When we left home in Acme, the thermometer in our car said it was 52 degrees. When we arrived at Briarpatch on the banks of the Pine River, it was 39 degrees! All of us had warm clothes, but we wondered about the forecast that had predicted 70’s. Jocelyn Trepte, Fred & Judy Swartz, Mike & Barb Rodenberg, Marv & Marlene Puska, Bob Fitch, Tracie Lord, and John & Lois were all ready to run the shuttle at 10 AM. Jake, our driver from Pine River Paddlesports Center, met the group at Lincoln, and gave everyone a ride back to Briarpatch.
As people started to launch, we noticed a warm breeze was starting to waft through the trees. Within a half hour everyone started to shed clothes. By lunchtime, some of us had traded Chota boots for river sandals, and we were down to tee shirts. The group remained pretty spread out because a number of us kept stopping to take photos. The trees were at their peak of fall color, and with 70 degree temperatures, we all knew we had to savor the day.
When Lois and I lived in the Chicago area, a group of us came up to paddle the Pine River every Columbus Day weekend. We did this for twenty years, and we never had weather like this. One weekend we even had snow! No chance of that today.
We all took our time heading down river. Everyone had all done this stretch several times this season so there were no mishaps. As we were loading our boats at Lincoln, several of us decided to adjourn to “Fred Lobster” for dinner. Everyone agreed it had been a great day on the river!
Submitted by John