A Little Closer To Heaven

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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