We still have not made a final choice between the two sections of the upper Duck River, so to relieve some of the burden of this decision we'll just tell you what the pros and cons are. 

The first section would be putting in at Cortner Mill and paddling ten miles to Highway 41A.   Cortner Mill is an interesting place that looked like this when it was built in the 1870s.

We used to put in upstream of the mill dam and catch the escapees from the TWRA trout hatchery but nobody wants to portage the Dutch Ovens and the muffalettas so we'll launch below.   Cortner Mill is a bed and breakfast  now but it still looks pretty much the same:

Click on the map to see what Option 1 would look like (paddling right to left on your screen):

As you can see, our George Dickel rendezvous is just up the holler.   Just up Cascade Holler in fact. 

Another good thing about this section is we would float right past one of the RRCC's sacred spots:   the site of the Blessing of the Beer on the Sabbath Day.

The problem with Option 1, though, is that it has precious few gravel bars, and the gravel bars it does have are in all the wrong places.  So Option 2 is the next section:  putting in at Highway 41A and taking out at Shelbyville:

On the map it looks shorter the Option 1 but they are really the same distance - both almost exactly 10 miles.  It also looks like it's close to Shelbyville, which is true, but you really don't notice it much from the river.  And if we're going to do the Duck full monty then we'll have to do it eventually anyway.  Of course, you could say that about Option 1 as well.   We might just toss a coin in the Dickel parking lot on Saturday.  Do not assume we are joking about that.

If the river is running high, Option 3 is to paddle around Dickel Lake for three days:

Food:

Here is a summary of the most recent summit conference held by the kitchen folks:

• Jim has proposed lamb for the rotissierie  "And not that silly English lamb with mint jelly (sorry, Ian) but Greek lamb, with rosemary, lemon and garlic"
• There is some talk about bringing a live lamb and letting Pete Feldman sacrifice it on the lid of the Chuck Box.   I don't think the cooks joke about stuff like that either. 
• Rob is bringing the greens, bread and a dump cobbler, Dutch Ovens permitting.
• Phil is in charge of "something starchy".  
• Jim is also cooking tom kha kai soup one of the nights, probably the same night the lamb gets whacked
• Pete's bringing the muffalettas

That's all we've got right now.  The RRCC is leaving on Spring Break so check back April Fool's Day.  Also, be aware of the following upcoming events:

April 2 is Ian's election day.  You can follow the returns here:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/  or here  http://www.komu.com/home/ or go to his web site:  http://www.ianfor4th.com/

May 26, Bob is playing the Dragon Music Sunday series at the Dragon Park.   So far he has not invited any of the Gravel Bar Band to sit in but we will strap on our instruments and stand in front of the stage in our rubber boots just in case.





P.S.   Good job with the comments on that last post guys.  Keep it up.

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