April 29, 2007 - Mike approaches the falls below 84 - 200 CFS

April 29, 2007 - Mike at dawn - 200 CFS - 7 to Camp

Mike got up at 4:30 a.m. for a run. Mike and I were in the river while the steam was rising and at one point we saw small vortexes of steam whisping from the river upward. A Pileated Woodpecker flew over the river during the run. Three hours of conversation with Mike is a good way to spend a Sunday morning. He's got a great sense of humor that doesn't translate well on paper ("I wonder what happened to the rest of that guy," he said, looking at a hat that flood waters had lodged high in a tree) and he has a lot of stories to tell. Mike ran a marathon once and finished in about 4:30 when his longest training run had been 12 miles. After this river run he was headed back to town to continue working on some type of floating island that he is building for the ducks at his pond, so they can survive the local wolves.

April 29, 2007 - It's blackberry picking time

Paul's fence line, near the river.

Tributary stream two car-widths wide and swiftly flowing - between the iron bridge and Bottle Creek - April 28, 2007

I saw this creek running beneath a bridge and stopped to walk down it (it was only knee deep) about 1/4 of a mile. It's kayakable. Here the sun is shining on the Cypress leaves and the Mountain Laurel flowers on the bank. It had both white and pink Mountain Laurels and an old Maytag dishwasher someone had thrown off the bridge into the water.

Turtleback Slide - 200 CFS - April 28, 2007

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its lovliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. (John Keats)

Autumn Ferns and trickle-in streams - R. Nix - 50 CFS - Camp to Iron Bridge

The river is a great place for relaxed conversation and R. Nix knows the art of story-telling and listening. But when passing a trickle-in stream, the conversation often fades away to awe at the amazing beauty of undefiled wilderness. Click on the photo for a better view.

Autumn drought beauty - 50 CFS - Camp to Iron Bridge

A week after this photo was taken, I returned to this spot on the river, eager to see it again. But the water had risen from 50 CFS to 100 CFS, and the channel had disappeared under smooth-flowing water. The ever changing level of the river gives beauty and takes it away. Another 50 CFS day will come this summer, and I hope to be sitting in a chair where I am standing in this photo, watching kids (and eventually adults) slide into this channel.

Autumn drought beauty - 50 CFS - Camp to Iron Bridge

The river was far below normal, revealing new topography. Click on the photo and check out the strange starfish like river bed. This is my friend R. Nix. This is the one time of the year that B. Melton will go to the river, and I'm hoping this photo will make him resolve to not miss a trip come November.

Fall 2006 - Experienced River Runner, The Walt-Man.

The main man Walt. Walt's knees have felt the need to breathe more freely out of every pair of pants he has.

Holly and Harper warm and dry

Harper is a fish. She was swimming in this water (briefly) in March, when most of the leaves were still buds on the trees. On this day she stayed dry.

It's a dog's life.

My dog Sopchoppy saw two deer on the banks this morning and got stirred up. She is named after a river in Florida.

Tyler on Easter Sunday 2007 - less than 300 CFS

On Easter morning, Tyler and I set out early in near freezing weather. Tyler had fallen into the river the day before (photo here) from a less stable sit-on-top, and the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. The next day I put him in a more stable sit-in kayak, and it suited him, because after an hour he was asking what kayak I thought would be right for him. I said he looked pretty comfortable in the boat he was sitting in, a 16 foot tandem, an Old Town Loon, with a rudder. It's an easy boat to navigate by oneself or with another rider up front. In swifter water you can drop the rudder and drive it with the foot pedals and pretty much forget paddling. Here Tyler has settled into the river state of mind.

What is this wild flower? It grows on bushes all along the banks.

It's not a wild azalea ("bush honeysuckle"). It's leaves are more like a Camellia. Double click on the photo and the flowers are cup-like. In late April-early May, there is a time when these cupped flowers fall into the river and float along beside the canoes and kayaks. We later learned: "The Mountain Laurel is perhaps the most beautiful of native American shrubs. Mountain Laurel, a Wildflower, is also the state flower of Connecticut. The Mountain Laurel plant was originally brought to Europe as an ornamental plant during the 18th century. Mountain Laurel is widely grown for its attractive flowers."

Richard and Tyler in cold water - If the weather has not reached 90 degrees, take extra clothes.

Paul Jr. is the one in the yellow boat, in dry pants, laughing. (click on photo to enlarge) The water was less than 70 degrees, which feels like ice compared to the coolness of a 70 degree room temperature. Cold water robs the body's heat 32 times faster than cold air. 99 times out of a 100, an extra change of clothes stuffed into a garbage bag, in a backpack, will go unused. But the 1 time it has to be used will make all the difference. Unfortunately this was that "1 time" out of 99. I felt bad about it because I had not told them to bring an extra set of clothes. Tyler and Richard had to paddle another 20 minutes, but that's a long time when you're soaking wet in cold wind. If we had been 2 hours out from a landing it would have been pretty miserable for them.

Sunday, April 15, 2007: 600 CFS 84 to Camp - Bo and Max

Bo crossing the shoals, which are submerged at 600 CFS. The run is done in less than two hours. The tributary streams which are usually enjoyed as small waterfalls dropping out of the woods are also submerged. This is the morning after a tornado. There are moderate sized trees sheared off along the banks. Winds continue at 20 - 30 MPH on this morning, making the trees alive and noisy throughout the run, but the river banks are high enough that the wind does not affect navigating the boats.

Wooden cog teeth - the old grindstone mill

Double click on the photo to see better detail.

To understand how the millstone or grindstone mechanics worked, click here.

Friday April 6, 2007: 450 CFS, Iron Bridge to Bottle Creek - Paul Sr, Desi, Desi Jr, Michael, Harper, Topie, Walt, Max

This 2.5 to 3.5 hour run includes the old mill. The mill damn has has withstood the engineering test of time. Its concrete bears shell fossils from the ancient river bed materials that were used to create the blocks of concrete. Year after year, decade after decade, the mill creek behind the dam becomes swollen with floodwaters from hurricanes, thunderstorms, and spring rains. The dam holds it all back. Today at 450 CFS, the mill creek between the dam and river is waist deep. The creek behind the dam is too deep for small children, but Desi, Sr. and Max pass the 4 children over the creek and we climb up to the grindstone at the top of the bank alongside the mill. This mill that provided grindstone to process the grains and corn for a long gone community. Double click the dam photo or the cog teeth photo for a detailed view. Rapids just past the mill are not difficult at 450 CFS. Harper, age 9, solos. Later we stop for lunch on the left bank at a point where the river bends sharp right and, on the left bank of that bend, there is a creek that flows over a cypress knees. Paul Sr finds a full deer skull with antlers that becomes the hood ornament for the canoe trailer. Paul believes the deer may have been fatally wounded by a hunter and instinctively ran toward the river, and died beside it. Wild azaleas are in full bloom. This river run has no development except the mill. Not one house. Not one deck. Once past the mill, you see what the Native Americans saw 1000 years ago.

So it goes: RIP - Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.

April 14, 2007, 5:30 a.m. 100 CFS. 84 to Camp. Bo calls the turkeys.

Bo and Max put in at 5:30 a.m. Bo is a turkey hunter, and while we have no guns, he tells me that turkey hunting is not about the kill. It is about the hunt, and he can hunt them without a gun. Just into the run, in slight dawn light, we startle several several turkeys roosting in the limbs above the river. Bo has been calling turkeys since he was a young boy. He would go into his bedroom and practice for hours. He explains that the process of calling a turkey is an addictive sport because it is a reversal of nature. In nature a "Tom" or male turkey gobbles out and waits for the hens to come to him to mate. The turkey hunter reverses this process. He entices the Tom to seek out the hen. I am not a hunter. I killed my first deer with a Ford Taurus at the age of 30 plus. But I am interested in the stories of turkey hunters because their enthusiasm is infectious. My friend Melton, who is not with us this morning because he is undoubtedly somewhere in the woods calling turkeys, becomes weary at the end of hunting season becasue he says he cannot stop himself from rising each morning at 5 a.m. and heading out into the woods. On this windy morning, Bo has not raised a gobble out of a Tom, and he begins to question the credibility of any Tom that would not respond to a hen as good-looking as the hen sound he is making. Finally a turkey gobbles. Bo is done calling. Later into the run, a large turkey flies out of a pine tree which towers above the river. The bird is so big it seems unnatural that it can fly. These animals are majestic. Benjamin Franklin recommended that the turkey be made the national symbol, but the eagle was chosen instead (read Franklin's letter to his daughter by clicking here).

Easter 2007, 7 a.m., 32 degrees: 250 CFS - 84 to Camp Landing

Tyler passes through the falls in a 16 foot tandem without difficulty, in middle of left half of river. Max and his dog are in another 16 foot tandem. This water level exposes many sandstone banks and tributary creeks. We see two deer, a beaver, two baby ducks less than fist size, and a Blue Heron. Wild azaleas are in full bloom.

April 7, 2007: 350 CFS - North Camp to 84 - Optimum Wild Azaleas ("Bush Honeysuckle")

Paul Jr., Tyler, and Robert have never been kayaking. Still, this territory is nothing new to them; they have been hunting on the banks of this river since they were boys, and now they are college students studying forestry. They are up at 4:30 a.m. calling turkeys in the woods. They return to the camphouse at 8:00 a.m. and allow themselves to be talked into a river run with assurances that they will not get wet. This is an early morning run, and it is wintery cold. The rapids are tame at 350 CFS, and Tyler and Robert make it through all three sets on a tandam Sea Kayak without any problem. Then they enter nearly dead calm, deep water, relax, and do not see the keel of the boat rising up slightly on submered log. In slow motion they roll over into the cold water. They are good sports while Paul Jr. compliments them on their paddling skills. The wild azaleas (bush honeysuckle) are in full bloom. In a week these flowers will lose color and wilt.

Mill Creek south of Iron Bridge

April 19, 2007: 950 CFS - North Camp to 84 Bridge - Kingfisher bird

A turtle is laying her eggs in a hole dug in the sandy backwoods road leading down to the landing. The river flowers are abundant. Two ducks fly upriver over us, darting outside the river path to avoid flying over us, then back into the river path. A Blue Heron flies out of the edge of the rapids. A Kingfisher flies upriver. A larger animal is crackling through the leaves on the bank. It is finally warm enough (near 90 degrees) for the turtles to sun on the river logs. The rapids on this run at 950 CFS slosh some water into the 16 foot tandems during a middle approach to the last set of rapids. A small jon boat is headed up river and it is Derek F., John M. and a friend. The jon boat is unable to navigate the rapids. In warmer swimming water, this 950 CFS level will be ideal for small children on sit-on-tops or tubes. Later in the summer we should tow tubes by kayaks down to the rapids, then allow the kids to tube through them.