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Post by Tony Daniel on May 12, 2018 20:28:10 GMT -5
Date: May 12th River: Upper Meadow Level: 750 cfs and dropping about 10 cfs an hour Coordinator: Tony Daniel Participants: Tony, Dan Waller, David Bell, David King, Kim C, Doug A, Dustin Comments: It was a good trip! We all rolled into the put in at 10:00. I had already taken my boat off the subaru, thinking that David B. and Dan would take trucks up to the put in and I would shuttle drivers back at the end of the day. We loaded up Dan's truck and David B. had his vw so we used it as well for the put in. We took country road 4 (hurricane somethin' road) which at times has been quite rough and other times pretty good. There was a creek to cross and culvert you had to drive around, the rest of the road was pretty good. After some help from my $20 friends (big rocks to carry over to get down to the river put in) I ratchetted up my back band nice and tight- after all this was the upper meadow.
Kim and Dustin led most of way. They were great about hitting eddies and showed us great lines, They had done the river just a couple of weeks ago so you could tell they had it pretty wired up. We would run a few drops and eddy out and regroup. It was a good level, a little higher than what I was aiming for but a whole lot of fun. Freeze hung toward the back, it felt good knowing he was running sweep.
There were a couple of swims and again Dustin and Kim helped out. We got down to the weir, Dan and I hit the last chance eddy to carry our boats. David K, David B, Kim, Dustin, and Freeze all fired up the weir without a scout and had clean runs. Kim walk back up and then drained and carried my boat for me and Dan carried his own below the weir. I got David B. to help relaunch my boat so I could reenter the river.
There are a a couple of good rapids below the weir but there were smiles on everyone's faces. We were having a good day- great weather, good friends, and a beautiful river. Bernie and Caroline passed us up. I got to reminisce with Bernie a bit in the boogy water. We disturbed the local fishing hole when we took out. The bank was muddy and slick so again help was required.
As promised, Dan, David B, and myself went to shuttle back up. We tried a different route down, a longer way that avoided the creek and culvert. When David B. got back to his car he noticed the front panel near a vent was bent up. As we took off he stopped and announced he had no oil pressure. Some investigating on his part and he discovered an oil patch where he had been parked. All the oil had leaked out from a hole or crack in the oil pan. Dan saved the day with spare quart of oil that he had in his truck. We followed in our vehicles while David raced towards Rainnelle (the closest place with a garage, and more oil). We hit a store before town, David B. bought oil,
I let Dan be the chase vehicle while racecar David zipped to Country Thai near Fayetteville. Freeze was still there, waiting for us! There was talk of getting more oil and driving on to Charleston but that was ruled out when we saw Exon Valdez sized oil slick as we exited the eatery. So David Bell's car is in Oak Hill at Brians Service Center. All in all a great day despite the vehicle woes.
Many thanks to all participants. It wasn't the firesale that some upper meadow trips that I've been on in the past. A year or so ago I posted a take your time, catch eddies paint creek trip. We had to cross a pipe, get out of our boats. I ended up walking a good stretch, because I simply couldn't keep up. Today was a lot different, and was a trip I truly couldn't have made without rest breaks and dry land help. So thanks for all the help guys! It really helps when you go with some really good boaters!
I know David K was happy, he gets excited when he has dry hair! I for one can't really paddle the upper meadow. Somehow, I just sorta brace my way down. I was impressed with both David B. and Dan's first descents. Way to go guys! Again, thanks to everyone for all the help.
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Post by Dustin Johnson on May 12, 2018 22:23:18 GMT -5
It was an absolutely gorgeous day. No dry top or paddling jacket needed. Everyone did very well, and it was great to paddle with you all.
That's horrible about David's car though. Glad you all were able to get it out of there. Those stream crossings are in pretty bad shape.
Sorry to Mike Beswick, I got a message (well part of a message, it was cutting in and out and finally just went to static) when I got back to Fayetteville. I don't get reception out there and didn't have my phone on the shuttle. I wasn't sure if you intended on joining us or not.
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Post by Mike Beswick on May 13, 2018 6:13:52 GMT -5
sounds like you guys had a great trip! I came in from the Charmco side, and all though it seemed hard to believe, had to wait in a construction backup way out in the middle of nowhere. Probably missed you guys by a matter of minutes, but when I got there ( right at 11 ) I saw no sign of you guys, even looking pretty far down river. I guess you're faster than you realize, Tony!
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Post by Tony Daniel on May 13, 2018 7:04:38 GMT -5
Mike, that bites that we missed you. I remember asking someone the time as the boats got carried over the boulders, ten till eleven. We spent another 5 or ten minutes getting into the boats. Then eddying out after the first rapid and regrouping briefly.
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