When does everyone want to go kayaking again? Lake, river, pond, or an ocean bay. Saco river? Has anyone thought about a kayak event this summer? Can't wait to go again.

When does everyone want to go kayaking again? Lake, river, pond, or an ocean bay. Saco river? Has anyone thought about a kayak event this summer? Can't wait to go again.
Barry is going to host a kayaking event this July I believe.

But the Saco River would be a fun trip for a group. I have done that before and found it really easy and fun. Tink and I had a ball doing it. I would like to do it again if the right weekend was available.

I'm up for the Saco!

Here are some other places on the list for this summer:
Hell's Half acre
Swan Isand, Richmond
Jewel Island
Island Hoppers Cache
Blue Hills reversing falls (May 21 3:30 pm?)
Indian Pond Cache
Prong Pond Cache
Underwater Cache

The Saco would be great, as we have just a canoe and no kayaks. The Saco is not far from us, either. Although the kids are so big now they should probably have their own watercraft. We were riding pretty low the last time all four of us went for a paddle!!

There seems to be alot of interest in the Saco River. It's easy, fun and the kids can come no problem. My open weekends start in June. The 3rd or 4th, Saturday/Sunday or the 10th or 11th, Saturday/Sunday. The following weekend is " The Pig Roast ". Don't forget to bring your watercraft to the event, for the sleepovers, we may go the next day, somewhere close.

So let's see who can make one of these dates, or do you have another suggestion.

The thing to think about with the Saco is to do it as early as possible before the water levels go to low. Otherwise you will be getting in and out of you rcanoe or kayak pulling it over sandbars if you wait to late. The Saco is not a very deap river in this area that everyone uses.

Just a thought.

I'd prefer the 3rd/4th for this as I will be at the Geo Jamboree in CT on the 10th/11th.

If your talking June then there is a group of us hiking Katahdin the weekend of 3 June and that group is a bunch of kayakers too. So that may not be a good weekend.

Hmmm . . . this thread kind of reminds me of a column that I wrote last year . . . kind of a "what-not-to-do" canoe safety story. Many, many lessons were learned that day.

---------

Chewin' the Cud: My fiddleheading misadventure

By Jason Johnson


UNITY (May 29): A few weekends ago I decided to go fiddleheading with a couple of friends of my wife's. For the sake of anonymity, let's call them B. Stackhouse from Pittsfield and J. Tupper from Unity. [0]

In any case, the day started out well enough as Bobby and I headed down to our not-so-secret spot alongside 25-Mile Stream to pick a few fiddleheads. I had told Jolean that we would meet her around 9 a.m. at my house and so at 9:30 a.m. (knowing Jolean's tendency to never be on time) we headed back to my house ... only to find that she still had not arrived.

Nevertheless, after a fashion, Jolean showed up and together the three of us loaded up my beat-up canoe dubbed the "Ugly Duckling" into Bobby's pickup since Jolean and I had discovered an even more secret spot that was a virtual Fiddlehead Nirvana ... the only problem was it required the use of a canoe to cross over the stream.

Now you probably should know a few things about the Ugly Duckling. First off, this isn't one of those high-tech carbon fiber canoes built up in Old Town or even one of those lovingly crafted wood canoes that have been passed down from generation to generation. I bought the Ugly Duckling at a yard sale a number of years ago for about $25 (and that included the paddles.)

You probably should know that the reason I dubbed this old canoe the Ugly Duckling is due to the fact that it's not exactly the type of canoe you'll ever see gracing the cover of a LL Bean catalog.

Over the years with use and abuse the caning in the seats has been torn off and I've patched her up with so much fiberglass matting that it looks like it has a very bad case of leprosy … which incidentally has led to a major shortage of fiberglass epoxy and matting at Mac's Hardware.

In any case, we got the Ugly Duckling down to the stream. It was shortly after we had unloaded the Ugly Duckling that I had a couple premonitions of the calamity that was about to come.

The first sign of trouble was when Jolean managed to do a face plant into the mud ... despite the fact that there wasn't a tree root, rock or stump in sight.

The second sign was even more ominous as Bobby told me how every year he would go fiddleheading with his father (who died this past year) and every year his father would somehow manage to fall into the stream and go for an unexpected early-spring swim.

I should have realized right then and there that my carefree fiddleheading was about to take a turn for the worse. However, the lure of the fiddleheads ("the size of silver dollars" according to Jolean) was too strong and so we started out in the Ugly Duckling to make the 15 or so foot crossing of the stream.

Bobby volunteered to take the lead in the bow of the canoe followed by Jolean, who settled in the middle. Almost immediately, Jolean began to express some concerns. "I don't know. I don't know," said Jolean. "I think there might be weight limits for these canoes. I don't think this is a good idea."

From my vantage point on the stream bank the situation didn't look so bad and so after dismissing Jolean as simply being a bit of a pessimist I jumped into the canoe and shoved off from the shore.

"Don't worry Jolean. It's only a short stretch of water and besides if something happens we'll just go downstream a ways and get fetched up on that large tree blocking the stream," I replied.

I had no sooner said this however when I realized two disconcerting facts: 1. with all of the recent rain the stream was moving by at quite the fast pace and; 2. Jolean was right to worry about overtaxing the canoe as it was about three inches from the waterline. Never one to worry, I quickly told Bobby that we should probably head back to shore.

Fortunately, there was a tree growing nearby which I was able to grab hold of and use to help pivot the canoe back toward the shore.

Unfortunately, this action was merely one more mistake in a morning full of mistakes.

We were pivoting back toward the shore when we reached a point where the Ugly Duckling stopped pivoting (maybe someone who didn't fail physics in high school could tell me what this point is known as -- probably something like Pointus of No Returnus or some other Latin-sounding scientific name or Murphy's Axiom of Pivoting Canoes) and the canoe began dipping into the water.

It was at this point that Jolean began screeching, "The water is coming in. The water is coming in."

This reminded me a bit of Henny Penny of "The sky is falling. The sky is falling" fame. Unfortunately, unlike Henny Penny, Jolean was right ... the Ugly Duckling was rapidly filling with water.

Like a slow motion train wreck I watched in horror from the rear of the canoe as it filled with water, the bow dipped down and Bobby went down with it -- followed in quick succession by Jolean -- and it was at this point that I remember thinking, "Holy crap. Looks like I'm going in too."

Fortunately, I had heeded Jolean's advice to bring the life vests.

Unfortunately, none of us had thought to actually put them on...something I always do, but this one time did not since I had told myself I wouldn't need them due to this just being a short stretch of water.

As we all foundered toward the shore I remember thinking that of all of the many dumb things I had done that morning the absolute dumbest thing I had done was my choice of footwear.

Earlier, I had grabbed an old pair of firefighter's rubber boots to wear, which worked great while fiddleheading along the stream. However, while the firefighter boots worked great in the mud and shallow water, they did not work so well when filled with a couple quarts of stream water.

In fact, the boots worked as well as a pair of cement shoes. I have always told my wife that I would like to be buried in my firefighter uniform, but dying while wearing firefighter gear was not part of my ultimate plan.
Bobby and Jolean made it to shore in a rather quick fashion while I attempted to "swim" (and I use this term loosely here) in a sort of fashion toward shore.

As I slowly moved toward the bank I had a great water-line view of the Ugly Duckling with the life vests still inside drifting by, my paddle drifting by, Jolean's hat drifting by and Bobby's pail that had been a quarter full of fiddleheads drifting by.

For some reason of all the things I choose to latch on to -- of all the things that would provide me with some flotation even -- the one thing I grabbed hold of and held onto for dear life was Bobby's now nearly-empty pail of fiddleheads.

I guess you could blame it on the cold water, but for some reason I also felt compelled to try to save as many of the fiddleheads drifting by as well. I can only imagine the sight I must have been as I sort of half swam-sank to shore all the while trying to grab a hold of as many fiddleheads as possible -- all I can think is that I must have looked like a giant bullfrog on some type of bizarre feeding frenzy. In the end though I had managed to save about 20 or 25 of those edible ferns.

To make a long story short, I eventually got to shore and began to plot out my next move while attempting to wring out as much water from my clothing as possible. Bobby, meanwhile, was frantically trying to get his hospital pager to work, while Jolean was trying to figure out where we could find some more fiddleheads to pick.

I decided my first task would be to retrieve the Ugly Duckling... a simple affair I thought. Remember that large tree blocking the stream? I figured I would simply walk out on to the tree and rescue the Ugly Duckling when it fetched up on the tree.

However, this was not to be since there was maybe a five- or six-foot "hole" where the tree did not entirely block the stream and this was where the Ugly Duckling hit and kept cruising downstream.

I immediately began running as fast as I could to catch up to the Ugly Duckling...no small feat for a man of my build or a man still wearing boots containing two quarts of stream water, some wayward fiddleheads and maybe even a trout or two.

At last, I caught up to the Ugly Duckling as it had snagged up on some debris on the opposite side of the stream. I figured rescuing the canoe would be a simple task now as all I would have to do is get my good canoe and a change of dry clothing before returning to rescue the Ugly Duckling.
However, I no sooner had these thoughts when wouldn't you know it, the stream's current pushed the Ugly Duckling against a snag and then it rolled once and made a dive that would have made Shamu proud. The Ugly Duckling submerged into the murky water like a torpedoed destroyer going down for the last time. And that, my friends, is the story of my fiddleheading misadventure.

P.S. If anyone in Burnham, Pittsfield or the Atlantic Seaboard happens to find a green canoe that looks like a half-blind 5 year old got a hold of a can of fiberglass epoxy, would you kindly call me since it most likely means the Ugly Duckling has finally broken free of Davy Jones's Locker.

P.S.S. The truly ironic thing about this entire story -- I don't even like eating fiddleheads. In fact, I hate the taste of fiddleheads.
Jason lives in Unity with his wife Heidi and their five cats (he is well on his way to becoming one of those crazy old men that you hear about who dies leaving behind everything to the 100 or so cats living in the home). He works full-time for the City of Bangor Fire Department, but he does not save damsels in distress or cats stuck in trees -- he teaches public safety education classes to adults. Jason enjoys volunteering with the Unity Fire Department where he may, in fact some day, save a damsel in distress or a cat stuck in a tree. He also enjoys hiking, camping, photography, snowmobiling, ATVing and eating -- although he does this a little too much and too often. Jason grew up in Thorndike before moving to Unity. He graduated from Mount View High School and attended New England College in Henniker, N.H.

No where in your bio does it say"Jason enjoys Geocaching". How can the media be so uninformed.:rolleyes:

No where in your bio does it say"Jason enjoys Geocaching". How can the media be so uninformed.:rolleyes:

Well there's a reason for that . . . I wrote this in 2005 on June 29th and I wasn't a GC.com member until July 4th and I didn't go for my first cache until mid-July.

How the heck to we get from planning a kayak/canoe trip to going off an a totally different tangent about an article someone wrote? It looks like this like many other threads on this site just got hijacked. Hopefully we will get back on subject and not like the other threads that never do.

Kayak trip sounds like fun!! We just bought 4 kayaks and we love them!! Can't wait to hear the when's and where's.

:DOh, and the story was quite funny!!

Team Teebow 2 (Cheryl) For those that have a hard time figuring who posted what.

How the heck to we get from planning a kayak/canoe trip to going off an a totally different tangent about an article someone wrote? It looks like this like many other threads on this site just got hijacked. Hopefully we will get back on subject and not like the other threads that never do.

Sorry Rick . . . I've pummeled myself repeatedly with fiddleheads and bashed my typing hands 101 times with my kayak paddle. :D

Does June 24th a Saturday, work for more people? I would like to give as many people a chance to go, as can make it.

Sometime early this summer we plan on putting out a Multi-cache on the Upper Kennebec River Starting in Bingham and ending in Madison.:eek: It will only be accessible by either kayak or canoe. It will involve some portages around hydro dams and will probably have 5 stages. This will be a cache that will definately take some planning and it may take some seekers a couple days to finish. For those wanting to do it in two or more days I highly recommend camping at the Evergreens Campground in Solon. Those seeking our Multi will also have a chance to do other caches along the way such as:
Can You Gadabout Gaddis? GCJD1R
Embden Petroglyphs GCJB1R
Arnold's Landing GCNCF5
Anderson's Corner Cache GCVEZ6
Big Box of Books GCR6N5
A Cache for TJ GCRW6K

............and many more that aren't far off the banks of the mighty Kennebec. Stay tuned, We'll be putting this one together soon and we hope it proves to be a great summertime cache. :D :D :D

For those wanting to do it in two or more days I highly recommend camping at the Evergreens Campground in Solon.

I agree! The Evergreens Campground - on an old Indian campsite - is a good location - right on the riverbank. The owners are great, and they have a good restaurant at the site as well. And all of the caches mentioned by Smitty are GREAT caches to do on a canoe/kayak trip. Our "Arnolds Landing" cache is at the only portage required - about 1/2 mile from the campground. Total distance on the route Smitty is talking about is about 9 miles. :D :D

24th works for me. I'd love to go on this.

The date is June 24th, and the Saco River is the place. The launch time and place are up for vote. Probally 3-4 hours on the river will be enough. There are lots of caches nearby in No.Conway and Fryeburg, too. One idea was launch at McSherries on 302 just outside of Fryeburg and land at the 302 Bridge on the other side of Fryeburg. What's everyone else think?

June 24th. Darn the week after our event and Tink has to work. You can count me in if I don’t get stuck working. I think 3 to 4 hours is a long time to plan but it is better to plan for longer to short. I don’t care about lunch as long as we find somewhere to eat. We could always pack a lunch and eat on one of the sandbars. This promises to be a good time if the river if full of people. Tink and I have done this trip once and have always wanted to do it again. She is going to be mad that I can go and she can’t.

For a little history on the Saco River for those that do not know. This is a party river. Every year on the weekend once it warms up this becomes a party river. People stat out behind the fairgrounds in inner tubes and canoes tied together like party barges and coolers full of beer every weekend. Everyone gets alone out here doing this and if you want you may want to bring you water gun. You are open game for some as you pass them. Water gun waters a known to erupt out there.

Gary, I assume you are starting at the put in behind the fairgrounds. But where are you taking out at? Are you going to route 302 or to the next road crossing that I think is route 160?

Just ordered my new tent for my pick-up and looking forward to a kayaking event but we'll be in New York this week...and I've done all the listed caches.:mad: Like the Red Sox...there's always next year. :)

This sounds like fun. Children can come?? Well, teenage children is what we have 13 and 15. Guess I need to talk to the rest of the team and see if we have anything going on that weekend. Camping too, did I read that? A bunch of cachers floating down the river...sounds cool to me!!! Keep us all posted!!! Woo Hoo what fun!!! :D

I don't see why children can not come this is an easy trip.

Gary are you coordinating this?

If Tink does not come I may have an extra kayak for someone to use. I also have a canoe that people can use. But they will have to provide the life preservers.

Gary, I assume you are starting at the put in behind the fairgrounds. But where are you taking out at? Are you going to route 302 or to the next road crossing that I think is route 160? shortened.

I have never used this launch before. Is there adequate parking? Route 160 is correct and is ok with me to take out. We paddle right by a cache that way too. Elephant's Den. No one is in charge here, it's by popular vote. I plan to eat on the river. Just bringing some small stuff to munch on. We can stop along the way and eat ona sandbar, as earlier stated.

So now we know the date and place. Now we need to set a meeting time and place.

I may continue on to the dam and camp out overnight. Can't wait to go, I missed the Saco last year.

I may continue on to the dam and camp out overnight. Can't wait to go, I missed the Saco last year.

I have only gone any further then route 302. So I can not say much for route 160 launch area. I have visted it one before and it seems to be alright. But it sounds like Tom may know more about this. I know you have to pay for parking at the starting area and route 302 when I last did this.

Tom

How about shedding some light on the two options here, either route 302 or 160. What do you recommend? I would like to hear more about the dam you are talking about. I may be interested in spending the night also.

Here's a neat link, for the fanatics.Kayaking Crazy - Kayaking (http://www.kayakingcrazy.com/)

Tom
How about shedding some light on the two options here, either route 302 or 160. What do you recommend? I would like to hear more about the dam you are talking about. I may be interested in spending the night also.

I don't think either place charges. I usually put in at Lovell Pond and take out in Hiram at the intersection of 113 and 117. There are some rapids (not big) at the AMC campground between 302 and 160. (Right at the cache!)

Camping is a little tough. Some would like to see no camping at all on the river, but there are some places that are still legal. I met one of the land owners and he said he did not mind campers, so that is where I'll set up.

The whole river is very kid friendly, but keep in mind that there are usually some rowdy people as well. A peaceful camp site can instantly turn into a rather loud party spot.

Here's a handy map for planning purposes:

http://www.woodlandacres.com/canoing.php#map

Here's a handy map for planning purposes:

http://www.woodlandacres.com/canoing.php#map

Nice map.

I have always put in at right below Swan Falls and gone to route 302. But that is really a very **** trip in my opinion. It is only about 10 miles and your moving with the current.

I would like to put in below Swan Falls but I will go with what ever everyone else wants. We can do the whole river trip or part of it.

I am game for this and I am looking forward to this.

Maybe we can discuss this more in depth at the 17 June event the weekend before.

So is this going to be a geo event? I did a stretch on the Saco River a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it . . . a nice current, but nothing too wild and crazy for us novice canoeists/kayakers.

The Saco river has no real current. There are groups like I said that do this as an all day event and bring coolers of beer to float in the river with them. Some people just sit and float with the current on innner tubes. There are no rapids from below Swan Falls to route 302. I can not speak from that point further though.

So is this going to be a geo event? I did a stretch on the Saco River a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it . . . a nice current, but nothing too wild and crazy for us novice canoeists/kayakers.

There are no plans to make this an event. It's just a bunch of good friends spending time together. Doing what we love to do. Hope to see alot of you make this trip.

Here are some of the details so far. The date is Saturday, June 24th. The meeting place is the grocery store on route 302 across from jockey cap. For anyone who has not done this cache ( GCH8J3 ) arrive early, it is NOT to be missed. 30 minutes at best to complete the hike. The time is still TBD. I know some of you will be travelling a good distance and some of you are bringing kids. So I'm thinking the time will be closer to 10:00 AM. We can put in at the bridge on route 5, Canal Bridge and there are several places to pull out along the river, depending on how far you want to go. We are open to any other ideas, so let us know. Camping was discused for anyone who wants to stay overnight. Hope you can all make it. I am including the map that Tat supplied earlier to help you with my planning.Woodland Acres Campground, Saco River Canoeing At Its Best (http://www.woodlandacres.com/canoing.php) This is NOT a plug for the campground, it is WAY TOO expensive.

I changed the title to this thread since it is now about the Saco River trip that Team2Hunt is organizing and also because Gary asked me to.

Here are some of the details so far. The date is Saturday, June 24th. The meeting place is the grocery store on route 302 across from jockey cap. For anyone who has not done this cache ( GCH8J3 ) arrive early, it is NOT to be missed. 30 minutes at best to complete the hike.

The meeting time will be 9:30. The place is listed above. We need to get a head count on those planning to come along. Dropping vehicles and the place to pull out will have to be decided on as soon as possible. Please respond here by Wednesday. Everyone is welcome, and I hope to see alot of you on the river. Thanks Rick for renaming the thread. :)

I plan to go. I can take one more boat as well, if that helps anyone.

I am planning on coming. I will not know if Tink will come with us until the end of the week. Her foot is still sore from her foot surgery. She said she will know Thursday hopefully.

A clip from www.mainetoday.com (http://www.mainetoday.com) todays edition :eek:

Woman killed when tree falls on tent


News 8 - WMTW

FRYEBURG — A Freeport woman has died in a freak accident after a tree fell on the tent she and two friends were in at a campground in Fryeburg.

Fryeburg Police Chief Wayne Brooking said Dara Kaufman, 22, was camping at the Fiddlehead Campground on the Saco River with two friends from Portland when a thunderstorm with high winds passed through at about 7 p.m. on Monday.

The winds knocked down a large oak tree, which fell onto the tent, killing Kaufman.

Her two companions, a man and a woman, also were in the tent but were uninjured

I'm interested, but have no way to get my canoe there and must be back on the road heading toward Portland by 2:30 or so.

Is anyone planning to leave the area by 2:30 - that has space on their boat that I could tag along?

Bird Nerd
Stacie

I'm interested, but have no way to get my canoe there and must be back on the road heading toward Portland by 2:30 or so.

Is anyone planning to leave the area by 2:30 - that has space on their boat that I could tag along?

Bird Nerd
Stacie

I'm afraid I can't help you at all Bird Nerd . . . but I did want to welcome you to the Geocachingmaine.org forum. If you have questions, someone here probably has the answer . . . and not just necessarily geocaching questions! :D

I'm interested, but have no way to get my canoe there and must be back on the road heading toward Portland by 2:30 or so.

Is anyone planning to leave the area by 2:30 - that has space on their boat that I could tag along?

Bird Nerd
Stacie
I wish I could help you Bird Nerd. But I am brining a kayak. The wife may or may not come depending on how her foot is. She had surgery last week. If she does not come I will have a extra kayak for someone to use. I made the offer to Haffy first though. I will let everyone know as soon as she knows if she is coming, She really wants to come though. I have a canoe I can bring for someone to use but you will have to find life vest to use because I do not have any extra.

I can put your boat on my car, and bring it back to you on Sunday, if that helps. You could bring your car and leave on Sat.

...will have to find life vest to use because I do not have any extra.


I have an extra vest if anyone needs one.

What is the plan of attack. It looks like rain Saturday morning. So are we canceling this trip?

I like a little rain, so I'm inclined to go rain or shine. As long as we don't get the severe weather they are getting right now, it should be ok.

Tomorrow: A steady rain early. Showers with perhaps a rumble of thunder developing in the afternoon. High 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.

I am heading to work in about 2 hours. Unless the weather changed tonight when I get home Tink and I will not make this trip. We do not want to be paddling in rain and thunder.

Barry and I are still planning on going, rain or shine. The chances of severe weather hitting right on top of us is remote.

Tomorrow: A steady rain early. Showers with perhaps a rumble of thunder developing in the afternoon. High 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.

I am heading to work in about 2 hours. Unless the weather changed tonight when I get home Tink and I will not make this trip. We do not want to be paddling in rain and thunder.

Did you get this from the Saco River Weather Bureau? :p

Since it just happens to be on the route, and I'll have my kayak. I will be attempting a retrieval of the " real " cache at Super Duper Underwater H2O Cache. Wish me luck. :)

Did you get this from the Saco River Weather Bureau? :p
No thios came from online.
I just check the weather again and here is the latest:

Tomorrow: Rain showers in the morning with thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall may reach one inch.

New Hampshire is in flood warnings right now. So it looks like Tink and I will sit this one out. I want to go, but I also want to have a good time and have the weather a little cooperative.

Todays trip down the Saco River was absolutely GREAT!! I will admit the ride up to Fryeburg this morning was a wet one. It was sprinkling as we unloaded the kayaks, but stopped as we entered the river. 10:35am. With sun and clouds, the temps were in the high 60's. It was the perfect day to paddle down the Saco River. From Swan's Falls to the Brownfield Bridge, 20 plus miles and 6 hours of paddling. It was Team2hunt, Tat, and kayakerinme. We shared the day with about 100 others in all types of rafting configurations. Those in canoes were happy to see us in our kayaks, espicially Tom in his homemade wooden kayak. ( I'm going out and buy some wooden looking shelf liner to turn my kayak into a wooden looking one like Tom's.) We stopped several times to swim or grab a cache. We also had fun playing with our bilges like super soakers. Getting wet along the way was part of the fun. We listened to Jimmy Buffet tunes , and watched alot of people enjoying the day. Sorry you missed it Rick. The weather was perfect for a paddle and the river flowed at around 2 miles per hour all by itself. This was the second kayak trip of the summer and another great time with friends. We will definitely do this again, and soon I hope. Stick around for more details. Thanks to Tom and Barry, for going along whatever the weather forecast was. :cool:

I'm glad you guys had such a great time. It sure turned out to be a beautiful day. Let's hope this weather sticks around for tomorrow too!

Thanks for updating us...it's always good to hear about times when long lasting caching memories are made. So which one of you is going to make a page for the Maine Geocaching Scrapbook (http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=133014)?

I'm glad you guys had such a great time. It sure turned out to be a beautiful day. Let's hope this weather sticks around for tomorrow too!

Thanks for updating us...it's always good to hear about times when long lasting caching memories are made. So which one of you is going to make a page for the Maine Geocaching Scrapbook (http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=133014)?

I have several pictures from our 2 trips this year. I will try to make up a page. Thanks, for asking.

I am glad you all had a good time. I am however glad I put it off today. It was not a very good day. But I am glad you had a good time.

I continued on after (thanks for the shuttle, Barry and Garry!) The last 13 miles were the exact opposite of the first stretch. Everyone had found a place to camp and cot one of the last sand bars. The river was empty except for: An owl that just found supper, a beaver that woke me up at 3am, a moose that just wanted me to know who's territory this was, a blue heron, an 18" diameter turtle, a deer, but no humans. It was perfect!

Oh Tat! That does sound perfect!