The Estonian Volcano

While Chris is working on all the little perfections to Proud Mary, we had an acquisition requisition for yet another (heavy metal) item we had no idea how much we needed until Stuart stumbled across it.

Here are the instructions:

The video is must-watch TV:   Swedish Torch

I know you don't need any convincing, but think about how this is going to revolutionize our afternoon tea fires and Matzah ball lunch stops.    Instead of gathering a bunch of wood (large, small and Squaw wood), then building a big fire to generate coals, letting it burn down, setting up the grate and then maintaining the fire at cooking level all in the middle of the day . . . we split one log and fire up Paul Bunyon's Stogie. 

All  those in favor...?

All those opposed...?

Good, because we already bought it.

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If you need anything more to get you in the right frame of mind for the Fall trip, check out one of the books we're reading off the RRCC bookshelves.

[Notice him shaving with his ax]

[Mind boggling]   

Also want to mention that Goodbye to a River is now available as an audio book which adds a really interesting twist.  It's amazing how you hear something new by listening to someone else read it, even after reading it seventy times before.  And the narrator seems pretty legit. 

We are just under a month away, which is the perfect amount of time and perfect time of year to hear the whole thing on your way to work and back.   But I'm warning you, it will make you start looking at maps and river gauges and drinking your whiskey in enamel cups with honey and lemon a month early, too.

Fall 2017

The Fall 2017 trip will be Friday, Oct. 20 - Sunday, Oct 22.

We have 20 river miles left to complete the entire Buffalo River as a club - from the highest floatable section at the Natchez Trace Pkwy (David Fox's farm) to the mouth where it flows into the Duck River.   I think I may have said that before but this time it's true.

So let's get you oriented.   Here's the Buffalo River watershed:

Here's the only section we have not floated:

It begins at River Mile 63 which is called "Slink Shoals" and was our take-out on the Fall 2015 trip (to refresh your memory, our put-in and Friday night camp that trip were across the river from Crazy Horse Canoe Rental; Pete brought crawfish from NOLA).

RM 63 Slink Shoals: 

It ends at River Mile 43 in Linden, which was our put-in for the Great 25th Trip 3-nighter (Fall 2016).  

RM 43 Linden:



So that is what's left, putting in at Slink Shoals and taking out at Linden. 

Here is the question though.   Do we want to knock out the last 20 miles in one trip?   That is about 25% farther than we usually go before the whining starts.  We could certainly do it with a float plan of something like 5-12-3 Friday through Sunday.  But it could possibly cramp our style with respect to long lunch stops and slow cooking dinners not to mention slow cooking cooks. 

There is a semi-public launch option at the mouth of Little Opossum Creek at RM 59 that would reduce our trip to 16 miles.  

That would take the pressure off our Friday shuttle and launch and make for a truly leisurely float.  There are a couple of other reasons to favor the 16 mile trip.   One is that the Boy Scout Canoe Base is at River Mile 56, so if we put in at RM 61 (the 16 mile option) we could get past it on Friday.  Having led some of those Boy Scout trips I can say it is probably desirable not to share their most popular section of the river any longer than necessary.   The other reason:  there would still be 4 miles of river we've never done!  That would justify another Buffalo trip in the spring.

In other business:

Pete and Phil, don't forget you have a $300 investment budget for the horses.   We do need to decide when the RRCC fiscal year begins and ends I guess.  Someone remember to bring that up around the campfire.

We have some new gear and new member announcements we're excited about so stay tuned about that.

Proud Mary is back in the hands of her creator for a makeover.   Chris is going to be putting on wider feet, adding a second, removable paddle wheel, and completely redoing the spit that will be much narrower in diameter and have every imaginable size and shape meat forks for every imaginable size and shape of varmint the Night Varmint might want to cook.   Even Little Opossums.