Pictures
TAKE ONE: The Little Missouri River
We met at the Muddy Fork Rd Take-Out at 10:00 AM and did the shuttle thing from there, arriving at the Riverside Picnic Area Put-in below the Narrows Dam at about 10:30.
We immediately saw that the expected assist from the dam release was long gone. Flyfisher people were standing knee-deep in the middle of the river, and we observed rows of rocks in the not-too-distant water. We decided to give it a shot and got on the water about 10:40.
We changed our minds after a few minutes and about a quarter of a mile of beautiful green scenery when we reached the bony section we had seen from afar. There was no way through, and the river bottom was too slippery to manage the many portages we could see beyond our current barrier. In short, it was not going to be the fun, relaxing float we had anticipated, and we turned around.
Good news, no current, so returning to the put-in was no trouble whatsoever.
TAKE TWO: The Caddo River
We decided to continue our adventure on the Caddo River, so we went to the take-out, Duane got back in his truck, and we motored on to the Amity takeout, left Duane’s truck there and headed upstream to the Glenwood River access. On the way we decided that later in the summer, when the days are a little longer, we would return to the Little Mo for a 4:30 launch during the release.
Thankfully, the flow on the Caddo River was excellent, and we got on the river about 1:00.
Sam and Duane ready to go
The skies were clear, and we headed downriver into the spring green forests and the clean, clear water. We paddled downstream and ate lunch on the go, since we were 2 hours behind our original schedule.
It’s a happy man that paddles the Caddo River – this time it’s Duane
Duane heading into some riffles
Sam, Duane, and the front of my boat enjoying a quiet moment
Up to this point we had seen quite a bit of wildlife – great blue herons, a little blue heron, crows, a hawk, lots of vultures, sandpipers, and a bald eagle. We kept pushing the great blue heron downstream and became so familiar with him that we named him Harold. We saw an assortment of turtles and damselflies along the way. One of the damselflies landed on the back of my hand and hung out with me for a while.
This is a pool-and-drop section of the river with lots of opportunities to enjoy the view as well as interesting side currents, riffles and curves. There are lots of islands, providing river reading opportunities. Speaking of reading rivers, we were tooling along and came to one of the many islands that inhabit this stretch of the river. Duane and I decided to go right to avoid some big strainers that appeared to span the entire river. We passed through the ledge at the entrance to the right corridor, committing ourselves, and then promptly came up against a total logjam followed by multiple equally intimidating obstacles. I was able to reverse direction and drag my boat back to the other channel, easily finding a very entertaining way to get through the downed trees over a ledge. I eddied out and waited for Duane. He was working at finding the water behind the logjam, so I did not see him for a while. I finally got antsy and crossed the river back to the island, tied off my boat and went exploring. It took only a couple of steps for me to realize that the entire bank of downed trees I had to traverse was rotten, and with almost every step I broke through to the ground two to three feet below where I had originally planted my foot. I longed for my old snowshoes. After I had climbed the biggest pile of fallen trees and finally got to solid dirt and its more stable footing, I called Sam to see how he was doing and let him know what was taking us so long. It was while I was talking to Sam that I saw Duane paddling merrily down the left channel. He eddied out and waited for me while I clumsily made my way back, and we continued on our way together, finding Sam at the bottom of the island.
We were not far from the take-out at this point, and we found it right were we left it earlier that day.
Duane and Sam after our poor route choice
Sam at our Amity Take-Out
Kent at our Amity Take-Out
A quick reverse shuttle, boat and gear transfer, and we were finished – on our way home by about 4:00.
