Pine River Cleanup, July 9, 2024 : Peterson to Low
Kathleen Imre | Published on 7/9/2024
What a beautiful day to be out "Pickin' on the Pine!" The temp was near 80, skies were blue, and the High Bridge gauge was 3.91 ft., 222 cu. ft./sec. - ideal! Today's crew was Harold, Jacqui, Bruce, the two Pauls, Irene, Jocelyn, Mike, Kathleen, Wayne, and Mark (aka River King).
Today appeared to be "sandals" day, complete with a matched pair of Reeboks for Wayne! There was also the usual assortment of bottles, cans, ball cap parts, plastic lids, mesh bags, seat pads, etc., and everyone seemed to be filling their trash bags quite nicely. A special find was a canoe paddle harkening back to Mark's first business from the early 1970s: Marrik's Canoe Service. (We now know your middle name, Mark!)
Paul W. appeared to be on his way to matching Mark's stand-up canoe paddling skills: check back in a couple weeks for an update... Mark was as canoe-nimble as ever, and also cleared a log using his chainsaw. Kathleen did not have a dry-hair day. Thanks to Paul W., her kayak was de-pinned from the log. No gear or trash was lost, and only her ego was bruised - so far...
The flowers were in abundance: bee balm, yarrow, brown-eyed Susan, butterfly weed, vetch, and elderberry. I'm sure Mike and Jocelyn identified many more! Harold spotted a beaver midstream. There were young mergansers, and in the backwater on river left we saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans and their six cygnets.
The pictures below best describe this great day on the Pine.
Pics by Jocelyn, Paul W., Irene, and Mike
Peterson Put-in: Mark, Irene, Paul W., Mike, Jacqui, Kathleen, Jocelyn, Harold, Bruce,
Wayne, & Paul M.
Paul W.
Wayne
Ick!
Mark clearing the big log
Mark and Paul M. tackling another area!
Lunch time!
Mergansers
Jocelyn
Quintessential Mark paddling style
How many paddlers does it take to retrieve 2 cans?!
Trumpeter Swans
Mark with the heirloom paddle
Wayne's "new" sandals
A very successful day!
