As I said in part 1.
Us, southern, Lewis & Clark paddlers only made it 1/8 of the way the 1st day but we are not in a hurry or rushing things.
Day 2. Dec 9 , Tuesday.
After forcing ourselves out of the respective sacks we had breakfast followed with hot tea for me and coffee for the rest of the crew. Time to break down the camp, pack everything and think about hitting the river for some paddling. Hopefully it will be an easier paddling day then the one we just had.
Thinking about it ... that would take away a lot of the fun who just wants to paddle down the middle of some river and not have some obstacles to avoid..
On the river and it is one beautiful day ..
... lots of blue skies, warmer temps and a good currant in the river. Actually it is just a little warmer then yesterday and it feels good. Sooooooooo much for day dreaming and just easing along.
Here come more blowdowns (Trees across the river) then we want to count. I wanted to call them KJ's and the rest of the crew was against it.
You ask what is a KJ's :?: ...It is what makes me think of Kayak Jack at work .... Horizontal and hard to get around but in this case it would be trees taking naps and we had a ton of them to go around, under or find a way thru.
I was in the front and leading the way when we came to one that looked like a BIG PROBLEM and it was. No open area to go thru so I located a small spot I could ram the bow of the pirogue into, breaking branches and creating a hole for us. Get the hole done and then just paddle thru and down river.
At one downed (KJ) oak tree I am in the pirogue clearing a hole with the boat and canoe paddle when this snaky looking branch falls in the boat right between my legs, :? causing heart failure and my willingness to jump into the water until I noticed it was just a branch and not a snake. Man that is all I needed.
This time of the year you would NOT want to jump in the river ...the water is very cold and Al told me there should be brook Trout in it due to the temperture. The up side is that it is not that deep and if it wasn't for the blowdowns a person could really scoot along just with the flow of the water.
This portion of the River I used the pirogue more as a bull doser then a boat, thru tight areas, clearing the way, over logs, under trees and locating the deeper runs thru the sand bars. It was slow going but a lot of fun, who just want's to paddle down the middle of a river and not have something to think about, go under or around...BORING. This far into the trip it has been anything but boring. We made it down river till it is time to think about finding a campsite, which we located and it was a good one.
We set up camp and it was a really nice one. Birch trees to hang the hammocks from, oak trees for fire wood and a flat, white, sandy area for the fire. We had everything set up and then the discussion turned to....What is for Supper? While trying to come up with the answer ....... ole swampy say's ... How about some chili? Darned if KT (Swampies better half and wolfy mamma on the forum) cooked up a lot of hamburger and then froze it for the trip, also included was a zip lock of spices for the chili.
Everyone agreed on the chili for supper but swampy was not sure which zip lock had the spices in them, one simple way to find out. He opened each bag and sniffed them ........yep , he found the spices for the chili and you had to be there for that. To make a long story short, due to his injuries ....a chooooo , AAAaaCHOooooo.. I mixed everything together and cooked supper for him and us...
What a night, Home made hot chili for supper, cool temps about or around the mid 50's ...later a roaring fire on the white sand bar and a full moon above as a night light. Around the camp fire most of us agreed that on the next trip swampy has to stay home and KT comes along with us ..... after all she is a better cook and I will bet a lot better looking.
I had to exclude myself from the voting since swampy made that birthday cake for me but one more shot of the Crown Royal he gave me and I would have to vote with the rest of the crew .....Sorry about that swampy but they do have a good point.
While sitting around the fire I heard some pups yapping and said ... guy's listen to those dogs they must be puppies. Al told me they are young coyotes barking at there Momma who just brought supper home to them. Not being from the dry west like Arizona I had no idea that is what they were. Yes, I have listen to the coyote howling while out camping but never listened to a family discussion about what was for supper. They did the welcome home song a couple of times that night, I guess there Mom is a good provider.
By the way they were in a different state then we were ... we were in Florida and they were across the river in Georgia.
Now I ask you does it get anybetter then this .......... If you said NO then you are wrong. :lol: Just hold on it gets even better.
Our camp was at 30-36.418 and today we made an additional 3/16 of the way. We are getting better and now are only looking at a 5 1/2 or 6 day trip. So far we have covered 5/16th of the total distance.
Are we a bunch of speedy canoers or what? Don't answer that until you paddle this area. A little work to paddle this stretch of the river but it is really worth it.
Later ,after the trip , talking with the folks at the Canoe Country Outpost (Steves Brother) we found out that it is one really hot spot for fishing in the spring and summer.
Us, southern, Lewis & Clark paddlers only made it 1/8 of the way the 1st day but we are not in a hurry or rushing things.
Day 2. Dec 9 , Tuesday.
After forcing ourselves out of the respective sacks we had breakfast followed with hot tea for me and coffee for the rest of the crew. Time to break down the camp, pack everything and think about hitting the river for some paddling. Hopefully it will be an easier paddling day then the one we just had.
Thinking about it ... that would take away a lot of the fun who just wants to paddle down the middle of some river and not have some obstacles to avoid..
On the river and it is one beautiful day ..
... lots of blue skies, warmer temps and a good currant in the river. Actually it is just a little warmer then yesterday and it feels good. Sooooooooo much for day dreaming and just easing along.Here come more blowdowns (Trees across the river) then we want to count. I wanted to call them KJ's and the rest of the crew was against it.
You ask what is a KJ's :?: ...It is what makes me think of Kayak Jack at work .... Horizontal and hard to get around but in this case it would be trees taking naps and we had a ton of them to go around, under or find a way thru.
I was in the front and leading the way when we came to one that looked like a BIG PROBLEM and it was. No open area to go thru so I located a small spot I could ram the bow of the pirogue into, breaking branches and creating a hole for us. Get the hole done and then just paddle thru and down river.
At one downed (KJ) oak tree I am in the pirogue clearing a hole with the boat and canoe paddle when this snaky looking branch falls in the boat right between my legs, :? causing heart failure and my willingness to jump into the water until I noticed it was just a branch and not a snake. Man that is all I needed.
This time of the year you would NOT want to jump in the river ...the water is very cold and Al told me there should be brook Trout in it due to the temperture. The up side is that it is not that deep and if it wasn't for the blowdowns a person could really scoot along just with the flow of the water.
This portion of the River I used the pirogue more as a bull doser then a boat, thru tight areas, clearing the way, over logs, under trees and locating the deeper runs thru the sand bars. It was slow going but a lot of fun, who just want's to paddle down the middle of a river and not have something to think about, go under or around...BORING. This far into the trip it has been anything but boring. We made it down river till it is time to think about finding a campsite, which we located and it was a good one.
We set up camp and it was a really nice one. Birch trees to hang the hammocks from, oak trees for fire wood and a flat, white, sandy area for the fire. We had everything set up and then the discussion turned to....What is for Supper? While trying to come up with the answer ....... ole swampy say's ... How about some chili? Darned if KT (Swampies better half and wolfy mamma on the forum) cooked up a lot of hamburger and then froze it for the trip, also included was a zip lock of spices for the chili.
Everyone agreed on the chili for supper but swampy was not sure which zip lock had the spices in them, one simple way to find out. He opened each bag and sniffed them ........yep , he found the spices for the chili and you had to be there for that. To make a long story short, due to his injuries ....a chooooo , AAAaaCHOooooo.. I mixed everything together and cooked supper for him and us...
What a night, Home made hot chili for supper, cool temps about or around the mid 50's ...later a roaring fire on the white sand bar and a full moon above as a night light. Around the camp fire most of us agreed that on the next trip swampy has to stay home and KT comes along with us ..... after all she is a better cook and I will bet a lot better looking.
I had to exclude myself from the voting since swampy made that birthday cake for me but one more shot of the Crown Royal he gave me and I would have to vote with the rest of the crew .....Sorry about that swampy but they do have a good point.
While sitting around the fire I heard some pups yapping and said ... guy's listen to those dogs they must be puppies. Al told me they are young coyotes barking at there Momma who just brought supper home to them. Not being from the dry west like Arizona I had no idea that is what they were. Yes, I have listen to the coyote howling while out camping but never listened to a family discussion about what was for supper. They did the welcome home song a couple of times that night, I guess there Mom is a good provider.
By the way they were in a different state then we were ... we were in Florida and they were across the river in Georgia.
Now I ask you does it get anybetter then this .......... If you said NO then you are wrong. :lol: Just hold on it gets even better.
Our camp was at 30-36.418 and today we made an additional 3/16 of the way. We are getting better and now are only looking at a 5 1/2 or 6 day trip. So far we have covered 5/16th of the total distance.
Are we a bunch of speedy canoers or what? Don't answer that until you paddle this area. A little work to paddle this stretch of the river but it is really worth it.
Later ,after the trip , talking with the folks at the Canoe Country Outpost (Steves Brother) we found out that it is one really hot spot for fishing in the spring and summer.