I decided to take Brucie for a paddle today. No, it was not the best of weather today but at least it stopped raining for five minutes. I wondered about the river level before I left home so I checked it online and found out it was supposed to be down from where it was last week even though that didn't make any sense to me since it has been raining on and off for a week or two. I decided to go in spite of the bad conditions to see if I could catch some fall color and take some tree photos.
When I got down to Sullivan there was an accident or some sort of work going on just ahead of the exit where I was supposed to be getting off the highway, forcing me to sit in traffic for an extra twenty minutes. I finally made it down to the park and stopped at the visitor's center to get a map. I decided to put in at the boat ramp where I found the water rushing by at a pretty good pace but there was a little eddy on the upstream side so I decided to give it a go.
I could see what looked like typical sand bar vegetation upstream, so I started to paddle with passion and decided it was actually best to be in the middle of the river to avoid any strainers near the bank. The fast channel appeared to be nearer the far bank anyway. So I am paddling furiously into the current and apparently also into a pretty nice little breeze that wants to push me off to one side if I do anything but charge straight into it. After about a half hour I can see I am making very slow progress towards the calmer water downstream of the sandbar which is about ninety percent under water at the moment. Of course I didn't do anything silly like warming up before I started to paddle so the old muscles were soon beginning to complain about all this unrelenting physical effort.
I finally pulled into what I thought would be a calm eddy but there was still enough downstream current to send me back the way I came if I stopped for more than a stroke or two. I got into the tops of some saplings and forced my way through the salad until I hit a nice pile of sand. I figured it was time to take a break and to survey the conditions further upriver. Let's just say that rubber knee high boots are perfect for cool fall weather and wading around in spring fed streams.
I waded over to the far side of my half sunken island kingdom only to find the back alley closed. There was no clear way to force the kayak through the tangle of vegetation where the current was not as strong. I high stepped it over to the other side of the sandbar and found that the current was even stronger here where the channel narrowed. No good for going upstream unless you have a rocket strapped to the bottom of the boat.
I got back in the kayak and retreated slowly the way I had come through the trees and then turned around in the slow water and worked my way back downstream along the shore being careful not to get hung up in any branches. I was back at the boat ramp in no time at all and considered floating further downstream to the campground but I was not sure I would find anyone down there willing to ferry me back to the car. I rested for a minute and decided to have another go at the current. I figured that since I was here I might as well finish my workout. The water seemed even stronger than before and I could feel the force of it as I tried to ferry across the current to investigate the far bank. There were some aspen trees over there that I had my eye on and I wanted to see if they were worth a photograph or two.
I wore myself out soon enough and figured that since I had to load the boat by myself and unload it at home by myself that I had worked hard enough for one afternoon. I probably would have spent more time there if the sun had come out but on this particular day there did not seem to be any point in hanging around. On the drive home the sun still refused to break through the clouds. There were lots of colorful trees along the way but everything seemed dull and washed out. There would be no stunning landscapes photographs today. Things don't always turn out the way you planned or wanted but I did have some needed solitude and that was more than enough to make me happy.
Inside the Viewfinder - My photography blog
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