Thanksgiving Day 2011

Couldn't help but sneak in a little afternoon Thanksgiving day ride.  

PS... We're still alive.  Just busy leaving tracks in the dirt.

5 young doe's hung out and explained that today is for turkey's not deer.  So we left before anyone got hurt.

Getchasum Still plenty of holiday left.

PS it is still Summertime!

Been to busy to blog.  It seems that every weekend this summer I have been able to spend camping, canoeing, biking, or just chillin'.  Those damn weeks seem to get in the way.  I have started carving the weeks into smaller chunks to ensure I get my full dose of summer.  Sick Days Done Right!  

Below are a few pics I snapped last weekend on a 50 mile 3 day float....errr...scratch that....52 miles in two days.  Fast water and Faster Paddlers(Stitz and Keeven).  (One note...always besure to define the term "Float Trip" before signing up.)  I packed way more beer than these fella's thought necessary....I now know why...These kids wait til well after noon before considering a cold beverage...and they never set their paddles down.  30 miles day 1  with a half day of rain.  Day 2 22 miles with plenty of daylight left, leaves little time for beer drinking.  enjoy a few snaps...my camera and anything cloth like was soaked since oh lets say 9 am Friday morning....til we got home so the pics might be a little water spotted.  

Fog was thick Friday and Saturday til midday.  Very surreal floating alone through the mist on the water listening to the distant thunder gaining on me. 

The float - Cedargrove to Powder Mill Current River Missouri

The Plan - Drive to Cedar Thursday eve, called ahead to Carr's canoe rental for a vehicle shuttle 

* they pick it up at Cedargrove and drop at Powder Mill....$150 ouch.  I guess fuel and time add up.

We hit the water a bit after 7AM.  Destination 20 miles down river.

By 9 the storms had caught us and we had to leave the water for a bit. Lightning has a way of making you want away from water.

20 minutes later we were back at the paddle.  The water speed seemed to pick up a bit and we were knocking off miles like crazy.

I finally took their paddles away just below Round Springs.  Note...Better to camp North of Round Springs or several miles South ...better gravel bars.

Great night sleeping on the gravel, after that long paddle it didn't take much of a fire to knock me out.

Saturday we awoke to clearing sky's and that familiar morning mist on the water at 8:30.  22 miles to go and no doubt we would have that done by 3PM.    We stopped at Two Rivers for a swim and some ice.  Good times were had swimming the current as it dumped from the Jacks Fork River into the Current River.  

I pretty much just let the river drag me the next 7 miles to Powder Mill.  A couple miles up river from the Hwy 106 Bridge I was treated to a Bald Eagle flying up the river.  Very cool to see in that setting.

A quick clean up and we headed for the Dairy Shack in Emminence.  Best grub in Shannon County.  Get a twist cone for sure. 

Home by 11PM.  That is one day early.  Sunday AM I awoke in my own bed feeling like I had forgotten something...best I could tell was that I forgot I had a kitchen pass for 3 days not 2....so I loaded up the Subaru with the TrailMOnster and we headed for BASS River Resort.  We made it down by 1PM and set up a day camp in the Courtois.  Swimming with Sydney and Wendy.

 Sunset Sunday

My Best Friend.

What? You thought that was enough for a weekend...?  I told ya the weeks get in the way so I have been cutting them short.  

So Wednesday was Sydney's Kindergarten orientation.

Big Day for sure! 

We hit up the elementary school, got the scoop on lunch, recess, some book stuff and the cool bus ride.  Syd hopped on the bus and we met her at the house.  She has been waiting to ride that bus for at least 2 years.  Mom has not been waiting for her to ride that bus...Mom is ... gonna need some friends to call and invite her on bike rides this week as school starts Monday.

We decided to make Wenesday special for Syd so we loaded up the Suby again and headed for the Huzzah this time.  100 miles puts you pretty close to the low water bridge at Scotia landing.  The new car's super gas mileage seems to give an assist toward these trips.  We spent the afternoon swimming and learning to us a snorkle.  It didn't take more than 5 minutes and couple mouthfulls of water before Syd got the hang of the snorkle.  Soon all we could see was her butt in the air and a blue snorkle...she floated well over 100 meters of river before even looking up.  

 Chillin' not Workin'

 Mid Afternoon worn out?

 Not!

 um yes I think it's ok if she plays on the roof of the new car...it can handle hail, boats, and bikes, I am pretty sure it can handle a 40lb barefooter.

 Get here via Gravel if your good.  So that was last week....and here it is Saturday morning...big day ahead.  Stella is moving to a new home in South Dakota later today,  we have had fun, but the humid Missouri weather makes it a crime for me to keep her here.  Rust will eat her in a couple more years if she stays...so off to sweeter and hopefully dryer air.  

I am headed to Council Bluff Lake tonight for little Perseid Meteor shower viewing while simultaneously crushing a few PBR's and getting a Moontan.  Full MOON GET OUTSIDE!  Sumnmer only comes once this year Getchasum!

Sunset for Coates, I know how he digs em'

TTMA - Team Trail Monster Adventures - Float n Bike

  I keep letting the blog slip as summer rips by, not much I can do except try an toss a few posts as time permits. Trail Monstering is busy work, er...busy fun!  I have been working on some local adventures to try and squeeze in a bit more fun into my weeks, as if I need more. The latest round is a little something I will call Trail Monster Tri Training. Basically multi-sport training with a bike, a kayak, and my two feet.

  Here's the scoop all you adventuring types out there. The goal is to make a short float/bike/run loop close to home and self shuttled. When you can self shuttle there are no excuses for not giving it a try. Today's route is along the Big Creek on the Lincoln/St Charles Missouri county line just west of Hwy 61. I have discussed this route with several people, researched the Google Maps, test drove the bike route to ensure a solid route, and yesterday I set out with the plan in my head.

  Ready here goes, Drive to Indian Camp Creek Park, secure your bike (I locked mine to a trailhead kiosk out in the open. Obviously the lock only keeps the honest man honest.), drive to Meyer Road bridge over Big Creek ~4 miles via John Creech and Creech Roads just North of the park accessed via Hwy 61. Alternative route is Dietrich Road to English Road to WW(Meyer Road). If you can't get there with these basic directions, well, you probably have no business out there. ;)

  I park on the SE corner of the bridge. Ticks are really bad right there, so stay out of the grass and check yourself before heading down to the water. Car secure and bike gear in the dry sack, it's time to paddle out for the float.

Hit the water - Start time 6:02PM - A bit earlier would have been better, say 4-4:30PM.  Notice on the way down under the bridge there is a rope...don't take it as if it were trash.  It's to help pull yourself up the slippery slope after a day of swimmin' in the creek or running back to the car for the typical forgotten stuff...bug spray/sunscreen.  Pop a tab on a fine PBR and enjoy the next few miles, don't get to comfy your gonna need to get out of the boat and drag soon.  This picture shows what looks to be a deadend, however, upon closer inspection of this and many other log jams, root wads, and gravel bars there is usually a little tunnel to slip through.  Some are bit tighter.  Keep a watchful eye for spiders n snakes.  Here are a few photo's from the float.

A small chute through the grasses and into a nice deep hole. 8-10' Deep on the backside.

This next pic had me wondering if I made a mistake on the creek choice...

The creek has lots of twists, turns, slow pools, little ripples, log jams, and some trash...Thank you Mr. Farmer for creating an illegal dump where you thought nobody would see as the stream bank erodes and drops your trash into the creek.

This rootwad and trunk are absolutely huge.

Gravel and Sand bars line the creek edges interspersed with eroding corn and bean fields.

Look close.  Ya think that ladder on the earth bank is for the pool access?

The end of the paddle but not the end of the Adventure.

I missed my turn into Indian Camp Creek and had to do a little bushwhacking.  If your not up for a little bushwhacking then ya better not join a Team Trail Monster Adventure.  Bushwhacking is almost always required.  Besides the itches will go away in a week or so.

The photo above is a long grassy field edged by woods and stinging nettle...yup I marched right through it dragging my boat while in shorts...it only stings for a minute.  From here I ran to ICCP and my bike.  Quick change of clothes from within the dry sack and off for the bike leg.  Given I have forgotten my light mounts I used the Creech road connection instead of Dietrich.  The only auto to pass me was on Dietrich and of course the pickup that needed to cackle the pipes a bit for me.  The shoulder of Hwy 61 is not really a good place to ride, however, it's a very short shot and plenty of shoulder to work with.  The ride down Creech was pretty cool after dark.  Wish I had that light mount, had to hand carry.

So was it a success? In my book a success defined as "any Adventure you return home from breathing".   Might be fun after a light rain when the water level picks up.  Probably a bit dangerous, so take heed and be prepared.  Bailing on an Adventure is always an option.  Knowing your limits keeps you alive.  Here is the Garmin data from the trip.  I will take 10 miles of cross training like this any day.

GETCHASUM!