This is a tail of some good eats , good guy's and a little rain an wind.
Thursday......
I left the house it was nice weather till I got to I-10 and then the bottom fell out , best I could do on I-10 was about 40 mph. Finally located a motel ( Quality Inn at Marianna,Fl) and got off the road.
Friday....
Up in the morning and some more storm warnings and lots of rain. Passing the KOA at Milton , looking over at it ,. the campground was flooded. Man I am happy I stopped at a motel before getting to Milton,Fl.
Arriving at the Hidden Oaks Campground at Hammond, La and checking in I found out they were evacuating the place due to the river rising and flooding the camp. Located a room at the Best Western and got it for two nights , just to play it safe.
Saturday ....
Off to Pipers for the shindig and what a shindig it was , food and lots of it along with one group of some great folks. Here are a few pictures of some of the items and the guy's have posted pictures in there reports.
The crawdads cooking
The cholesterol in a roll.
Sunday....
Left Pipers in the morning and on the way to Ron's. Uneventful trip just enjoyed life traveling threw some beautiful country and acting like a tourist. Those rolling hills and the manicured pastures sure let you know you are in Texas.
Monday....
Checked in with Ron and Bear. Ron took us on a sight seeing trip around his area while checking out the river , put in and take out. The put in place is way down a gravel road and when you arrive at the parking area it is about a 60 foot drop to the river and it ain't no slight drop , some of it is almost straight down. :wink: Anyway it was a windy day with rain forecast so we decided to put in on Tuesday and play it safe. We would of been paddling into the wind and it was blowing quite good.
Tuesday....
Meet at Rond and did a caravan to the put in , unloaded the gear and returned the vehicles to Ron's for safe keeping. Rode back to the put in with Ron and Sondar so she could return there vehicle. On the river.
At the start.
A short ways down river.....Ron just easing along.
Later the wind started blowing , the river got shallow and we ran a small rapid so no more river pictures , the camera is put away for safe keeping. About mid day we stopped on a sand bar and Ron cooked up his Frito Pie for us as a noon meal , that is some good camping chow. After the break back on the water and off to the campsite. Paddling along , most of the time I was hitting bottom with the paddle and it was ROCK not sand.
Arrived at the camp , set up the tents and built a fire , an Owl flew past us as the sun was setting and some Coyotes were signing while the temperature was dropping. Enjoyed the warmth of the fire and all the BS around the fire but getting chilled it was off to the sleeping bag for me. Ron and Bear stayed up chatting away. :lol:
Thursday....
Up in the early light (Ron had the coffee cooking ) . Looking to the west what did I see on the top of the rivers bluff looking at us as Coyotes sounded off in the distance....
A picture of Ron's tent and Bear walking around.
Later on during the day the wind picked up and we were chasing bears tent , a short time later the same with mine and the wind keep getting stronger. About mid afternoon Darrell Arrived dragging his boat , the wind was to strong to paddle against. The wind keep blowing and Darrell said there was a cold front moving into the area over night , Man he was RIGHT.
After a lot of chatter , fishing and just having a good time Ron did some sausages on his grill and we wrapped them in a tortilla which makes a good supper.
Later I hit the sack and then Bear and Ron , Darrell is a fisherman 1st Class and was up fishing most of the night till the storm hit. It hit with a vengeance , light rain graduating to a real frog choker and wind like you would not believe. My tent was beating against my back when there was a loud crack and it came down on me , the rain was poring in and flooding the part over me. I could not locate the door so i found my knife and made my own door after laying there for a while trying to get out and save the tent. The rain had let up a little when I made my exit and put on wet clothes then a rain suite to keep what little was dry ... dry. That was around 5am. I went over to Ron's tent and asked him if he could keep some stuff I salvaged in dry bags for me. His tent and everything was flooded but still upright.
( Bear posted in one article that Karen told him we had 90 mph winds that night due to a Tornado being relative close to us and I believe her)
As the guys said.... Later ( about 6:30 or a little later and the lighting stopped ) when it got a little light there was stuff scattered all over the sandbar and two tents down and out. That had to be some wind over hurricane strength to do the damage it did. There was a lot of water in my canoe , I cold lay my coffee cup in the bottom of the canoe and it was submerged. Daylight and we packed the gear and took off down river. The small rapids that I was going to walk around ...Ha Ha Ha forget that. The current and wind got me and threw the rapids I went while leaving a lot of Teflon off the bottom of the boat on some of the rocks.
The going down river that wind was blowing so hard there was no need to paddle just surf along at a good clip. We did hit one area where the water was so shallow we had to line the boats for a 1/4 mile and they would hit bottom. In another section we walked and lined the boats because we were going into that wind. The rest was down river with the wind and we did sail along in some good size waves with white caps on them. Thank God we did not have to paddle all day against that wind. Later at the motel the weather report said that wind was blowing at 52 to 55 miles per hour and had blown over some trees in residential areas. :roll:
That was one of the wildest paddling and camping trips I have been on in quite a while. Would I do it all over again with the folks that were there..... YOU BET.
Chuck..........
Darrells Trip report with his daughter before our trip....Or for beter words a Father and Daughter trip in decent weather... Something we did not have.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6183
Rons Trip Report with Darrells and Bears included..... HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT ... when reading it.....
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6244
Pipers Report on the get together.... Just some good times ........
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6233
Thursday......
I left the house it was nice weather till I got to I-10 and then the bottom fell out , best I could do on I-10 was about 40 mph. Finally located a motel ( Quality Inn at Marianna,Fl) and got off the road.
Friday....
Up in the morning and some more storm warnings and lots of rain. Passing the KOA at Milton , looking over at it ,. the campground was flooded. Man I am happy I stopped at a motel before getting to Milton,Fl.
Arriving at the Hidden Oaks Campground at Hammond, La and checking in I found out they were evacuating the place due to the river rising and flooding the camp. Located a room at the Best Western and got it for two nights , just to play it safe.
Saturday ....
Off to Pipers for the shindig and what a shindig it was , food and lots of it along with one group of some great folks. Here are a few pictures of some of the items and the guy's have posted pictures in there reports.
The crawdads cooking
The cholesterol in a roll.
Sunday....
Left Pipers in the morning and on the way to Ron's. Uneventful trip just enjoyed life traveling threw some beautiful country and acting like a tourist. Those rolling hills and the manicured pastures sure let you know you are in Texas.
Monday....
Checked in with Ron and Bear. Ron took us on a sight seeing trip around his area while checking out the river , put in and take out. The put in place is way down a gravel road and when you arrive at the parking area it is about a 60 foot drop to the river and it ain't no slight drop , some of it is almost straight down. :wink: Anyway it was a windy day with rain forecast so we decided to put in on Tuesday and play it safe. We would of been paddling into the wind and it was blowing quite good.
Tuesday....
Meet at Rond and did a caravan to the put in , unloaded the gear and returned the vehicles to Ron's for safe keeping. Rode back to the put in with Ron and Sondar so she could return there vehicle. On the river.
At the start.
A short ways down river.....Ron just easing along.
Later the wind started blowing , the river got shallow and we ran a small rapid so no more river pictures , the camera is put away for safe keeping. About mid day we stopped on a sand bar and Ron cooked up his Frito Pie for us as a noon meal , that is some good camping chow. After the break back on the water and off to the campsite. Paddling along , most of the time I was hitting bottom with the paddle and it was ROCK not sand.
Arrived at the camp , set up the tents and built a fire , an Owl flew past us as the sun was setting and some Coyotes were signing while the temperature was dropping. Enjoyed the warmth of the fire and all the BS around the fire but getting chilled it was off to the sleeping bag for me. Ron and Bear stayed up chatting away. :lol:
Thursday....
Up in the early light (Ron had the coffee cooking ) . Looking to the west what did I see on the top of the rivers bluff looking at us as Coyotes sounded off in the distance....
A picture of Ron's tent and Bear walking around.
Later on during the day the wind picked up and we were chasing bears tent , a short time later the same with mine and the wind keep getting stronger. About mid afternoon Darrell Arrived dragging his boat , the wind was to strong to paddle against. The wind keep blowing and Darrell said there was a cold front moving into the area over night , Man he was RIGHT.
After a lot of chatter , fishing and just having a good time Ron did some sausages on his grill and we wrapped them in a tortilla which makes a good supper.
Later I hit the sack and then Bear and Ron , Darrell is a fisherman 1st Class and was up fishing most of the night till the storm hit. It hit with a vengeance , light rain graduating to a real frog choker and wind like you would not believe. My tent was beating against my back when there was a loud crack and it came down on me , the rain was poring in and flooding the part over me. I could not locate the door so i found my knife and made my own door after laying there for a while trying to get out and save the tent. The rain had let up a little when I made my exit and put on wet clothes then a rain suite to keep what little was dry ... dry. That was around 5am. I went over to Ron's tent and asked him if he could keep some stuff I salvaged in dry bags for me. His tent and everything was flooded but still upright.
( Bear posted in one article that Karen told him we had 90 mph winds that night due to a Tornado being relative close to us and I believe her)
As the guys said.... Later ( about 6:30 or a little later and the lighting stopped ) when it got a little light there was stuff scattered all over the sandbar and two tents down and out. That had to be some wind over hurricane strength to do the damage it did. There was a lot of water in my canoe , I cold lay my coffee cup in the bottom of the canoe and it was submerged. Daylight and we packed the gear and took off down river. The small rapids that I was going to walk around ...Ha Ha Ha forget that. The current and wind got me and threw the rapids I went while leaving a lot of Teflon off the bottom of the boat on some of the rocks.
The going down river that wind was blowing so hard there was no need to paddle just surf along at a good clip. We did hit one area where the water was so shallow we had to line the boats for a 1/4 mile and they would hit bottom. In another section we walked and lined the boats because we were going into that wind. The rest was down river with the wind and we did sail along in some good size waves with white caps on them. Thank God we did not have to paddle all day against that wind. Later at the motel the weather report said that wind was blowing at 52 to 55 miles per hour and had blown over some trees in residential areas. :roll:
That was one of the wildest paddling and camping trips I have been on in quite a while. Would I do it all over again with the folks that were there..... YOU BET.
Chuck..........
Darrells Trip report with his daughter before our trip....Or for beter words a Father and Daughter trip in decent weather... Something we did not have.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6183
Rons Trip Report with Darrells and Bears included..... HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT ... when reading it.....
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6244
Pipers Report on the get together.... Just some good times ........
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6233
