THE GREAT PIROGUE EXPEDITION

[islandpiper]

Wow.......that's all i can say at this moment. I have all my cookware in the dishwasher and scraped the "camp site" off my person, plus de-whiskered this old grizzled face. I'll post pics in just a while and give you a better description of this adventure. In short, it was a great time, with three forum members there for the whole trip and two more drop ins. Yup.....great time.

piper

 

[a Bald Cypress]

Wow Piper,
A most excellent trip report. I cannot say how the in depth descriptions and minute details have inspired me.

The tales of daring -do and bravery are simply, to put it mildly, beyond belief. I salute the entire group.

If only those other intreped travelers will add to an already lengthy report. The rest of us may in some way begin to feel the excitement of this trip.

I once again commend y’all and eagerly await the follow-on reports.

 

[islandpiper]

Dear Bald Cypress, old buddy, old pal........when arriving home after an extended tour, there are some things that MUST be done, fully and completely, and others, such as skeletal reports which can wait. Ya??

Here is a pic of "Indiana" DuPre' and Islandpiper, on the landing AFTER the trip. You can tell we starved all week:

And One of Kayak Jack and Piper, and two dinner guests. We removed their swimsuits and gave them a place of honor in the iron kettle:

Kayak Jack enjoying the cold soup course:

And camp visitors: Kayak Jack, Keith, Seedtick and JDupre'

JDupre' bowfishing out of Seedticks little swamp pirogue:

Our view from the campsite in Jurassic Park, Louisiana:

Looking down the #4 Fairway, near camp:

And a fine kitchen with all the modern conveniences:

Doing what we came to do:

This was indeed an adventure. Time in the swamp with friends. Great food, great fellowship. Decent wine. Plenty of dry wood, nice weather. lots of wildlife, including Bald Eagles, 3-4 kinds of owls, snakes, gators, nutrina, turtles and armadillos.

I'll leave it up to the other guys to tell you about the food. WE all gained weight.

Thanks again Joey, for putting this together!! Great job Jack, you're the life of the party. It was an honor to paddle with you guys!!

Piper

 

[seedtick]

Beautiful weather, little chilly for a couple of nights, but friend Keith did manage a few pics

Here's Piper - beating me in the great pirogue race

Here's Jack - able to stand with the help of a stick

Here's Joey - telling me how things shrink up in cold weather

great trip guys, thanks for letting us tag along...........

 

[Jimmy W]

It looks like Jack is still toking round that same box of wine that he brought to Georgia last October.

 

[rpecot]

Nice pictures (although a link to high res version would be nice!). OK - how 'bout some details on the logistics? What water did you paddle? How many nights? Did you park it in one place and do daily excursions or camp in different locations along a route?

I'm full of questions tonight (and bud light :roll: )

 

[islandpiper]

Rpecot, you should'a been there. Next time for sure.

We stayed in one place and just paddled to fish and explore daily.
Went out on sunday and pulled stakes on thursday morning.
I'll let Jdupre' explain the water, he actually knows where we were.

Keith and Seedtick: thanks for the hot dogs and loaf of bread. They were good that day and later the leftover dogs got chopped into the Potatoes AuGratin . The leftover bread made great french toast on thursday! I had to sterilize some of the ice with a little scotch. Thanks again!!

piper

 

[oldsparkey]

Your area looks a lot like what we have around here including the high water marks on the trees. I do have to say we keep a neater camp but our kitchen is not quite as fancy as the one you guy's had. :wink:

It appears that everyone had a good time and sure did not eat to much , boy what a bunch of skinny guys when they got back. Next time you will need to take more chow with you. :lol:

Now this was in the south and I noticed everyone was dressed like it was going to snow , must of been that Air Conditioner piper took along or the cold that air tagged Jack down for the trip. That was a good move , no bugs and great camping weather.

Chuck.

 

[islandpiper]

OK, here's the scoop, honest injun (can we say that anymore?). Joey started to write in this space last night, then he went to dinner with Jack and Mrs. Joey at a cajun music and seafood restaurant. on the way home he remembered that he didn't kick out the campfire, and bailed out of the truck. Mrs Joey is leaving his stuff on the back porch. Joey will turn up one of these days and tell us all about the week. Safety first, only you can prevent swamp fires. Jack stopped in here this morning and is headed north. Gonna be a while till those fellas get back on so, i'll fill you in on the camp menu a little:

I took my magic dutch oven. And, a cornish hen and some cornbread stuffing, and biscuick. We had some bacon and spam and joey's cajun sausage, and potatoes and a couple hunks of cheese, and fresh onions and garlic, and oil and rice and some canned tomatoes.. dried apples ......evaporated milk, a dozen eggs......crackers....well, you get the drift of it. with proper fire and some cast iron anything is possible, from fresh deep fried catfish to french toast. We even had crispy and hot potato chips right on the spot. Apple cobbler. Potatoes auGratin. Three bean soup. Dirty rice. Wagon wheel pasta in scratch made red sauce. Everyone chipped in with the makin's and the work. Everyone chipped in with the eating too, except for Jack who ate his and had another helping for his cousin George.

I may leave here early today and see if Joey needs any help stomping out that fire.

piper

 

[islandpiper]

And, just a few more:

Here is what Michiganders look like while having a practice nap in mid-afternoon:

The foil lined hat, and other things:

Jdupre' making knots over the mud. Nice load in that UJ pirogue, Joey

Another full load in a UJ:

Jdupre's new home-crafted hammock. Great job, Joey. Very nice rig:

The losers in the turtle race:

Drawn and ready for the shot. Great boat, and great boathandling!! Notice how high the water has been up the side of that boat.

Stand up and stretch:

Winter in Louisiana:

Simply beautiful in a very special way:

Our little knoll, campsite right nearby:

A ten day, ten-thousand dollar vacation in Vegas would not have been any better than this, really.

Piper

 

[Bilgerat]

Cool adventure! 8) Cool narrative! 8) Cool Pictures! 8)

Thanks for telling and showing us all of this. I wish I could have been there.

Mike

 

[islandpiper]

mike, you would have fit right in and had a blast. Joey's puter went belly up last night. He has ore pictures i think. Jack in on the road and won't be home for a couple of days. When these guys get on there will be more narrative and pics.

piper

 

[jdupre']

Computer is still out. On work computer now. Will have more pics and details in a couple of days. All I can say is, if ya got room for an extra man, take Piper along on a camping trip. Yum Yum!!

Joey

 

[oldsparkey]

Computer is still out. On work computer now. Will have more pics and details in a couple of days. All I can say is, if ya got room for an extra man, take Piper along on a camping trip. Yum Yum!!

Joey

Would you recommend anyone with Weight Watchers to take him along. NO... Not the weight watchers like us who just look at it the folks trying to lose weight. :lol:

Ya All sure did not look like you lost any weight and from what Piper said he took , you were eating mighty high on the hog but that is just one of the fun things about camping , meals and the company do make the trip.

Chuck.

 

[oldsparkey]

I was holding off thinking someone else would ask a few questions but they haven't so....I will take the bait , hook , line and sinker......... 2 and 2 are making 5 from everything I have read in this report , especially about the Kayak Jack I know from personal life and here on the forum.

Are you sure this is the Kayak Jack all of us know and appreciate was on the trip. The reasons I ask that are as follows.

1. He actually camped in a swamp in a southern state. The same person that thinks we need a brain change for paddling down here.
2. Did he know there were spiders , snakes and Gators in that area.
3. He drove all the way down by himself for a short paddling trip ( I can understand that ).
4. How many Cracker Barrels did he stop at on the way down ? ( That's a trick question.) :lol:
5. Did he eat grits , Vienna's , wieners or any processed food that was not smoked oysters ? I believe you said one night there were some hot dogs and even for breakfast. :shock:
6. He is pictured paddling a flat bottom boat where there are critters that wanted to eat him. PADDLED A FLAT BOTTOM BOAT... KAYAK JACK .. GET REAL !!!!!! Where did he duck his Kayak if it is really him ?
7. How long did it take you in photo shop to doctor the pictures.
8. Was the hat really his along with the flask for the Scotch and were the cigars real in that one picture. I recognize all of them as his but were they really on this trip and not just e-mailed to you?
9. That person who was with you , how did you locate someone that looks just like Jack ?
10. The unbelievable part is his camping in a southern swamp and paddling a flat bottom Pirogue. Please don't say he ate Grits , I guess that comes later. That is what made me figure this is a trip enjoyed by all and a joke that you guy's are pulling on us. Well thought out and planned but with some errors in it.

You almost got away with it and still might. All of you show a lot of creative thinking and well planning and I'm sure the trip was a lot of fun , almost as much as pulling the wool over our eyes. My hat is off to you.
Now if it was the real Kayak Jack , who kidnapped him and what drug did you use to make him do something he is always against on the forum. If it's true then can we still call him Truthful Jack especially about all the negative things he has said about flat bottom boats and swamp paddling ?

Chuckles. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[islandpiper]

Chuck, while reading your previous post I thought I'd respond to each individually. Then realized that a short, simple answer would be best.

The level of coughing, snorting, farting and snoring in camp decreased when Jack left to water the trees and increased when he came back.

Need more proof?

piper

 

[oldsparkey]

Chuck, while reading your previous post I thought I'd respond to each individually. Then realized that a short, simple answer would be best.

The level of coughing, snorting, farting and snoring in camp decreased when Jack left to water the trees and increased when he came back.

Need more proof?

piper

NOPE... That explains it all. But now I have an anvil over Jacks head when he picks on the south and even dares to mention the evils of flat bottom boats.

Christmas in February..... WOO-HOO.

Chuck.

 

[keith]

that little green flat bottom pirogue that joey is bowfishing out of is a 12 foot swamp pirogue and he is about 3 or 4 feet from the front, talk about a nice little boat . any way on me and ticks trip ( he has the pictures), we put in at the Attakapas Landing on south Lake Verret ( 10 miles west of Napoleonville on La. Hwy 1 on Bayou Lafourche ) from the landing we went north about 7 miles up the east side of the lake to a dead end canal on Elm Hall wildlife management area across the lake from Shell Beach (west side). we went and meet with the other guys in our 21 foot pontoon boat that we spent the night on. we tied up next to their camp site, put the rain fly over the boat then the mosquito net over the whole boat. then we put our cots up with air mattress and sleeping bag. before we made the beds up, we put some trot line out with the big boat and let them fish while we joined the other 3 guys for a nice time. more to come, later keith

 

[islandpiper]

oh, ya, I forgot. Seedtick brought us a beer when he and Keith came to visit. It was a good beer.........great in fact. Cold, refreshing and nourishing. I had the fastest hand I guess since I ended up with it. Yessiree bob, that was ONE really good beer.

hmmmm

I guess he was thinking about saving the Earth. After all, when you pop open a beer there is some carbon dioxide released.

Thanks Seedtick.
piper

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

The trick is to down the beer beforethe CO2 escapes.