A Little Closer To Heaven

Has anyone else heard about what’s going on in Massachusetts? Apparently turkeys are out of control all over MA. It’s hilarious! Just look at the picture! Turkeys were very rare at one time in this state and now they are back with a vengeance. People all over the state are complaining because of aggressive turkeys that are chasing people around. Think this is a freak occurence? Think again. Numerous people have claimed to have been chased by turkeys, gobbled at, and bitten by them. The turkeys are invading the towns and chasing people out of their yards and even into the local donut shop. Are you kidding me? Have these people ever been outside in their lives? It’s a turkey for pete’s sake. People are saying that something has to be done before the turkeys get out of control and take over the town. What’s next…an invasion of marmots chirping at people in Colorado? For a good laugh check out the article yourself at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/23/turkeys_take_to_cities_towns/

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Alright, time to review a little product I bought like 9 months ago. It is the L.L. Bean Sitbacker Chair from GCI Outdoor. The chair is great on long canoe trips. It’s a big sigh of relief when you’ve been sitting on a hard canoe seat for a few hours.

The pros:

It’s a pretty comfortable chair. The cushioning doesn’t seem like it would do that much, but surprisingly, it feels pretty good on the rump while paddling. Also, it’s nice to have something to lean back on while canoeing when your back gets tired. It’s got a lot of versatile positionings that you can put the back in. You can sit straight up or lean way back in a reclined position. The straps will allow it to fit on almost any canoe seat. Whether a molded plastic seat or a wooden or aluminum one, it’ll fit anything. Also, on a cold day, the seat provides insulation from the cold of the hard seat of a canoe, which in turn keeps you warmer.

The Cons:

It’s a really flimsy chair. If you lean too far back on it it feels like it’s going to slide out from under you. The positioning strap for the back slips and needs to be retightened every half-hour or so. Also, the straps that connect the chair to the canoe seat slip after a while and need to be tightened (though it was not as noticeable). Finally, this gripe isn’t really about the product itself as much as it’s about the idea of having a chair with a back on it. It’s really tough to get into your canoe in cold weather with one of these chairs on. You can’t just jump into the back of the canoe while pushing into the water because there’s a chair blocking your entrance. Your only way in is to come in from the side of the canoe, which if you’re a paddler, you know can be kind of hairy.

Conclusion:

It’s a good chair for the money. It’s definitely better than sitting on a hard seat with no back, but it makes for a more difficult canoe trip. It also makes for a much more comfortable canoe trip. It’s a necessity on long trips, leave it at home for the short runs.

By the way, this will be my last post until Monday because I’m headed to Kansas City with the wife to celebrate her birthday which comes in about a week and a half. Also, I noticed that there was some kind of error on my class IV pics. I think it’s been fixed and you should be able to see them in that article now. See y’all next week!

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As promised, here are my pics and story of my first class IV rapid. It was only about a year ago when the youth group I was helping out took a trip to Tennessee to do a week of rafting, hiking, and caving. Needless to say, it was my first rafting experience. The first picture shows just how inexperienced I was. We floated the upper Nolichucky which is absolutely full of class IV’s. We had spent a couple of days doing class III floats so I didn’t think this one would be a big deal. My friend Troy, the one making the funny face, saw the camera man and pointed him out. So, we decided to stop paddling and smile for the camera. Big mistake! You can actually see the intense face of the guide as we head into the class IV rapid that we were not even paying attention to.

This next picture is priceless. It’s right after the first picture when we actually headed into the class IV rapid. My wife is in the back corner with the look of horror on her face. I’m directly across from her holding my breath. Not only were we headed into it…but we were headed for an undercut rock that could swallow our entire raft. The raft guide started yelling out orders quicker than we could carry them out. On top of that, we had a couple of Jr. High girls in the front who had no idea what their job as the front of the raft consisted of. “Paddle Back, Derek!” the guide shouted with an intensity unlike I had ever heard. We were headed right for that rock! “It’s too late,” I thought to myself. But I continued to paddle like a madman whispering prayers under my breath. Just as we were about to smack into the rock,we finally bested the rapid and missed the undercut by inches. “You’re gonna have to pay more attention and work harder than that if we’re gonna make it through the rest of the trip,” The guide told us as we headed out of the rapid.

The intensity settled. I looked forward to what lied ahead. Another series of class IV’s called the 1/4 mile. It’s called that because it’s 1/4 mile of class IV water. I took a deep breath and realized for the first time the respect that the river demanded. We made it through the rest of the trip with no troubles. It was an adventure I would never forget.

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I’ve got to be honest. This Saturday was far from what Sara and I dreamed it would be. We got to the river about 10:00am (way too late) and started our 9 mile float. We thought we’d nab a nine-miler and head home with plenty of time to get ready for the youth activity I had planned at my church. Only problem was this…the river was waaaaay lower than what I expected. We checked the levels the night before, but there had been a sharp drop overnight.

The results…5 hours of hard, hard paddling. We didn’t get stuck even once. We navigated the chutes like pros and did a great job reading the river. However, the river was low and still. It was not moving and the wind was blowing hard…in the opposite direction of where we were headed. We spent forever paddling into the wind. A few hours of hard paddling and arguing with the wife later, we finally arrived at our destination at 2:30. We got the canoe unpacked and loaded onto the car and headed out by 2:50. We had over an hour of driving ahead of us and had to be at the church for the activity by 4:30. You do the math…

I decided that the lower Buffalo River is just not my style. Though the river itself is beautiful, I’m too fast paced. I want speed and a few rapids. I won’t be heading back to do any more canoeing until mid-November or December, when the upper river will be high enough to float. There’s a lot of rain in the forecast though and it’s been raining all day long. I may make it out there sooner than I think.

One last note, a friend of mine told me about a quick river run he does when the water level’s high enough. It’s a 4 mile float combined with a 2 mile hike. I’m excited about trying it out in a few weeks after a few inches of rain. Also, I’ll be posting the pics and telling the story of my first class IV rapid tomorrow. It was great!

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Wow, I thought this weekend would never come. It’s gonna be a very busy weekend for me, but I am so excited about it. I’ve got a youth activity planned for tonight and Saturday night. This new job is definitely keeping me busy. I’m really excited about what I’m doing Saturday though.

I’ve been dying to get out on the water. The last time I canoed was back in July right before the Buffalo River was too dry to run. Well, with all of the rain, there’s at least one section that’s floatable again and you better believe I’ll be hitting that up on Saturday morning. Sara and I are planning on floating from the Highway 14 bridge near Yellville down to the old mining town of Rush. It’s about nine miles long and will probably take about three hours to complete. It’s a very slow moving part of the river with only class I rapids. Kind of boring, but at this point I’ll take anything. It’ll be a good chance to test out the new canoe seats we bought. I’ll let you know how everything went on Monday. Happy Adventuring!

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