Decision 2016

In this election year, we decided to spend the night by a gorgeous waterfall wheel.

Link to full screen

And our youngest voter reacts to the campaign rhetoric.

Vernon is bringing a "cajon."   Apparently the Large Impingers box doesn't have a good enough sound for him.

Storms are predicted for Thursday, then clearing on Friday.   The answer to your question is:  I don't really know what hard rains on Thursday will do to the water level.  Obviously it will go up - hopefully not too much.

We've got some things in our favor:  (1) it hasn't rained much lately so the ground is not saturated.  In fact, water levels are surprisingly low for a spring trip...

And (2) we're pretty far upstream on the Duck so the watershed we're draining is not as big (and a good part of that is safely behind Normandy Dam).

On the other hand, the Duck is 250 miles long so "upstream" and "not that big" are relative things. There are still 50 miles of river above us that will be adding water the whole way.  Plus water levels go up and down faster on the upper parts than down by say Centerville.  That could work against us since it will be raining the day (and night) just before our trip.

Since we don't know, I think we should just not worry about it.  I don't think it will be dangerously high, and maybe it will make any scenic water features we come across that much more scenic...

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Almost forgot to finish the Fall Trip pictures before the Spring Trip.  Here's the last batch.

It seems like Sundays are always sunny no matter what the weekend was like...












































































Those loading out pictures are depressing - thank goodness we're putting in soon. See you in downtown Shelbyville.

It's All Happening

We "unlocked" the trailer this weekend.  The RRCC security policy requires us to throw away the key between every canoe trip.

Now she's loaded and ready to go....

Man, I never get tired of looking at that.  Every member will have their own canoe and will be paddling solo on this trip.  Final roster and canoe assignments are as follows:

1.  Josh  [new Mad River, on the trailer]

2.  Mullowney   [own canoe, will bring]

3.  Myers  [Delta Dawn, Mullowney will bring]

4.  Pete F.  [1933 Old Town, on the trailer]

5.  Phil  [Cronin's Old Town, on the trailer]

6.  Rob H.  [Blue Dagger, on the trailer]

7.  Skip  [Folbot, on the trailer]

8.  Tim   [Wenonah, on the trailer]

9.  Vernon  [Grumman, on the trailer]

10.  Jack  [Bell Northwind, will bring Saturday morning]

Jack is meeting us at Bridge #2 and will be waiting for use there at 10:30 Saturday morning.   We expect to camp 3 - 4 miles upstream of that on Friday.    He took the canoe with him and is putting the Bell in  Belle Meade this week:

Jack:    Bridge #2 is actually called "Warner Bridge."   It looks like you could put the address for Cedar Rock Hunting Preserve, 1326 Warner Bridge Rd,., in your GPS since it's right there.    Otherwise just take Lane St. west out of Shelbyville which turns into Warner Bridge Rd.  It's 10 minutes from downtown Shelbyville and 1 hour from Nashville.  Map below...

Also, a quick reminder on the Trucker's Hitch which you're going to need.

The main group will leave at 7:30 am Friday from my house.  

For those of you meeting us at the put-in, try to be there by 9:00 am.  It's easy to find.  There's only one bridge crossing the Duck River in Shelbyville and we'll be under it.   It's the Hwy 231 bridge a.k.a. South Cannon Blvd.  Which reminds me:  Rob Cannon are you out there?  I hope and expect to see him come skidding up in a cloud of dust just as we launch.

Pete is flying in and will arrive BNA at 9:25 am Friday.  Somebody whose vehicle will not be involved in the shuttle needs to pick him up.   Josh, could that be you?

The rest of us will head to the river, load the boats and run the shuttle with the goal of being ready to shove off when Pete arrives around 11:00.   

Don't forget cups, utensils and plates for yourself.  No disposable water bottles.   And one more tip:   canoe seat backs really should be mandatory equipment for a group of middle-aged men spending three days on a river.   You still have time to get one with Amazon Prime, or pick one up at Cumberland Transit or REI.   It will change the entire paddling experience for you.

You need to get one with some structure in it, not the crappy canvas Crazy Creek ones.

The Original Sit-Backer is good:  

GCI Outdoor SitBacker Canoe Seat

This one is intriguing.  I wish someone would volunteer to order one and try it out...

Rio Adventure My Pod Seat

The Paddling Part

Here's our trip map (click to expand):

The mileage is going to break down roughly as follows:

Put-in in Shelbyville to Friday campsite:   7.5 miles
Saturday morning to Saturday campsite:    8.0 miles
Sunday morning to Halls Mill take-out:     3.5 miles


The Friday paddle is unscouted so we don't know exactly where will stop.  The Saturday campsite is set for sure.   So the above distances will only vary if we stop a little sooner or a little later on Friday night.  

There are opportunities for joining (or leaving) the group due to the two bridges marked on the map.  We'll pass one on Friday and one on Saturday.   The Friday bridge (Bridge 1) is steep so it's accessible for a passenger but not to launch a canoe.  People who cannot make the Friday morning departure could be picked up on the bank at Bridge 1 but you would need to be there mid-afternoon because our Friday camp will be downstream from there.  Otherwise you could join us Saturday morning when we pass Bridge 2, and since there is a ramp at Bridge 2 you can also launch a canoe there.

Similarly, anyone who can only come for Friday could take out Saturday morning at Bridge 2.



FALL 2015 - SATURDAY CAMP

All Access Pass

I wish every take-out was like the one where we had to go up the concrete embankment under the bridge on the Piney River.

That's the kind of challenge that promotes team building and gives everyone a sense of accomplishment after it's over.  People were actually singing.






Unfortunately, the river accesses on both ends of our section of the Duck are embarrassingly easy.

First, the put-in is right smack in the middle of downtown Shelbyville, on public property, in Fisherman's Park.  So right off the bat there will be no trespass excitement.  

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It has a giant drive-down gravel bar so we can unload right into the river below the city dam.

Here's a view of the put-in looking downstream at the bridge.

If you mash them together you get a panorama that shows the whole view of the put-in in Shelbyville....

For a picture of the take-out, which is almost as easy, all we have to do is go back to Spring of 2005 in the RRCC archives.  The put-in on that trip will be the take-out for this one...

  

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Fall 2015 photos continued:    Post-lunch Paddle

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TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE:

Ian doubled up Daryl D. in the 4th Ward Race.   never mind the hashish, it's a full on dynasty.