Mighty Clinton River (MCR) !!: December 2011 and into the New Year

December was a wetter than usual month around here, but there were not as many river trips as you might think. Here is a river report by Dale on the first trip of the month which took place on Saturday, December 10th:
Hello Late Fall River Enthusiast 11:00PM Sunday
There are no portages required on the A&L to Ryan Road section of the Mighty Clinton River. A blockage at the Vortex of Death was altered enough for a boat to make it through.

A river wide tree crossing the river near the shooting range stimulated a seasoned paddler to use the under the tree method to get by it. In case you are unaware of or forgot, with the under the tree method, one simply runs straight into to it, allow the boat to go broadside against it, waits until the boat fills with enough water to sink, then hang on the tree as long as humanly possible, allowing onlookers ample time to observer the inevitable. Once our seasoned paddler and his boat finished their under the tree maneuver our seasoned paddle did a most excellent boat and self rescue. The therapeutic immersion stimulated our seasoned paddler to paddle at a pace not seen earlier in the day.

We dined on sausage cooked to perfection on an open fire under a bright sun at The Best Beach on the Clinton.
A New Years Day paddle is scheduled. More later
That was the only documented river trip until our New Year Day Paddle Feast, here is a river report of that:
Hello Sports Fans 4:18AM Monday
No portages were required on Sunday's (2.1 level on the Auburn Hill Gage) paddle trip from A&L to Yates.

Their were several close calls, but fourteen paddlers successfully paddled without falling into the river. A fire started before our arrival by our shuttle bunny, was waiting for us at Rock Island. Several folks hiked in and met us. We dined on exquisite cuisine cooked over an open fire and some served on a log.

Unknown to me, prior to yesterday's enlightenment, the Rapid just past the confluence of Paint Creek has a name, it's name is Voodoo Rapid and the large rock in the middle of the river down stream is Voodoo Rock. Although the wind was not brutal at ground level on Rock Island the last six of us to leave the fire heard and obseved three trees crashing down on to the forest floor. Yesterdays paddle trip was the best one this year. More later
Dale

Around the Campfire

The whole group, paddlers and hikers!

The "Stragglers" watching trees fall

The cooking tripod

The New Year paddle trip was one of our best, certainly the most attended so far. We were trying to remember how many years we have been paddling on the 1st, we are guessing 6 or 7 years for sure. The river was "right around 2.0", maybe 1.97 or at least that is what I thought the gage was at, in any case it was a decent flow and the surf waves were fun for the kayaks! We certainly had quite a feast, we had Beef Tenderloin Bites, Lemon Garlic Chicken, Sausages, Ham Roll-Ups, Crab Dip, Shrimp and Beer! There were 14 paddlers and 8 hikers on the island, quite a party!

The weather started out pretty nice for January 1st, but the temperature was dropping the whole trip and the wind was howling! We heard and saw several limbs cracking off trees in the woods. The last of us made it in to the landing at Yates just before dark. Dale and I stopped at the Coachman Lounge, our favorite after river stop. Ok, so it's the only one around! LOL!

Monday morning brought snow and cold weather in the morning, nice that we were able to make it down in as near 'Spring Like' conditions you can get on January 1st! Happy New Year and See You On The River!

Rick