It usually take a few days to remember all the things we talked about at a pre-trip meeting. Sometimes we don't ever remember - but here are a few more items we know we covered.
There was the minor detail of where we are going to float. And how far. We had legitimate debate about this question, but the way the access points set up, the decision was actually pretty easy. We will be putting in at Akers Ferry and taking out at Round Springs. See the map. It's a total of 18.5 miles (according to this site) over parts of three days. Both Akers and Rounds Springs are major Forest Service boat ramps with another one, Pulltite, about halfway between them. Although there was some concern expressed by certain members (Tim) about the length of our paddle on Sunday, if we make just one hour on the river Saturday after we put-in (about 2.5 miles on a slow river) and maybe an hour-and-a-half before taking out on Monday we will be at around 12 miles for our all-day paddle. It is true that 12 miles is longer than we usually like to go given our paddling style, if not paddling is a style. For comparison purposes, we went about 9.0 miles for our big travel day on the Duck last fall. We went 17.0 milies for our "adult sized serving" on the Sequatchie. But both of those trips were at low water level in the fall and neither of those rivers were called the "Current," were they? This guy went 60 miles in one day on the Current River and clearly wasn't trying to set any records.
There are some other intangibles. This is a popular section of a very popular river for a reason. By doing Akers Ferry to Round Springs we will be on one of the prettiest parts, which also includes Cave Spring and you don't want to miss that. But it also means, unlike almost all of our other trips, we will see other canoeists and maybe a lot of them. If we were going in the summer this could be a big problem. It is not as much of a party river as say the Spring River right across the state line in Arkansas but it can detract if you don't plan around the crowds. Read this tip from a veteran Current River paddler: link. By putting in at Akers Ferry late in the day we will be doing exactly what he recommends (even though he is talking about a one-nighter starting farther upstream), which is to camp a few miles below Akers. The next morning you're ahead of the day trippers who have to travel from wherever to get to the river, rent their canoes, etc. Sadly, with our slow starts we'll probably still get lapped.
Another thing we had to work out at the pre-trip meeting was the canoe situation and what we worked out about that was we need all the canoes we've got. Especially with so many people flying in. Having the jon boat helps immensely. Not only will it take two people who would otherwise need a canoe each, it also hauls the bulky and heavy stuff thereby making it possible for us to paddle tandem in other canoes. I ♥ The Green Mule! Ultimately we decided we need 10 or 11 boats total depending on who confirms and/or drops out.
Finally, on the musical side, Vernon got in the Easter spirit at the post-post-pre-trip meeting by announcing we should try to resurrect My Sweet Lord, which we crucified on the Duck River just last fall. When he said we should also learn the key change, we knew it wasn't about Easter anymore it was about eleven pitchers of Shiner Bock at The Villager becuase that is going to take a miracle for sure. But since there will be plenty of Shiner Bock on the trip too we figured we might as well give it a try. Accordionly, we have posted the music and a sample up on the songlist page. Notice how George remembers his capo...
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