Off to a promising start with a broken paddle
After the traditional preliminaries of travel, shuttle and prep, Sam and I were just pushing off when one of his paddle blades snapped off. Note to self: do not depend on Ozark Trail® brand paddles bought at Walmart. I had a 4-part spare paddle in my kayak’s trunk, so we got it out, put it together, and started off again.
Another tough put-in
Only one gate was open at the dam, and the water on the river was not moving. It was supposed to be at least a 2-spillway release. Oh well . . .
Single-gate release from Remmel Dam at the outlet of Lake Catherine
Beautiful, clear day – water was shallow and made you pay attention – great practice for reading the river to find the places deep enough to float. As always, lots of rocks to keep you alert.
Water was shallow and clear with lots of rocks
We saw a good cross-section of the wildlife community as we paddled, including several deer crossing the river, a gaggle of maybe 100 geese, a few great blue herons, a bald eagle and a baby copperhead
Some flowers were in bloom along the shore
Conclusions – Lessons Learned:
I would do it again at the level we had – it was fun to seek out the paths with all of the ridges and rocks just under the surface of the water. I would like to do it in 2- and 3-gate releases to see the difference.
When we went to pick up my truck at the put-in at about 4:30, we noticed the dam was still spilling, and the water was MOVING – like about 3 MPH. That’s 3 MPH faster than it was moving at 1:15 when we started downriver. And it was more than a foot deeper. I didn’t realize that it took so long for the dam release to kick in. Next time I will start an hour or two later to take advantage of the accumulated flow.
See photo album Ouachita River - Remmel Dam to Whitewater Park