Collinsville V
Where: Collinsville, CT
When: 7/17-18, 1999
With: The Stupids
When: 7/17-18, 1999
With: The Stupids
Year 4 or 5 of the annual expedition to the Farmington River, depending upon whether we count the year we crashed at Seth's apartment as Year One or not. Anyway, there wasn't much activity going on so I picked a weekend in July and proposed it for this year's trip. Dave finally got an email address and we let the Internet do the work. Dave wasn't able to make a firm commitment at first, but eventually everyone was on board.
As the day drew near, more of the pieces fell into place. Chip made the arrangements for the boats with Collinsville Canoe. I'd brought back some smoked salmon from a trip to Vancouver, so I volunteered to take care of dinner. I also offered the use of my orange pup tent to Xeth once again. He accepted and asked for my opinion on other gear. He had a huge Walmart sleeping bag and wondered if that was appropriate. It seemed a bit much and I recommended something like a fleece bag instead, along with a foam pad. As luck would have it, I saw both items while I was shopping for other stuff so I wound up picking them up for Xeth.
The day came and the adventure started. Dave looked at the map and decided Hopkinton was way out of his way, so he elected to drive directly to Collinsville on a more direct route. Chip arrived at my place around 7:00, loaded my Keowee and gear into his Volvo wagon and we were on our way around 7:45. We pulled into Collinsville at 9:30, did a quick drive around town and then headed to the canoe shop to take care of the rentals. Dave arrived shortly thereafter and we soon had the boats rented and mounted on the cars. Same boats as last year - my Keowee, Dave's sea kayak, another Keowee for Xeth and an Acadia for Chip.
No sign of Xeth, but it was still early, so we headed up to the shops to visit at JonArt and buy some lunch at the deli. A stop at the liquor store completed our purchases, but still no Xeth. Chip & I visited the local fishing shop and had a nice conversation with the owner about flies to use. I wound up purchasing a half dozen of his recommendations.
At last, Xeth arrived and we did a quick bit of last minute purchasing and prep before leaving town around 11:00. We parked the cars in the usual spot just below the dam and proceeded with the boat loading. It took awhile, but eventually everything was packed and we slid into the water at 12:30 or so. A bottle of champagne was uncorked to toast the journey and send us on our way.
It was a very hot day, but the river kept us reasonably cool. The water level seemed about average. 310 CFS at the Riverton gauge. Higher than some years but not as high as last year, so there was a bit of bottom bumping in spots. All in all however, the conditions were just fine and we quickly fell into our familiar pattern for the journey. Sections of paddling, sometimes together, sometimes apart, interrupted by frequent stops along the banks. Stretches of isolation, meetings with fishermen and other boaters, familiar landmarks slipping by. Endlessly changing conversations as we joined and parted in ever-changing combinations while we paddled downstream.
Given the weather (record heat), it wasn't surprising that we ran into quite a few other folks on the water. We wound up playing tag with one woman and her parents. She was in a kayak and they in a canoe and we took turns passing each other along the way. As some point well along the river, we struck up a conversation and discovered that they had lost their cooler and all of their water earlier. We offered, and they accepted, an extra bottle of water we had, with many thanks.
A bit further along we spotted the side channel to the campsite and headed on in. I lead the way, keeping an eye on a man in a tube heading in before me. Thankfully he kept on going through and I pulled my boat up to the rock to claim the spot once again. The others followed soon after and we were done for the day, at about 4:00. We settled in as usual, pulling the boats in and spreading our gear on the rock, then commenced with the next round of activities.
Given the heat, the first order of business was a swim. The water was very cold, and took some getting used to, but it was certainly refreshing. In short order we'd all taking a turn in the pool. Next we turned to a round of gin & tonics which Dave prepared for everyone, using sierra cups I'd bought for the whole crew. It was the perfect drink for a hot summer day on a rock by the river. After that we turned to a bit of skin diving. We'd all brought gear and soon were all bobbing in the pool, getting used to snorkels, masks and fins and getting acclimated to the cold water. For my part, I also had to deal with a bit of panic I've always felt while diving, but I managed to eventually get over that. Suddenly Chip started yelling. It took a moment to understand that he was saying, "Fish! Big Fish!" We all went over and sure enough there were big fish there. Easily 14-16 inches long. Species, unknown, though I suspect they may have been salmon. Beautiful fish that tended to stay along the bottom. We found we could swim right up to them, almost close enough to touch, before they'd dart away. Sometimes we were able to follow them a bit before they swam off or we ran out of air. Very cool.
The rest of the afternoon was more of the same. Swimming, relaxing, drinking, exploring the area. At some point we all decided to set up our tents. I'd done something different this trip and brought a jungle hammock I'd bought recently. No-see-um netting sides and a waterproof roof. I'd tried setting it up at home a few times to work out the kinks and it seemed feasible to use as long as the weather was okay. Not a shelter for a real rainstorm. The weather forecast was hot and dry, so along it came. It meant I could leave my pad at home and didn't have to worry about finding a flat spot for a tent. The rest of the guys thought it was very cool and they all took turns trying it out.
As usual, we did a bit of Frisbee tossing. It was mostly Chip and Dave, with me taking pictures. I got pulled in to the game at one point and reaching for one of the tosses, I found myself falling into the water. As I fell I assessed my situation. The first thing I realized was that I was holding on to the camera. I scanned the shore, found a soft dry spot in the grass, and tossed it to safety. Still falling, I ran a quick inventory of the rest of my possessions. Glasses, hat… nothing else of importance. I made arrangements to protect the glasses and…splash! Fun.
As the afternoon wore on we had a few visitors. On two occasions, couples floated into the pool in their boats and asked if we were staying the night. Obviously they'd planned on having the spot themselves. The first couple just continued on without much more comment. The second couple chatted with us a bit and we offered some ideas on places that we'd seen in the past downstream.
Around six o'clock I decided to start dinner preparations. It was the first use of my new titanium cookpots, and I used the large one to boil up a huge amount of multi-color tortellini. When that was done, I put a heat diffuser on the stove and used the small pot to sauté some portabello mushrooms and black olives in a little olive oil. Some chopped garlic and spices completed the mix. It was done pretty quickly and dinner was served. I lined up the cookpots along with the smoked salmon, some Parmesan cheese and some tomato/basil foccacia bread and let everyone build their own dinner. Chip had bought a bottle of Chilean red wine to wash it all down, so I filled my plate and cup and sat down to eat. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
As we finished up our meal, a pair of fly fishermen made their way into the pool down the shore opposite the rock. The first, a big friendly guy, gave us his story. Quit his job when he discovered fly-fishing and that's what he did with his summers now. In the winters he was a ski bum, working out in Colorado. He asked if a member of a certain family had visited us yet. Apparently the rock was private property and the family that owned it sent someone down to check the area each evening for campers. The fisherman told us not to worry about it, but said they'd probably threaten to call the cops.
We all went back to our relaxing and dinner cleanup after that. Chip went over to try out my hammock and Dave & Xeth sat on the rock while I went off exploring. While I was gone, a young woman appeared with a dog companion. It was the property owner we'd been warned about. She stopped at the camping area were Chip was resting and spoke with him first, then went to the rock and chatted with Dave and Xeth. They said they'd leave the place as we found it and promised we'd not be building a fire and she agreed to not tell her father. She did ask that we not return next year though. Odd, after all these years. We've always had people walk by and note our presence and there's never been any mention that we might be trespassing. I have to assume those folks were the landowners. And given the number of other folks seeking to camp at the site, it would seem that other folks have stayed without problems in the past. Considering the concern about building a fire, perhaps there was an incident in the past year that changed matters. I would not be surprised to find No Trespassing signs there next year. I suggested that we might try to contact the owners and ask for permission, in hopes that a polite approach would be best.
The fishermen returned a few minutes later and asked about our encounter. They were somewhat surprised to hear we hadn't been hassled too much. As they refished the pool, we watch a beaver (muskrat?) swimming through. It seemed unconcerned with any of us and just paddled about the area.
After a bit, the fishermen continued on upstream and I broke out the espresso maker. A mini maker I'd received years ago from my brother and only used once before. I filled a sierra cup with some Parmalat milk I'd brought, mixed in a little sugar (forgot to bring cinnamon), and then directed the output of the espresso maker into the cup. Within minutes I had a very passable cappuccino and I proceeded to make one for each of the guys. Add a little biscuit and it was a perfect little finish.
About this time I decided to take a shot at some fishing. Chip been trying on and off all afternoon, hoping to snag one of the big guys with the new flies I'd bought, but hadn't had any luck. He had a fluffy white floating fly on the line and I decided to stick with it, though I was unsure of my ability to catch anything with the tiny hook it had. I floated the fly out in the current and let it drift down, all the while watching fish striking at the water all around it. Suddenly I got a hit. The fish gave me a nice little fight before I finally managed to pull it in. An 8-10 inch trout. I proudly held it up while Chip took a picture but when I tried to unhook it, it broke the line and fell back into the water, taking the fly with it.
At this point, things really started to wind down. With no activities left to do, we suddenly realized that it had been a long day and we were all very tired. We made a faint attempt to keep things going with a word game, but David suddenly got up and headed toward the tents. After I bit I went to check on him and asked if he was done for the day. He said he was and that signaled the beginning of the end for us. I went back to the rock and the rest of us soon found ourselves just sitting and staring into the growing darkness while bugs nibbled at us. Xeth provided some bug repellent, which helped, but we were fading fast. As last, I decided that if I was going to just contemplate the river, I'd rather be doing it in the comfort of my hammock. Chip headed to his tent soon after and even Xeth finally admitted defeat, joining Chip in his tent (the orange pup tent wasn't needed after all).
It was still pretty hot, and I decided to just sleep with a flannel sheet for warmth. The hammock proved to be comfortable enough, but I still slept somewhat fitfully. Typical camping sleep. To me it seemed as if I never dozed, but then I'd look at my watch and see that several hours had gone by. One time check came around 12:30, when I was awakened by the sound of a helicopter and a bright light. Chip said later that, unable to sleep because of the heat, he and Dave had gone back to the rock for some swimming. While they were there they saw the helicopter hovering upstream from our site and then watched as it followed the river downstream, searching the woods with its light before eventually departing. We never did find out what it was all about and I never hooked up with Chip & Dave. Instead I drank some water, took some ibuprofen, and climbed back into the hammock.
I awoke around 5 o'clock. The early morning air had caused the temperature to drop and I was pretty chilled. I pulled a sweater and my bivy sack out of the dry bags and bundled up in them back in the hammock. This allowed me to snooze until 6, when an odd humming sound roused me. It was moving closer to where I rested and I turned my head to see a hummingbird hovering just outside the hammock, just at my head level. I guess it was trying to figure out what I was.
The hummingbird departed and a few minutes later Chip walked over to check in on me. The two of us went down to the rock to start the day and Dave joined us a few minutes later. We went through our usual morning routines of washing, stretching, etc., eventually returning to the rock to just hang out. We hadn't been there long before Xeth wandered out of the woods, awake much earlier than usual and in far better form than previous years. A reasonably good night's sleep had done wonders for him.
Now that everyone was up, breakfast became a priority. I heated water for coffee, Chip brought out bagels & cream cheese, and I made an attempt to make scrambled eggs using powdered eggs. I mixed them in a water bottle, doing the best I could to guess at the proper mixture of water & powder, added some salt, pepper, and dill (which Dave had brought), and then started to heat it all up. It took awhile, but eventually I was able to produce a fair amount of something resembling scrambled eggs. The taste was acceptable, though the consistency was a bit rubbery. A nice break from oatmeal at least. We also opened another bottle of champagne and toasted the morning with a bit of bubbly.
The rest of the morning was our usual, low key, relaxed hang out. I crossed the pool to check out the opposite shore for possible alternative camping spots. Nothing looked good for tents, but a small grove of pines offered some nice possibilities for hammock camping. I envisioned us continuing to use the rock for eating and hanging out, but doing our sleeping on the island. One way to avoid the use of private property.
As in the past, we took our time getting going. At some point everyone just decided to pack up the tents and gear and around 11:30 we found ourselves back on the water, wishing the rock goodbye for another year. We scanned the shores downstream from our campsite, looking for other possibilities, and noted a few sites that appeared to be okay in the flat area just before the channel rejoined the main river. Looking down, we spotted a few more large fish swimming around.
We exited the channel onto the main river and got back into our paddled mode. A short ways downstream we saw one of the couples who had come through the previous evening encamped in a nice spot on the left shore. It was a bit exposed for my liking, but seemed like a good backup site to keep in mind. A little while later the last shreds of solitude were shattered as we came to the put-in spot for the tubing companies. It was another hot day and the river was clogged with folks in their yellow tubes. We paddled in and around them, sometimes saying hello, sometimes just trying to push past to open water.
As we approached a high bridge, I found myself in the midst of a small crowd of tubers. A set of rapids under the bridge was made all the more challenging by the need to maneuver around these folks. Below the bridge it was just as crowded and I found I really had to concentrate on avoiding any collisions. I got in between a couple of groups and was keeping my eye on the folks in front of me when I noticed I was heading into another, fairly sizable rapids. Odd, I didn't recall this small stretch of whitewater, I thought. Just then, two things happened at the same time. First, I realized that I was in the midst of the big Satan's Kingdom rapids. Second, one of the tubers in front of me capsized and grabbed on to my boat. I asked if he was okay and paddled over toward where I now saw the lifeguards were waiting, the guy still holding on. When we got close he let go and made it to shore while I paddled on through and put ashore on the left just below the rapids. Grabbing my camera, I hurried up the rocks to try to get photos of the others coming through. I managed to get some shots of Dave and then ran out of film as Chip paddled down. Xeth came last, and wound up swamping his boat and capsizing in the rapids. He managed to make it down to the pool where he and Chip pulled their boats over to empty them.
In many ways my encounter with the rapids was very odd. It was weird that I didn't recognize that the rapids were approaching, given my penchant for recalling the smallest details of these trips. By the same token, it amazes me that I could find myself approaching a sizable set of rapids and simply say to myself, 'Gee I don't remember these." What? Did I think they'd just formed within the past year? Alarm bells should've gone off. For the most part, I'm holding the tubers responsible. I was paying so much attention to them that I didn't notice what was going on around me.
Even stranger for me though was my impression of the rapids themselves. In past years my descent through them was a big deal. I'd stop the boat, scout the route, pull on my lifejacket, stow my eyeglasses and loose gear, cinch up the spray skirt and then do my best to make it through the churning water. Certainly the anticipation added much to the experience. This year, on finding myself already in the midst of it all without realizing where I was, my impression was that these were significant rapids but nothing too serious. Just another bit of choppy water to make my way through. My lifejacket was in my boat, my spray skirt was open, and I kept my hat & glasses on throughout. Weird.
Anyway, we emptied out Chip & Xeth's boats and continued on downstream. I lagged behind at the next rapids (Roostertail) to give Chip time to set up on the rocks with his camera, but as I went through a tuber in front of me capsized in the waves, distracting Chip so he missed any shots of me. The river flattened out below that and we settled in to a steady paddle to get through the parade of tubers. They left the river a bit further along and we just Zen-paddled our way through the rest of the river, stopping now and then but mostly just paddling along. We reached Collinsville around 2PM and Xeth drove Chip & Dave upstream to retrieve their cars. They all returned an hour later and we packed up, said our good-byes and hit the road. Chip deposited me back home at 5.
More pictures
As the day drew near, more of the pieces fell into place. Chip made the arrangements for the boats with Collinsville Canoe. I'd brought back some smoked salmon from a trip to Vancouver, so I volunteered to take care of dinner. I also offered the use of my orange pup tent to Xeth once again. He accepted and asked for my opinion on other gear. He had a huge Walmart sleeping bag and wondered if that was appropriate. It seemed a bit much and I recommended something like a fleece bag instead, along with a foam pad. As luck would have it, I saw both items while I was shopping for other stuff so I wound up picking them up for Xeth.
The day came and the adventure started. Dave looked at the map and decided Hopkinton was way out of his way, so he elected to drive directly to Collinsville on a more direct route. Chip arrived at my place around 7:00, loaded my Keowee and gear into his Volvo wagon and we were on our way around 7:45. We pulled into Collinsville at 9:30, did a quick drive around town and then headed to the canoe shop to take care of the rentals. Dave arrived shortly thereafter and we soon had the boats rented and mounted on the cars. Same boats as last year - my Keowee, Dave's sea kayak, another Keowee for Xeth and an Acadia for Chip.
No sign of Xeth, but it was still early, so we headed up to the shops to visit at JonArt and buy some lunch at the deli. A stop at the liquor store completed our purchases, but still no Xeth. Chip & I visited the local fishing shop and had a nice conversation with the owner about flies to use. I wound up purchasing a half dozen of his recommendations.
At last, Xeth arrived and we did a quick bit of last minute purchasing and prep before leaving town around 11:00. We parked the cars in the usual spot just below the dam and proceeded with the boat loading. It took awhile, but eventually everything was packed and we slid into the water at 12:30 or so. A bottle of champagne was uncorked to toast the journey and send us on our way.
It was a very hot day, but the river kept us reasonably cool. The water level seemed about average. 310 CFS at the Riverton gauge. Higher than some years but not as high as last year, so there was a bit of bottom bumping in spots. All in all however, the conditions were just fine and we quickly fell into our familiar pattern for the journey. Sections of paddling, sometimes together, sometimes apart, interrupted by frequent stops along the banks. Stretches of isolation, meetings with fishermen and other boaters, familiar landmarks slipping by. Endlessly changing conversations as we joined and parted in ever-changing combinations while we paddled downstream.
Given the weather (record heat), it wasn't surprising that we ran into quite a few other folks on the water. We wound up playing tag with one woman and her parents. She was in a kayak and they in a canoe and we took turns passing each other along the way. As some point well along the river, we struck up a conversation and discovered that they had lost their cooler and all of their water earlier. We offered, and they accepted, an extra bottle of water we had, with many thanks.
A bit further along we spotted the side channel to the campsite and headed on in. I lead the way, keeping an eye on a man in a tube heading in before me. Thankfully he kept on going through and I pulled my boat up to the rock to claim the spot once again. The others followed soon after and we were done for the day, at about 4:00. We settled in as usual, pulling the boats in and spreading our gear on the rock, then commenced with the next round of activities.
Given the heat, the first order of business was a swim. The water was very cold, and took some getting used to, but it was certainly refreshing. In short order we'd all taking a turn in the pool. Next we turned to a round of gin & tonics which Dave prepared for everyone, using sierra cups I'd bought for the whole crew. It was the perfect drink for a hot summer day on a rock by the river. After that we turned to a bit of skin diving. We'd all brought gear and soon were all bobbing in the pool, getting used to snorkels, masks and fins and getting acclimated to the cold water. For my part, I also had to deal with a bit of panic I've always felt while diving, but I managed to eventually get over that. Suddenly Chip started yelling. It took a moment to understand that he was saying, "Fish! Big Fish!" We all went over and sure enough there were big fish there. Easily 14-16 inches long. Species, unknown, though I suspect they may have been salmon. Beautiful fish that tended to stay along the bottom. We found we could swim right up to them, almost close enough to touch, before they'd dart away. Sometimes we were able to follow them a bit before they swam off or we ran out of air. Very cool.
The rest of the afternoon was more of the same. Swimming, relaxing, drinking, exploring the area. At some point we all decided to set up our tents. I'd done something different this trip and brought a jungle hammock I'd bought recently. No-see-um netting sides and a waterproof roof. I'd tried setting it up at home a few times to work out the kinks and it seemed feasible to use as long as the weather was okay. Not a shelter for a real rainstorm. The weather forecast was hot and dry, so along it came. It meant I could leave my pad at home and didn't have to worry about finding a flat spot for a tent. The rest of the guys thought it was very cool and they all took turns trying it out.
As usual, we did a bit of Frisbee tossing. It was mostly Chip and Dave, with me taking pictures. I got pulled in to the game at one point and reaching for one of the tosses, I found myself falling into the water. As I fell I assessed my situation. The first thing I realized was that I was holding on to the camera. I scanned the shore, found a soft dry spot in the grass, and tossed it to safety. Still falling, I ran a quick inventory of the rest of my possessions. Glasses, hat… nothing else of importance. I made arrangements to protect the glasses and…splash! Fun.
As the afternoon wore on we had a few visitors. On two occasions, couples floated into the pool in their boats and asked if we were staying the night. Obviously they'd planned on having the spot themselves. The first couple just continued on without much more comment. The second couple chatted with us a bit and we offered some ideas on places that we'd seen in the past downstream.
Around six o'clock I decided to start dinner preparations. It was the first use of my new titanium cookpots, and I used the large one to boil up a huge amount of multi-color tortellini. When that was done, I put a heat diffuser on the stove and used the small pot to sauté some portabello mushrooms and black olives in a little olive oil. Some chopped garlic and spices completed the mix. It was done pretty quickly and dinner was served. I lined up the cookpots along with the smoked salmon, some Parmesan cheese and some tomato/basil foccacia bread and let everyone build their own dinner. Chip had bought a bottle of Chilean red wine to wash it all down, so I filled my plate and cup and sat down to eat. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
As we finished up our meal, a pair of fly fishermen made their way into the pool down the shore opposite the rock. The first, a big friendly guy, gave us his story. Quit his job when he discovered fly-fishing and that's what he did with his summers now. In the winters he was a ski bum, working out in Colorado. He asked if a member of a certain family had visited us yet. Apparently the rock was private property and the family that owned it sent someone down to check the area each evening for campers. The fisherman told us not to worry about it, but said they'd probably threaten to call the cops.
We all went back to our relaxing and dinner cleanup after that. Chip went over to try out my hammock and Dave & Xeth sat on the rock while I went off exploring. While I was gone, a young woman appeared with a dog companion. It was the property owner we'd been warned about. She stopped at the camping area were Chip was resting and spoke with him first, then went to the rock and chatted with Dave and Xeth. They said they'd leave the place as we found it and promised we'd not be building a fire and she agreed to not tell her father. She did ask that we not return next year though. Odd, after all these years. We've always had people walk by and note our presence and there's never been any mention that we might be trespassing. I have to assume those folks were the landowners. And given the number of other folks seeking to camp at the site, it would seem that other folks have stayed without problems in the past. Considering the concern about building a fire, perhaps there was an incident in the past year that changed matters. I would not be surprised to find No Trespassing signs there next year. I suggested that we might try to contact the owners and ask for permission, in hopes that a polite approach would be best.
The fishermen returned a few minutes later and asked about our encounter. They were somewhat surprised to hear we hadn't been hassled too much. As they refished the pool, we watch a beaver (muskrat?) swimming through. It seemed unconcerned with any of us and just paddled about the area.
After a bit, the fishermen continued on upstream and I broke out the espresso maker. A mini maker I'd received years ago from my brother and only used once before. I filled a sierra cup with some Parmalat milk I'd brought, mixed in a little sugar (forgot to bring cinnamon), and then directed the output of the espresso maker into the cup. Within minutes I had a very passable cappuccino and I proceeded to make one for each of the guys. Add a little biscuit and it was a perfect little finish.
About this time I decided to take a shot at some fishing. Chip been trying on and off all afternoon, hoping to snag one of the big guys with the new flies I'd bought, but hadn't had any luck. He had a fluffy white floating fly on the line and I decided to stick with it, though I was unsure of my ability to catch anything with the tiny hook it had. I floated the fly out in the current and let it drift down, all the while watching fish striking at the water all around it. Suddenly I got a hit. The fish gave me a nice little fight before I finally managed to pull it in. An 8-10 inch trout. I proudly held it up while Chip took a picture but when I tried to unhook it, it broke the line and fell back into the water, taking the fly with it.
At this point, things really started to wind down. With no activities left to do, we suddenly realized that it had been a long day and we were all very tired. We made a faint attempt to keep things going with a word game, but David suddenly got up and headed toward the tents. After I bit I went to check on him and asked if he was done for the day. He said he was and that signaled the beginning of the end for us. I went back to the rock and the rest of us soon found ourselves just sitting and staring into the growing darkness while bugs nibbled at us. Xeth provided some bug repellent, which helped, but we were fading fast. As last, I decided that if I was going to just contemplate the river, I'd rather be doing it in the comfort of my hammock. Chip headed to his tent soon after and even Xeth finally admitted defeat, joining Chip in his tent (the orange pup tent wasn't needed after all).
It was still pretty hot, and I decided to just sleep with a flannel sheet for warmth. The hammock proved to be comfortable enough, but I still slept somewhat fitfully. Typical camping sleep. To me it seemed as if I never dozed, but then I'd look at my watch and see that several hours had gone by. One time check came around 12:30, when I was awakened by the sound of a helicopter and a bright light. Chip said later that, unable to sleep because of the heat, he and Dave had gone back to the rock for some swimming. While they were there they saw the helicopter hovering upstream from our site and then watched as it followed the river downstream, searching the woods with its light before eventually departing. We never did find out what it was all about and I never hooked up with Chip & Dave. Instead I drank some water, took some ibuprofen, and climbed back into the hammock.
I awoke around 5 o'clock. The early morning air had caused the temperature to drop and I was pretty chilled. I pulled a sweater and my bivy sack out of the dry bags and bundled up in them back in the hammock. This allowed me to snooze until 6, when an odd humming sound roused me. It was moving closer to where I rested and I turned my head to see a hummingbird hovering just outside the hammock, just at my head level. I guess it was trying to figure out what I was.
The hummingbird departed and a few minutes later Chip walked over to check in on me. The two of us went down to the rock to start the day and Dave joined us a few minutes later. We went through our usual morning routines of washing, stretching, etc., eventually returning to the rock to just hang out. We hadn't been there long before Xeth wandered out of the woods, awake much earlier than usual and in far better form than previous years. A reasonably good night's sleep had done wonders for him.
Now that everyone was up, breakfast became a priority. I heated water for coffee, Chip brought out bagels & cream cheese, and I made an attempt to make scrambled eggs using powdered eggs. I mixed them in a water bottle, doing the best I could to guess at the proper mixture of water & powder, added some salt, pepper, and dill (which Dave had brought), and then started to heat it all up. It took awhile, but eventually I was able to produce a fair amount of something resembling scrambled eggs. The taste was acceptable, though the consistency was a bit rubbery. A nice break from oatmeal at least. We also opened another bottle of champagne and toasted the morning with a bit of bubbly.
The rest of the morning was our usual, low key, relaxed hang out. I crossed the pool to check out the opposite shore for possible alternative camping spots. Nothing looked good for tents, but a small grove of pines offered some nice possibilities for hammock camping. I envisioned us continuing to use the rock for eating and hanging out, but doing our sleeping on the island. One way to avoid the use of private property.
As in the past, we took our time getting going. At some point everyone just decided to pack up the tents and gear and around 11:30 we found ourselves back on the water, wishing the rock goodbye for another year. We scanned the shores downstream from our campsite, looking for other possibilities, and noted a few sites that appeared to be okay in the flat area just before the channel rejoined the main river. Looking down, we spotted a few more large fish swimming around.
We exited the channel onto the main river and got back into our paddled mode. A short ways downstream we saw one of the couples who had come through the previous evening encamped in a nice spot on the left shore. It was a bit exposed for my liking, but seemed like a good backup site to keep in mind. A little while later the last shreds of solitude were shattered as we came to the put-in spot for the tubing companies. It was another hot day and the river was clogged with folks in their yellow tubes. We paddled in and around them, sometimes saying hello, sometimes just trying to push past to open water.
As we approached a high bridge, I found myself in the midst of a small crowd of tubers. A set of rapids under the bridge was made all the more challenging by the need to maneuver around these folks. Below the bridge it was just as crowded and I found I really had to concentrate on avoiding any collisions. I got in between a couple of groups and was keeping my eye on the folks in front of me when I noticed I was heading into another, fairly sizable rapids. Odd, I didn't recall this small stretch of whitewater, I thought. Just then, two things happened at the same time. First, I realized that I was in the midst of the big Satan's Kingdom rapids. Second, one of the tubers in front of me capsized and grabbed on to my boat. I asked if he was okay and paddled over toward where I now saw the lifeguards were waiting, the guy still holding on. When we got close he let go and made it to shore while I paddled on through and put ashore on the left just below the rapids. Grabbing my camera, I hurried up the rocks to try to get photos of the others coming through. I managed to get some shots of Dave and then ran out of film as Chip paddled down. Xeth came last, and wound up swamping his boat and capsizing in the rapids. He managed to make it down to the pool where he and Chip pulled their boats over to empty them.
In many ways my encounter with the rapids was very odd. It was weird that I didn't recognize that the rapids were approaching, given my penchant for recalling the smallest details of these trips. By the same token, it amazes me that I could find myself approaching a sizable set of rapids and simply say to myself, 'Gee I don't remember these." What? Did I think they'd just formed within the past year? Alarm bells should've gone off. For the most part, I'm holding the tubers responsible. I was paying so much attention to them that I didn't notice what was going on around me.
Even stranger for me though was my impression of the rapids themselves. In past years my descent through them was a big deal. I'd stop the boat, scout the route, pull on my lifejacket, stow my eyeglasses and loose gear, cinch up the spray skirt and then do my best to make it through the churning water. Certainly the anticipation added much to the experience. This year, on finding myself already in the midst of it all without realizing where I was, my impression was that these were significant rapids but nothing too serious. Just another bit of choppy water to make my way through. My lifejacket was in my boat, my spray skirt was open, and I kept my hat & glasses on throughout. Weird.
Anyway, we emptied out Chip & Xeth's boats and continued on downstream. I lagged behind at the next rapids (Roostertail) to give Chip time to set up on the rocks with his camera, but as I went through a tuber in front of me capsized in the waves, distracting Chip so he missed any shots of me. The river flattened out below that and we settled in to a steady paddle to get through the parade of tubers. They left the river a bit further along and we just Zen-paddled our way through the rest of the river, stopping now and then but mostly just paddling along. We reached Collinsville around 2PM and Xeth drove Chip & Dave upstream to retrieve their cars. They all returned an hour later and we packed up, said our good-byes and hit the road. Chip deposited me back home at 5.
More pictures
