Spring River Paddle Report 8/13-14

Bethany Peel

Sunday Aug 13. Spring River - Dam 3 to Spring River Oaks (3.2' at Hardy)

Despite Sunday morning being cold and rainy, we had six kayakers show up ready to paddle, Dale Anderson, Veronica Plunkett, Denice Fowler, Rick Watkins, Alan Ainley and myself. It wasn't the start of the day that we had expected! We all huddled together under the pavilion where a certain naked cowboy had left his clothing and Mardi Gras beads the night before while running from the police and we did our best to stay warm. (How many Canoe Club members does it take to put a rain poncho on?). But eventually the storm mostly passed, and the rain lightened up, so we set off.

Once we got on the water and got moving, it felt much warmer. The drizzle persisted for a couple of hours, and for the most part, it felt good, because the rain was warm, and the clouds kept the sun at bay. Veronica, who was still sleepy from the big dinner and cucumbers she ate the night before, was especially relaxed. She collected a bird feather and was hoping it would fly her over any rapids while she napped.  

This was my PFD (personal first descent) of the Spring River, and I enjoyed the many ledges where we could stop and play. Dale and I took the most advantage of these features because we were in whitewater kayaks. We did have one swim and one combat roll due to playing at the ledges, but I consider that a success, as it means we were trying new things and learning the feel of the water. A wise person once told me "The master has failed more times than the student has even tried".

After a fun morning of paddling, we all went to lunch at a super expensive restaurant.  It was pretty good, but I am not sure the fish that Alan ate was really worth the $12,174 bill (cash only!) that he incurred -- maybe I could have seen that if he had gotten the chocolate pie too, but he didn't.

After dinner, several of us went to Dairy Queen for Butterfinger Blizzards and then headed to check out Grand Gulf State Park before sunset. If you haven't been, it is definitely worth a visit. You would never know driving out there that there is such a deep, deep chasm, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. At the bottom of the chasm is a tunnel that water flows out of and a natural bridge. Unfortunately, you can't hike down there (officially anyway), which probably is good - because when it rains, the whole chasm can fill with flood water in a matter of hours. So, we had to be content with the view from the top.

Monday Aug 14 - South Fork of Spring River

Monday morning the sun came out, and the five remaining kayakers (Denice had to go back to work) met for breakfast and to finalize plans for the day. Rather than repeat the same section we had done on Sunday, we decided to paddle the South Fork. Ideally, we would have liked the water level to be 3 feet, but it was 2.59, and we decided that was close enough.

There were several places where we drug our boats on the bottom, but overall, it was plenty deep. There weren't as many rapids as the Spring River, but it was very beautiful and there were a lot of birds out -- green herons, great blue herons, egrets, kingfishers, and more. Veronica had lost her feather from the day before, but a great blue heron flew over us and graciously dropped a new one for her to stick in her hat.

The biggest rapid of the day was Devil's Falls, and we got out to scout it. The river takes a sharp bend to the right just above the falls, and we didn't want to get right up on it and find out when it was too late that it was blocked by wood or debris. Plus, it was nice to know what to expect and choose our lines ahead of time. There was a pour-over rock close to the middle of the rapid that might have been easy to hit if we hadn't scouted it. River right was smooth water and probably the easiest route. To the left of the pour-over rock was whitewater that made a fun little wave train. Everyone picked their own line and went down with no issue. Dale, unsurprisingly, eddied out and paddled back into the raid to surf one of the waves.

Toward the end of the section, the water got deeper, so I got out of my boat to swim and cool off. I could see that there was a shallow section coming up, so I lay flat on my kayak and rode it downstream like a surfboard. I heard someone behind me say that I seemed like "One of those girls that survives an outdoor disaster and comes back to tell what happened to the other people in the group." Ha! That may be my favorite compliment I have ever received! When the water got deeper, I got off the boat and floated along until I found a spot where I could practice my cowboy (AKA deepwater) re-entry.

And then before we knew it, we were at the end!

I really want to thank all of the folks that went on this trip. I was officially the leader, but I had never been before. You all knew all of the logistics that I didn't, and you were such good company! I can't wait to paddle with you all again soon.