Running the River

Nancy and I had been planning a weekend river trip for over a month. We picked the weekend of May 15-17 in hopes that the weather would be just right --- not too hot and not too cold. Of course the water is still cold this time of year but its not unbearable if you absolutely have to get in it.

I spend Thursday evening gathering and packing for our stay at one of the three cabins my stepmother just recently purchased. Friday morning brought a beautiful sunrise and the promise of a warm day. Nancy and I loaded up the kayaks, made one last stop at the store and headed south. Kris opted to go with us on the Friday kayak run.

We finally got into the water about 1:15pm. We hit rapids at the first turn of our route. Lots of little turns and rapids for the first half of our trip. The river is running full which made it more enjoyable to shoot the rapids. During the deep stretches of river we cruised along the banks looking for birds and other animals. It had been years since I had ventured along that stretch of river so it was interesting to see how the landowners stake their claims to their property along the river.

We each had to get out of our kayaks at different points along our trip. I made it all the way to the last turn in the river when I grounded on a gravel bar. No amount of ooching and scooting was going to get me back in the main channel of water. I'm sure its quite humorous to watch us when we high-center our kayaks! Our trip from Point A to Point B took us 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Friday night brought a wicked thunderstorm that dumped .80 points of rain on our area. It also brought in a very cool north wind that we decided was more than we wanted to battle in a kayak. We spent Saturday visiting and reading. Kris went to spend the evening and Sunday with her dad since Saturday was his birthday. We broke camp early Sunday morning with the promise that we will follow up with more river runs during the summer.

I took pictures along the way with a waterproof camera so I will have to wait until the pictures are developed and then scan them to Flickr for everyone to view.