City dwellers, meet at my house at 7:00 am.
Country folk, meet us at the Leiper's Fork Market / Shell station at 8:00 am (4348 Old Hillsboro Rd, Franklin)
Rob and Pete, meet us at the Southern Skillet in Hohenwald at 9:30 am
The gauges have turned down and I think it's looking good for getting on the river, especially somewhere upstream.
(Credit: Dave Coviello)
I will have the canoe trailer with all river gear, including canoes, except your personal coolers and drinks. Pete is personally importing muffalettas from New Orleans for our river lunch.
After the day trip on the river we'll move to Rob's farm near Linden, TN where dinner will be smoking and a bonfire burning. Everyone bring your usual camping gear - tents, pads, sleeping bags - for Saturday night.
Here's a data-packed message from Rob with directions and other useful information:
Location:
Technically, the address is 4466 Hurricane Creek Road,
Linden, TN 37096. However, it’s a new address and it seems to confound waze and
google maps. So, know that I am located between the two following addresses
that do readily come up on google/waze: (I’m ~1/4 mile east of) 4106 Hurricane
Creek Rd and (~1/2 mile west of) 4998 Hurricane Creek Rd. You find either of
those and you can find me. My turn in crosses the creek, the turn-in will be on
your right if traveling east on HCR, on left if traveling west on HCR. I’ll put
an orange cone out by the road at my turn-in so you won’t be able to miss it.
Just cross the creek (go slow, esp if it’s high, but will be fine in your truck
even if high) and drive on up, you can see my cabin from HCR. Also, very
important, eyeball a map before you get too far down the backroads, as you will
definitely lose cell service a few miles before you get to my place. But as
long as you can find Hurricane Creek Road, you will be able to find it from my
dead reckoning instrux above.
Amenities:
I have running water so no need to bring any water at all.
I have electricity for charging phones and such.
My bath house is not complete, so the toilet facilities
consist of a potty chair and shovel, but it’s actually a pretty good interim
setup. I have plenty of TP, but never hurts to throw a roll or two in your
pack.
Coffee: I always do French press coffee out there, and if
you promise not to tell, I even boil the water in the microwave when it’s
raining out or I’m lazy. But I also have a propane cooker (like for crawfish
boils/fish fries) that we can use to perc large volume campfire coffee in the
smokehouse. Or of course we can do coffee on the fire as we do on the river, I
have a grill grate there if we do that. So just bring plenty of coffee
and the club’s largest camp coffee pot. I’ll provide the water and the
necessary heat/fire.
I’ll have trash bags and all the other related kitchen
sundries, but men should still bring their own Camp Cups and
knife/fork/spoon/plates. But I can also get a bunch of disposable flatware and
plates/bowls if just easier.
My cabin is small and not fully finished, but it is
well-insulated and fully dried in, and has room for at least 3 men to sleep on
an airpad/sleeping bag on the cabin floor. Everyone should just bring their
tents/bag/pads, as there is plenty of room for camping and the weather should
be perfect for tent camping anyway.
There’s also plenty of room for Frisbee, throwing
baseballs/footballs, etc. so bring any recreational items you like. We have a
3-seater Polaris for excursions. My only two rules for operating the Polaris
are: 1) always wear a seatbelt; 2) always have a drink in hand when operating
or riding in it.
I have the firewood taken care of and can promise that you
will be welcomed to the farm with a roaring fire overlooking Boiling Spring and
Hurricane Creek to warm you up if the river gods should decide any or all of
you all need a Buffalo Baptism.
Oh, and men should bring their biggest and most comfortable
camp chairs. I have several already there but throw in at least 3-4 good ones
to make sure we’re covered.
