Sunday, July 15, 2018 Upper Pine River: Briarpatch to Walker Bridge
Downed trees, tippy kayaks, a couple of drenched paddlers made for a great day on this beautiful section of the Pine.
The day began with heavy fog, mist, and overcast skies but the river angels were looking out for us as the weather cleared to a beautiful, bright sunny day on a beautiful river. Ten of us signed on for this popular trip: Jackie Anderson, Doug Barnes, Lindy Barnes, Ron Coyne, Lois Goldstein, John Heiam, Gary Konecny, Tracie Lord, Marlene Puska, and Jocelyn Trepte. The trip was not without a bit of excitement as two of us, at different times and in different places, tipped our boats in very unglamorous attempts at boat entry. No harm done - just a lot of water to pour out of the vessels and two drenched people but the day was warm so no one was cold and the only injuries were to dignity. The first half of our group came across a tree down across the entire width of the river thus a bit of lumberjacking ensued to clear away branches to allow for our kayaks and canoes to pass through. Thanks to the Fab Five (John, Lois, Marlene, Gary and Jocelyn) who did the heavy work and thanks to all those who brought saws along. We also had a birthday boy in the mix - 39 isn’t it John? Thanks to Lois for bringing delicious cupcakes to honor her husband, John, and to share at lunch. We also had a member from a paddle club in Indiana up for a visit join us on the river in his canoe - good to meet you Gary.
This river can be just a tad tricky at times. Ron mentioned that dodging the many boulders was a little like playing pin ball - the boulders being the pins and the paddlers being the balls attempting - mostly successfully - to avoid hitting the pins (boulders). No one went over, no one damaged a boat, and the trip ended well with ten tired, wet (some of us were quite wet) paddlers.
Photos by Jocelyn and John
Lois
Marlene
Jocelyn
Gary
Tracie
Lindy
Doug
Jackie
Ron
The birthday boy
This is what the downed tree looked like when we first saw it
Sizing up the situation and planning our attack
The end result
