Pine River, Dobson – Low Bridge
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Participants: Lois Goldstein, John Heiam, Marvin and Marlene Puska, Judy Swartz, Norm Fred and Maxi Neugebauer. One tandem and one solo canoe, and four kayaks.
Judy and I met Lois, John and Norm at Menard’s to help us transfer my kayak on to Judy’s car as we are both too short to load my boat vertically.
Once all boats were at the river’s edge, the drivers had to shuttle their cars to Low Bridge. While we were waiting for their return I was being outfitted with boots and spray skirt loaned by Lois and John. Lois thought my boots were too loose so Norm and John tied ropes and straps around my ankles. Then came the spray skirt; with being relative new to kayaking I did not know how it worked. Marlene instructed me to remove my PFD and I wondered why; then I realized it had suspenders! Between my boots with straps around my ankles and a spray skirt hanging down my legs I asked John to take a photo of this get up and go!
(Since Lois was off running the shuttle, Maxi said John could look up her skirt!)
It was a brisk and cool morning with the temperature in the mid 40s but the sun kept coming out and the day looked very promising. We were assisted with getting our spray skirts tucked around the coaming and getting us in to the river. The river was fast, quite high and very murky due to the heavy rain of the previous few days. Lois & John instructed us to be alert and careful as there may be downed trees and the consequences of a capsize at this time of the year are more severe than in the summertime.
About one mile down river Lois & John wanted us to stop to check our equipment and make necessary adjustments if needed.
We did encounter a downed tree about 1/2 hour down river, and it was quite tricky to go under. Lois and John were leading and all of a sudden we hear "Oh sh…!" Since they were in the tandem canoe, they had an extra challenge with two fat branches leaning into its path. We had a perfect place at the landing for Coolwater Campground to wait for each other on the other side of the obstacle. That was definitely the challenge of the day. One member got into a precarious situation (getting pinned sideways on the tree trunk), but we were able to help with the extraction, and no-one was the worse for the incident. It was a good reminder of the value of paddling partners, and also the necessity of practicing reading the water and knowing how your own boat handles in funky currents.
Often the waves were really high and the river was roaring, some turns were tight and fast and pulling me close to obstacles. This trip was by far the most exhilarating and challenging for me.
We had a very nice lunch spot and sat quite civilized in the sunshine, at a picnic table at the Peterson Bridge Campground picnic area, on river left. It was just upstream of the canoe launch area, which is under construction this fall. Much quieter than the usual lunch spot! During lunch I asked whether the river will calm down from now on and was told “Oh no, the waves will get higher”, and they did. Judy asked if spray skirt time was over, and was told that spray skirt season will last for the next seven or eight months. In fact, the river was moving so quickly that Pinball Rapids farther downstream was just no big deal, with all the biggest rocks covered with water.
Lois mentioned that this was the first time since last spring that she and John were in the tandem canoe together without doing a cleanup and what a pleasure it was. However, there still was some cleanup activity going on by the diehard Norm and John, who could not resist picking up glass bottles and a few cans that had been left behind by others.
Trees are starting to turn and wildflowers are still visible at the river’s edge like Purple Asters and Black Eyed Susan. The day turned out to be beautiful and sunny and we all appreciated being out on this exciting river and peaceful day with no other paddlers & no fishermen - just us soaking in the beauty of our surroundings.
Again it was a great group of people and thank you all, for keeping me dry and safe!
Maxi