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HomeNL-2022-10 9 Ouachita River


Ouachita River
Remmel Dam to Ouachita River Whitewater Park

September 16, 2022
Report by Kent Walters


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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.

 

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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 . . .

 

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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.

 

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Water was shallow and clear with lots of rocks

 

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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

 

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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.

 

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See photo album Ouachita River - Remmel Dam to Whitewater Park

 



The author, Kent Walters