Old River
Feb. 7, 2015
by Terri Morgan

David Portz, Ken Anderson, Jeff Pratt, Forrest Dunn, Dave Kitson, Paul Woodcock, Joe Coker and two guests, Dave Forrester and Wei Li joined us for a lovely paddle up Old River.

We started about 10:00 am, paddling upstream. The area has a completely different viewpoint this time of year than in the spring or summer when all the trees and leaves are of vibrant color. The water was a chocolate milk color from the rains and one could see a fairly good distance into the woods.

Workers were clearing the trees at the golf course, cutting them down near the water. Several golfers were taking advantage of the good weather, playing around. Of golf.

Further along in the trip, around the twisty turny turns of the river, we had one person get tangled up in some branches that were underwater and tip over. He was at the back of the pack with the sweep boat and they were able to help him empty his boat, console him and get him situated. After he changed into some dry clothes he was ready to go again.

We carried on down as far as we could go due to fallen trees blocking out path so we turned around and pulled over for lunch at a nice little clearing surrounded by tall pine trees which provided a nice soft pine needle matting. Here we learned about how lightening is created by negative ions, how to beat the rap when parking in between handicapped parking spaces, game warden encounters and a plethora of other subjects.

After about an hour of relaxation and stories, we decided we better start back so we did. On the way, we passed the golf course again with chain saws blaring, golfers golfing and saw a few healthy bovine trying to hide behind some skinny trees.

The weather was perfect and the company superb. Thank you to our guests, Dave Forrester and Wei Li for joining us and we hope you will join us again soon. It was a pleasure to meet and paddle with members I had not met until today and it’s always nice to see the regulars.

Photo albums: Terri Morgan

The author, Terri Morgan