I settled in, weird feeling drifted away, and before I knew it I felt fine. I was even laughing by myself out there as another current whipped me around and spun me in a circle. I was having a blast. The water was so shallow it would have been up to my knees if I got out.

The river calmed and I remembered thinking how beautiful it was. Then another current grabbed my attention, that one was stronger than the other two. Adrenaline rushed through my body and for the first time I realized why my dad kept insisting that he give me a life jacket. I was grateful that my stubborn self actually listened and was wearing it. I almost flipped, a lot of things rushed through my mind as the river was taking me for a ride I didn't plan for.

Around the bend I went and without much of a warning I was ducking as low as I possibly could go to avoid a fallen branch. The water was rushing rapidly, it was deeper than knee deep, how deep I'm not sure because I couldn't see the bottom.

The next couple of hours were spent doing a little nerve wrecking routine

of calm water, then a rushing current, and ducking to slip under fallen branches from the storm. I also did a lot of laughing because I reminded myself it was just 4 miles and then I would be back where the launch is. I kept looking to the left so I wouldn't miss it.

During one of the calm parts

I remember going around a corner and as soon as I looked up there was a tiny little island in the middle of the river and a deer was standing there eating. He looked up at me, we locked eyes, then within a blink he was gone. It was so magical feeling. I call those little moments, gifts from the universe.

I had them a lot when I was in Charleston at the beach acting like a mermaid.

It was about that time that I realized I had been on the river for a couple of hours already, my arms were getting sore from all of the fighting with the currents and navigating the down trees. I was also getting thirsty. I had already drank my little bottle of water. I didn't take anything with me hardly because this was a 4 mile paddle. No big deal. It wasn't even that hot of a day.

I also started thinking how strange it was that I didn't see anyone else at all. Not since I had left the parking lot where a city worker was mowing the field. Usually someone would at least be fishing along the river.

I recalled reading a post someone wrote in a kayaking Facebook group to always take snacks and water no matter how short you think you'll be out there. I remembered thinking that was ridiculous if you are only going to be out there for 2 hours, in that moment as my stomach growled I realized I was the unprepared one that was ridiculous. 

I didn't see anyone for hours and I started thinking it was strange how hours had already passed and I still wasn't at the launch pad yet. With the currents going that fast I should have already been finished.

I wouldn't call it panic

but a little caution began setting in. Then I heard the bottom of the kayak scraping gravel. 

I was getting tired, I felt like I had been fighting for my life with so many down trees, so many rushes of rapid currents to fight. I welcomed the immediate stop that my kayak came to in the middle of the river on a very shallow part.

I sat there for a bit and put my feet over the side and enjoyed the coolness of the water for a moment. It was still early spring, still cool at night and felt comfortable with long sleeves during the day. 

Like usual it didn't take long and I was back to being silly, made a few videos where I was being a little dramatic which was normal for me. Then I pulled the kayak across the shallow part and hoped back in.

Immediately another current swooped me up and spun me around.

Since I rested a little I was laughing and I just let it spin me around a couple of times. It was kind of fun. Then I used my paddle and straightened up and went back down the river thinking surely I was about to be back at the launch place. 

Who knows how many more currents I fought, how many more down trees I barley missed, and how many more miles I went out of the way. I just kept going, kept looking to the left to not miss my place.

.

Then I heard church bells.

I always like hearing bells, even church bells. About that same time I found a feather drifting down the river, I scooped it up with my paddle.

I thought of my grandmother immediately. When she passed I asked her to show me feathers when she was near by and despite me not attending her funeral she seems to still visit me. Occasionally I'll smell her perfume randomly, I'll find feathers, or sometimes she visits me in my dreams.

The river stayed calm for probably thirty minutes after that. I looked at the time and it made no sense how that many hours could have already passed and I was still out there. I remembered thinking at that time that there wasn't even a way for me to turn around and paddle back to see if I missed the loop. I pulled out my phone to see if I could figure it out on the map. I didn't see a loop the way I had imagined a loop would be. About that time another current came rushing me out of my thoughts. I didn't have a second to even worry about the map.

Once that current calmed down I saw someone on the left side of the bank fishing. The first person I'd come across since the lawn mower guy back in the parking lot.

Whew, relief swept over me because I figured at the very least he could let me know how far I was from looping. 

We spoke for a moment. Luckily that part of the river was calm. The huge current was about 10 feet before the spot he was fishing at. The river was kind of wide so I had plenty of space to chat for a second without disturbing his fishing opportunity.

He told me he grew up on that river and fished it constantly, has been all up and down it in the area and never heard of any kind of loop. He looked at me with concern.

Then he told me I was the first person he'd seen all week.

He said with all the storms he was surprised anyone would be kayaking, especially alone.

Then he informed me of a down tree about half a mile in front of me. He said he didn't think I'd be able to get around it. Then he said if I did get around it there wasn't going to be a loop, there wasn't going to be a get out spot of any sort, as a matter of fact he said shortly after the down tree both sides of the river are basically rock walls for a long time with no cell service and it was about to be dark.

He asked if I needed help. I said no...

I would see if I could figure it out. I ensured him everyone said it loops, I read more than 15 different people explaining it on a Facebook group.

He said if I need him to just holler.

I guess he figured arguing with a women stubborn enough to be on the

river alone after storms was probably useless. 

I got to the down tree about half a mile like he said, the current had picked up a bit right there. It was a giant oak tree. The whole thing was across the entire river. It was a road block for sure. There was no getting over it or under it like I'd done with all of the others. This one was massive.

I didn't have much of a choice but to go back to the fisherman

and see if he would help me. 

He did, he went down to where the tree was, he eventually got my kayak over the tree which was pretty challenging because the tree was so large, the river was over my waist right there, and the current was strong in that spot. 

This was after washing most of it off

Now I had to get over. I tried to go over to the bank and climb over that way but it was muddy. I'm not afraid of getting dirty. This was called clay city for a reason. That mud wasn't like regular mud. That mud would swallow you, plus the tree was so huge right there I couldn't climb over.

I tried the way he did. Climb over the tree in the river. I'm only five foot one. The water was up to my chest in this area, the current was rushing, then when I stepped off the rock I was standing on, the water went over my head, I hit my leg so hard on a different rock I was bleeding.

I don't remember how but I managed to get over the tree. It has seriously escaped my memory at this point but somehow I was on the other side. I went over to the river bank where he was standing with the kayak and I started sinking in mud all the way up my whole legs.

I was exhausted by this point. It was dusk, sun was starting to set and I didn't have hardly any energy. I thanked him over and over again as I got back in the kayak and he warned me one last time that I was about to be headed into basically a wilderness with no houses, no get out places, and nothing but fields and rock walls on both sides of the river.

I told him I just wanted to see if I could check the map.

The spot he was at had no cell service. I got about 1/4 a mile away from him and sure enough rock walls appeared in place of the steep banks, the map showed the river continuing into what looked like nothing but fields and fields.

The river didn't apologize that I somehow missed my get out spot, the river didn't have any grace, my phone didn't either. The battery was down to 5%. I didn't have a choice but to turn around and go back to the fisherman.

This was when panic sank in.

The first time all day that I had actually felt fear replace adrenaline. I couldn't paddle back up the river. That was impossible and I was way too exhausted to walk miles and miles back to my vehicle. Even if I got back to the fisherman it seemed like a disaster. 

I paddled back to the giant oak tree that I had just spent about 45 minutes trying to get over, my leg still bleeding, and I yelled his name. How I can't remember his name now baffles me because he saved me that day. I yelled for him over and over. He couldn't hear me. I paddled up to the side of the bank. The sun was setting more. I parked the kayak, got out, and pulled it up on the river bank as I sank in mud again.

I didn't have time to think about snakes, poison oak or ivy, or really anything.

I remembered looking at the steep bank, straight up covered in thick weeds and in my head I told myself,

"you gotta do what you gotta do, get over it!"

Without thinking I climbed up that bank. It was hard, I was slipping, why the hell was I still wearing my life jacket?

I laughed for a second as I was halfway up this ridiculous bank, snakes could be all around me and there I was with weeds half way up my legs and I was wearing my life jacket as if I was going to drown in the grass.

I took it off and threw it down the bank, it landed somewhere near my kayak. I was sliding, I thought I was going to land down there too. I looked up and noticed a tree, a vine wrapped around it. Normally I would have hesitated,

I didn't have time, daylight was fading more and more by the minute.

I wrapped my whole arm around the tree and pulled myself to the top of the bank.

I looked down for a second as I caught my breath and rested my legs and arms.

I was beyond wore out. I was impressed with that climb, it was steep almost straight up, and covered in weeds. My fear of snakes usually prevents me from doing certain things and it didn't help that the fisherman had spent the whole time he was getting my kayak over the tree talking about his experience with snakes chasing him through these very fields a few times while he was running to get away. 

I was proud of myself that I didn't just sit there in fear,

that I only had that 60 second widow of panic before I immediately lept into action, that I actually had the nerve to block out my fear and do what I needed to in the moment.

There was my kayak, way down there, and I was up top, on solid land.

"You didn't die"

I told myself as everything from the day sank in. I looked at my kayak and decided that I got my $300 worth out of it and that even though it was a Facebook marketplace find that I would miss it and that I was sorry I wouldn't have more trips in it.

Then I felt guilty for leaving the life jacket and paddle behind that my dad had given me but there was no way I could go back down there and there was no way I could have pulled that kayak up the steep bank. 

I walked through weeds taller than me back to where the fisherman was, I kept yelling for him but didn't hear anyone calling back. My phone was almost dead. I snapped a photo of the field real quick. Then put it back in my pocket as I kept walking and yelling his name.

3% was all that was left on my phone. 

Then I heard music. His radio was blasting, no wonder he didn't hear me. Finally he popped out of the side of the wooded area. I could see his tent. A little $25 Walmart tent looked like it had been there for who knows how many months along with cans and cans of opened beans and tuna.

I no longer felt bad about the kayak, maybe he could use it. It definitely seemed like he was down on his luck. I explained that he was clearly right, there was no loop and I asked if he could possibly help me get back to my car or tell me how far it is.

I explained where I had parked. He explained to me that he didn't have a vehicle but had a friend that dropped him off. Before I could say anything he was grabbing his phone and making a phone call to his buddy. 

Relived, I felt relieved. 

Sure, I was standing in a field with weeds taller than me, I could scream at the top of my lungs and no one would hear me but this fisherman, the thoughts of the 'man chasing' snake was rattling around in the back of my mind, and also the fact that here I was miles away from anyone and this man knew I had no cell service, which also made my mind wonder how he was making a phone call. I then wondered if maybe he was faking a phone call so I would let my guard down a little. I kept waiting for him to act like some men do when this kind of opportunity knocks on their door.

"Let me get a rope real quick"

His words shook me right out of my trailing thoughts and immediately my heart sank a little. Here we go, what the hell is he getting a rope for. I was way too tired to fight for my life again that day. 

"Let’s get your kayak up here and my buddy will be here in about 10 minutes to help" 

While he scurried around in his tent I checked my phone again, maybe I could give my location to someone.

Dead.

Phone was absolutely dead. 

"You can just keep the kayak and use it for fishing or whatever" I told him as he came out of the tent, rope in hand, and walking past me in the direction of the fallen tree again. 

"That is nice of you but I bet it was expensive and you clearly love it or you wouldn't be out here alone risking your life to do it"

I remembered thinking with that comment that he probably thought I was rich, maybe he was thinking he could get ransom. It is funny the thoughts we think sometimes.

"I got it really cheap off marketplace, I'd love to keep it but I don't want you to go through any trouble" I told him.

All I was thinking is that I wanted to be in my vehicle, out of that field, away from that river. 

"Trouble?" He asked and laughed 

"This is exciting!"

I laughed then, I was intrigued "what is exciting?"

Then he explained how he was bored, fishing for a week and unable to work or do anything because of a recent head injury. He said saving me was an adventure and at least something to do. 

Apparently a week before this whole incident he was walking on the side of the road when a pick-up truck full of teenagers came speeding by. They had their windows down, yelling, and one of them threw a glass beer bottle out and hit him intentionally on the back of the head.

He said he didn't really remember anything else after that. He woke up on the pavement and blood was everywhere. Then he was in the hospital. 

He went down that embankment and tied the rope to my kayak,

threw my life jacket up, and secured the paddle in the kayak. As everything was being pulled up I offered to help and he declined saying I had to be out of energy.

He had no idea how right he was. 

As I was thanking him again for everything I picked up the life jacket.

Memories of my dad came flooding in.

Me standing in his driveway back in Georgia as he told me to make sure someone always knew where I was, that I wear my life jacket if I'm on the water alone, to call if I need anything. I thought to myself how horrible it would be if something happened to me and my dad had to find out from an investigator or some stranger.

I promised myself I would be more careful going forward, if I made it out of the field and back to safety. I thought about how many times I've done things that had to leave my family worried and concerned. I need to do better, I told myself. As that was playing through my mind the fisherman said his buddy was about to be walking up. How he knew this still baffles me, maybe his thoughts weren't as loud as mine and he heard the vehicle because I didn't hear anything. Sure enough though his buddy popped through the tall weeds. 

The fisherman explained what happened and how I was being rescued. They were both so nice. The buddy said he needed to hurry because his wife needed him to watch their little boy while she runs to town. 

Good he has a wife and child and needs to hurry.

I felt okay, I'm being rescued and there isn't any plans of tricking me. 

The fisherman looked at me and said, "have you heard of nettle?" 

I thought it was an odd time to talk about herbs but hey I was all for it since herbs are a huge passion of mine. 

"Yea I actually was listening to a podcast about nettle last week!

It's an interesting plant for sure" I excitedly replied

"Well, there's a ton of it. This whole field is nettle and we have to walk through it to get to the road" he warned me. 

"That’s fine, I'm more worried about snakes" I chuckled 

He laughed, him and his buddy carried the kayak, I carried the life jacket. We all walked through the half of a mile of nettle and thick weeds. It was all taller than me but at least I would be in my car before too long.

Read about nettle and inviting plants into your life

I remembered thinking how gorgeous the sky looked, how the sound of the frogs was relaxing, and how it felt incredible to be alive. 

We made small talk while we drove to the park where my car was.

I was surprised by how far down the river I ended up. 

When we got to the parking lot I offered to give them money.

I explained that I only had $5 but I would gladly cash app it to either of them. I apologized a million times as I explained that I was door dashing while I traveled and I typically didn't have much. They reassured me that it was nice to just be able to give back and help someone. I thanked them again and told them I would load the kayak up on my vehicle that they did more than enough. 

I sat in my car for a little bit, hungry, exhausted, and drinking a hot water

that was in a bottle left on the front seat. I rolled my eyes as the pepper spray caught my eye and I thought how much good it was doing to leave it in the cup holder and not have it on me along with the battery charger I got specifically for kayaking to charge my phone while I was on the water.

What an adventure I thought as I pulled out.

I used that $5 to get a Laura bar (healthy nut bar) and another water as I drove back to camp and the sun was finally swallowed up by nightfall. 

Tried didn't even describe the feeling I had as I pulled up to camp, seeing my tent felt like pulling up to a palace.

I fell on the mattress but couldn't fall asleep.

Everything sank in, the events of the whole day rushed around

in my mind faster than the currents I had been fighting. 

I still felt like I was on the water.

I recalled weekends out on the boat with my family. We would stay out there all day,

me yelling faster, faster, to my dad as he pulled me on the back of the boat in an inner tube.

I wasn't satisfied until he would go fast enough for me to flip out. 

I missed my family, finally I drifted off to sleep. 

Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up to the worst pain I have ever experienced before.

My muscle on my inner thigh on both legs was locked up. I never experienced a cramp like that.

It felt like something was squeezing the muscle as tight as possible and it wouldn't ease off.

I had tears fill my eyes, I remember thinking, "please I'm begging you to just let me rest"

I don't know who, "you" was but after about four times of this excruciating pain coming and going it finally went away and I slept. 

The next morning the crows woke me up. The sun was shining. The world was still going despite everything

I had experienced the day before. With only a few cents left to my name I got up to go door dash. 

My leg was incredibly bruised and swollen from falling in the river on that rock, poison ivy ended up being all over my ankles, and nettle left an impression on me that I'll never forget. 

The fisherman and his buddy are often in my thoughts when I recall those memories on the river.

Some people leave an impact on us even if we can't remember their names.

Most people collect souvenirs when they travel.

I collect stories and scars. 

I still am not sure exactly where you get out at the Clay City loop...

after things settled I tried to find out and from what one of the locals told me is that you get out somewhere on the other side of the river, the right side, not the left and then you walk back to the park with your kayak.

This experience was what led to me finding a love for reading maps, river maps and mapping my own routes.

Each experience on the water teaches, each experience in nature is a treasured memory, and every opportunity to live is a blessing.

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Date of writing: April 29th 2026

Date of experience: May 31 2024