June 29 Boardman from Forks to BB Dam
Published on 6/29/2011
Who went: Lois & John, Judy & Fred, and Tracie
What we saw: irises (both purple and yellow), a turtle, mergansers, a family of swans
Weather: cool, then very sunny and warm
We decided to do some river cleanup, and even though the Boardman had been cleaned less than 3 weeks ago, we still found about 7 bags of stuff. We didn't have a spear, and it was too chilly to swim, so there are still some obvious cans on the bottom of the river upstream from Brown Bridge Pond. But we did find a good quantity of cans (both old and new, full and empty), sweatpants, shoes, 3 paddles (2 had big chunks taken out of the blades), a swamped Discovery canoe (which we didn't recover just then), a really good water bottle, a big beach towel, and a group of sad little girls - "Can you go back and find my black backpack and my blue flip-flop?" Several were missing shoes, and obviously nothing had been tied into their canoes. They were from a local camp, and apparently were not really prepared for this excursion.
We need to go back when it's hot, with a spear. We all got through pond okay, and spent 3 hours doing the trip even with our clean up chores. No mishaps, except at lunchtime, when a glass of iced tea was accidentally dumped on the author. But we all got free dessert, and I got to use my car clothes.
Written by Lois