We packed up kayaks, dry bags, lunch cooler, and swimwear for the kayaking portion of the trip, our backpacks for meals and overnight gear, and a change of clothes, towel, and bath bags for the trip home. So much planning! But we really the hydration bags we use in the yaks and the little cooler for lunch, and thos certainly doesn't go in the "backpacking" category.
We set out fairly early on Saturday morning and were setting up camp around 10:00. We figured we'd put up the tent and leave our backpacks in it to claim our campsite. Good thing, too, because it was crowded this weekend. Then we were off to the boat landing for our first paddle of the season--the six mile stretch from Bent Creek to Canoe Landing.
Oh, glorious, glorious James! How I have missed you! We put in with much yelping about the cold water, which at 58 degrees does feel a bit chilly on the toes. As soon as we were settled into the yaks and headed downriver our blood pressure dropped, permagrin was engaged, and we both sighed out a long 'ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh'. It was quiet and gorgeous, a simply perfect day.
We immediately noticed that there was about a foot more water in the river than the last time we paddled it. It was a bit turbid, too, with visibility just a few inches. With that much water in the river, it moved along at quite a clip, and nearly all the rocks were covered. I didn't hit one the whole trip!
Very near the start, we heard the sound of rushing water. Expecting some rapids and some fun, we paddled into a section of serious waves but no rocks that could be seen. We remembered a shallow rocky section from years past in this area, so shallow that I got stuck and had to get out and carry my yak. I assume this was what that part was like with a little water in it. It was a lot of fun but those waves were COLD! In no time flat I had a lot of water in my yak with me, so much that I contemplated pulling out to dump in case we had more of the same farther down. Dave convinced me it would be ok, so I didn't. Luckily, he was right and that was the biggest chunk of excitement we had the whole trip except for wildlife. We saw a couple of blue herons, a pair of cormorants, some hawks, and there was a huge beaver on the riverbank. We also saw some ducks and a ton of geese.
We never even had a chance to have lunch--we made the 6 miles from Bent Creek to Canoe Landing in just 1 hour and 45 minutes. Before we knew it we were at the campground. Our campsite was on the end of the campground where the river bank was higher, but there were 4x4 steps up the side. We had the bright idea of getting out there and climbing up the sheer steps, pulling our kayaks. Getting out was the exciting part, as the water was VERY deep there and the only way to get out was to stand up in the yak and climb out onto the step! Needless to say I couldn't do it without Dave's help. He got out near the steps where there were some tree roots and some actual bottom to step on, but no steps, just a steep bank to climb up.
He came down the steps, held my kayak, and gave me a hand to pull up on. I managed eventually. Then we had to pull my yak up the steps, and he had to get his up the bank. He borrowed my Crocs so he'd have better traction. I offered to help him but he wouldn't let me because I was barefoot. It was an epic struggle. But, finally, we were there. It was pretty cool to have the yaks in the campsite.
After collecting the truck, grabbing a de-mudding shower, and changing into camping clothes instead of wet swimwear, I put up a line and hung the towels and swimwear to dry. Then it was time to relax and read until fire and dinner time.
About 5:00 Dave collected some dried marsh grasses and I picked up sticks for tinder. We added some of our stash of dryer lint with a good squirt of Purell, and he started it with his magnesium fire starter. Boy, was he proud! We fed it some tinder until it was going well and then added a fire log. Once we had that going, I pulled out the mini stove and got water heating for dinner. I'd packed a Mountain House chili mac for Dave, and a lasagne for me. I also had apple crisp for dessert. After I used up a whole 32 ounce Nalgene for those, I carefully went back down the steps to the river and filled the bottle using the prefilter, then came back up and treated it with the Steri Pen. I felt sooooo coooooool. Dinner was delicious and easy to clean up, for sure! We even burned the foil pouches successfully in the fire.
After dinner we read and relaxed for awhile. Dave climbed in his bag to read, using his headlamp, and I sat out by the fire to read until I got sleepy. I remembered my Gabapentin this time!
My new North Face sleeping bag was a ton more comfortable than my Big Agnes was, and we had added closed cell pads under our self inflating pads so we were off the cold ground. Add that to an air temperature that was 20 degrees warmer, and you have a decent night's sleep! I only woke up once to go to the bathroom, and it was so bright out from the moonlight that I didn't even need my light.
I woke up about 6:00 a.m. with the sun making it too light to sleep. We had opened the window zippers hoping to cut down on the condensation inside the tent. Plus, I had to go to the bathroom in the worst way, since I'd only gotten up once in the night. I figured once I was out I may as well stay out, so I started coffee water. I quickly discovered that three pots of coffee, two freeze dried dinners, and one freeze dried dessert was all that small bottle of fuel had in it. Fortunately we'd bought the bigger spare bottle and brought it with us.
I made coffee (VIA is even better with Coffee Mate dried creamer, believe it or not) and started another pot for Dave's MH biscuits with gravy and my hot granola. Breakfast was good! I cleaned up, we organized supplies and packed lunch, and we got dressed for kayaking. The water was so cold that I decided NOT to put on swimwear, preferring to kayak in my hiking pants for the protection. We wanted to kayak the 8 mile run from Bent Creek to Dixon, so we had to drive up to Dixon first to drop off the car. Then we headed out to Bent Creek with the truck, and we were on the river by 9:30.
The water was just as cold as the day before, and the weather just as pretty. The forecast for Sunday was for highs in the 80's! I shipped a lot of water in the wavy section, so much that this time I knew I had to drain it before I could continue. I pulled over to a beachy section just past it and hopped out of my kayak....and immediately sank into silt up to my knee. Oh boy. I was stuck. Soooo stuck. Eventually, Dave floated over and by pushing on his kayak and mine I was able to slowly extricate myself and get my yak up on the beach to drain. It took FOREVER to drain that water out!
Back on the water, we saw the same cormorants and herons as on Saturday, but we also saw a Bald Eagle at one point...and a snake swimming in the water near Dave's yak. Thankfully, I was a good distance away.
We paddled past the campground and had a good laugh about getting out at the steps on Saturday. Just past Canoe Landing, we could see horseback riders on the River Trail and farther down there were bicyclists. (I convinced Dave that it would be fun to ride Apache and Max along the river, so hopefully we will do that in the fall.)
In just the blink of an eye, we were passing the power lines that are the warning for Dixon's Landing. That two miles took maybe half an hour. The entire trip was a record. We dropped the yaks and went for the truck, then went back to the campground to eat our lunch. Both days we hauled lunch all the way down the river but ended up eating it in camp! After lunch we packed up camp, changed into hiking boots, and headed out to hike River Trail.
It was well over 80 and I was not prepared for it, at all. I forgot how much I hate the heat. River Trail has about ten feet of shade in its entire 3.06 mile one-way length, and I was dying. Near the end Dave asked me if I was drinking enough water, or if I even had any left. No, I wasn't drinking--I was sucking air out of my hydration tube. Turns out I wasn't empty. The bite valve had unscrewed so much that I couldn't get any water. Once I fixed that and got some water down, I felt a little better. I was still pretty light headed, though. Stupid heat.
Once we had finished the hell...errr, hiking...portion of the day, it was off to the showers and a clean pair of clothes. THAT felt great! We headed home to unpack with another triumphant trip under our belts.
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