SSSHHHH...This is a secret trip trip rep ort

“Thanks for making this such an awsome trip. I've been on many TT trips, but this one was above them all. The laughs...the "out of context quotes" the guitar music, the singing, the people, the FOOD. Never have I seen such hungry people consume such an ungodly amount of food. 30lbs of chicken, an entire ham, 2 8lb cans of baked beans with even MORE ham, at least 7 dozen eggs, 8lbs of bacon, multiple packages of sausage buscuits and gravy, 4 dozen cinnamon rolls and who knows what else.

The attendees that hiked the 15.2 mile hike were Me, Khatru, Jgiles, Jerbear and House. We did the South leg of the Whites Creek Loop, which is like 7.6 miles each way. It was an awsome hike...guys..thanks for the companionship.

The floaters were (and in no particular order): Mozark, Dutch Oven Dave, Lizard, Aaron, Ewker, DaVinity, Boyscout (renamed [what did we rename him?]), Lauren (did I get the spelling correct?), SuperTroll...am I missing anyone?...if so, shoot me next time ya see me.

I will let each person tell their tale, mine starts on Thursday afternoon, when my mother yells out..."your company is here"...crap...my bed isn't made, but oh well...let the party begin...in walk Ewker and DaVinity for Thanksgiving. Mom and I had everything ready, appetizers, bloody mary's, vegi's, soup, turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish, vegi's, deserts...Ewker brought 2 bottles of my favorite t-giving day wine and it was SUPERB!!! thanks!

We ate, drank, talked, told stories, Next thing I knew..the dishes were all washed...thanks DaVinity...you didn't have to do that. After a short stop at walmart, we were heading off to the river at 5. We arrived at Greer (on the Current River), where Dutch Oven Dave was hanging out cooking his dinner, which we helped him eat. We had 2nd supper with Dave and he cooked a divine desert...yummmmmm. Soon, we were asleep and in the morning, got breakfast going and hung around and soon Super Troll showed up and then DOD, DaVinity, Ewker and I (Plus Khatru) headed out to do our day hike to Greer Spring Trail (on the Current River), which was a great little day hike...

Many photos will be posted as time goes by, so, you are invited to check back periodically.

NEXT installment to be written by someone else... I had T H E BEST time!”

“I just wanted to check in. We got back to my place about 11:30 last night. By the time we got the gear unlaoded, kayaks put in my apt and Div's loaded on top of her car it was midnight. Divinity was decideing on whether to drive on or stay over at my place. She took a shower then crashed. We both set our alarms so she could get up in time (2:30 AM) for the drive back to Alabama so she could make it to work at 5:00AM.

Stikmon, thank you and your Mom for the Thanksgiving dinner. It was great

All I can say is this is the first trip I have gained weight on.

I will post more later and will try to get my pics up tonight.

Thanks for showing me the Current River. I will be coming back again...well maybe when the water is a little warmer ;)”

“Oink.”

“is never warmer. The ambient air temps can be, but not the water. Glad you 2 made it ok, sounds like the plan worked out well with time.”

“..taping foot...
..taping foot...

Well?
Where's the rest of the TRs? ;-)

Thanks for posting your's, Stikky, enjoyed it.”

“Stovie, did you hurt your foot that you need to tape it?

Sounds like a good trip! Can't wait to read more.”

“Damn it Rudy!
I'm an engineer!
I can't speelor tpye! ;-)”

“Nice report! Pictures pictures pictures.”

“WHAT a Trip! Dutch Oven Dave, hereafter refered to as DOD, also known as King O' Da River, lived up to EVERY word of Stikmon's.

The Barge Boat floated the entire length of the river with an ease that rivaled the soar of the Eagles overhead, (There were Two), and as the days on the river progressed it was obvious that the man KKnows his SStuff!

Stikmon, I can clearly see why you and DOD get along so well, you two are a pair, such a complicated thing to organize, prepare and execute a trip for so many, and to do it so well...For those of you who missed it, Ya SNOOZE, ya LOSE!

The river is beautiful in the winter, and I look forward to seeing it in all the other season's of the year...I WILL be back...

One thing Stikmon didn't say in planning for this trip, the river is a National Scenic River, and it shows on every foot of it...more to come...(Dial-up...lol)”

“since the river owns my last digital camera, I have been reduced to shooting film. It will take time to get mine back and post them...but there were a few digitals on the trip, and they are hereforth commanded to get them picture up and post a link.

and someone please post all the out of context quotes...something like..."I wasn't slipping you my tongue, I was licking the tequila off your mouth"...or something like that.”

“Where to begin?...The Weather, uh, how to put it? Was rotten and so it was great...when ya realize the weather is going to be less than perfect but jump in anyway, you often find yourself having a blast! Like I say, there's no reason to have a tent or raingear if'n yer never camping or yaking unless the sun's out....

With tent's and tarps, we did well, and on the river, heck a little drizzle at first, then cloudy and a cool wind, thankfully at our back's.....with VERY skillfull guiding by DOD, two canoes and Six Kayaks made the trip down river, with Dave showing us where every stump, rock and shoal was, and leading us through the rough spots, even giving instruction on paddle techniques...

The river put in's and the take out were LANDSCAPED boat ramps, with red brick curving walls and pebble beaches...(Not kidding here), the river is CLEAN, not one piece of trash did I see in the water, and the water, even after the rain, was CLEAR to the bottom.....Overhanging trees, High bluffs, Springs seemingly everywhere....”

“yeah, yeah, yeah...excuses, excuses. We want pictures!!!

It DOES sound like you all had a great time. :)”

“...About the participant's...8 States were represented here, the one's I remember, Ohio (YO BEAR!), Tennessee (Eddie-Ewker), Arkansas (JGeils, Mozark and crew-Every one of them great!), Oklahoma (Lauren-For a whitewater boater he's okay!), Alabama (ME, and Divinity), Texas (Texas Woods Woman),Missouri (Stikmon, DOD, BoyScout,and assorted Wives, Children etc.) help me out here Stikmon..which other state have I fergot?

Food?...See part IV...”

“fun! Can't wait to see pics.”

“...Can You say GLUTTON? I KNEW you could! I've seen Dutch ovens used on TV, and I even have one sitting on the shelf I've used once or twice on the grill....but this trip was an education on their use...Soups, Chili, Baked Beans, Scrambled Eggs, Ham, Biscuits and Gravy, Casroles(sp?),Chocolate and Cherry Cake....and that was just the dutch ovens...We had Barbequed Chicken, and Bacon, Biscuits, Tortillas, Pies (Several types...), and it all was provided by DOD, Stikmon, Mozark, Tex, Mozarks wife brought 5 1/2 DOZEN eggs to match the 3 1/2 Dozen that Stikmon had cracked in Nalgene Bottles....(Getting the idea here?)

Kitchens and Coolers...there were more implements, spices, veggies, potatoes, charcoal, wood chips, lanterns, paper plates (Divinity what were you thinking?...so MANY paper plates...LOL)Lanterns, Tarps, Igloo Jugs, chairs, dry boxes...and guess what?....

It nearly ALL got loaded into the two Barge Boat Canoes and floated with the Kayakers to the next nights camp...

The one thing that amazed me was we ate all those things I mentioned, and there was still food in those coolers we never touched...”

“I have pictures of most of the food cooked in the dutch ovens. Still can't believe how much food we consumed Sat night. A 4lb pot of baked beans with onions, bell peppers with who knows what else mixed in, a dutch oven filled with chili and another with minestrone soup..then we top it off with a chocolate cherry jubilee cake.....whew can you say stuffed”

“Sounds like the trip was a blast.”

“I heard from divinity, she made it to work on time.”

“Its great when play time comes off without a hitch, but the day after responsibilities need to be met too.”

“WooooHooo..I am finally home.....Ewker..thanks for letting me crash and making sure I got up on time........and the WONDERFUL shower.....The best part of a trip....a shower..and washing my HAIR!!!!...I have the tents up and drying.....and still more gear to unload......I will have to work on my trip report later....I have laundry to do....so forgive me while I hang here, read my mail and do my laundry......everyone flipped when I came to work with my boat still on my car....LOL....one guy tried to buy it...but NO WAY...LOL......I had THE best time.....my first time to be in my boat in almost 2 years....woooohooooo...I forgot how much fun it is!!!!!.....ok...going to unload some more gear.......and start laundry.....”

“Raining like a Banshee (what's a banshee?) here right now...I mean torrential! We should all feel even more lucky not to have had to deal with this. It is cold, very damp and miserable. We lucked out!!!!”

“Stikky...I think it rained on our trip didn't it..?????...a few sprinkles?????”

“hmmmmmmmmm....can't remember, but maybe thats why my tent and fly are all wet.

Bit...thanks for the banshee link...thanks to you, my marketing report was almost late. sheesh...I factor in regular TT posting to my day, but reading celtic lore is a totally different thing. cool reading! thanks.”

“Laundry almost finished....car unloaded...boat in the back yard......gear almost put away.....the "rush" of the weekend wearing off...and I am longingly looking at my bed and a book.....I miss everyone already......what a joy it is to have friends to share these great times with!!!!....trip report will have to wait...I am almost out of energy.........hugs to all......”

“Even Khatru is worn out...could that be caused by eating a dead deer and all the rest of the stuff that you maggots fed him behind my back...I'm sure he ate WAY more than I knew about.”

“This is only my second post here so bear with me. The trip was awesome. I was hoping to see an eagle, instead I sighted them close to 20 times. Maybe some where repeat sightings of the same bird.

The river is beautiful and very remote. The food was fantastic with one small problem my wet suit was starting to get a little tight.

Dave provided us with excellent guide service and how he managed that monster canoe with what looked like half a ton of gear in it so well I will never know. You are the man.

Also as soon as a wayward camera makes its way home from the river I will post photos.

And on that subject, thanks to Dave and Hufstedlers for help in getting it headed my way soon. Hufstedlers went above and beyond on that one and I am sending them a well deserved letter of appreciation and a tip. There honesty and integrity was comendable.

The weather well rainy and overcast most of the trip. Hey, that is just a full blown river recharge in progress. Besides it kept the eagles close to the river so that we could see them.

Life has many rewards good food, good fun, and some new friends. Need I say more.

Do not touch that dial more to come.
Lorn VanSteenbergh
Oklahoma City, OK (hint Stikmon)
lvok@cox.net”

“ok, I finally got my pictures up. I might do another album. I still have approx 50 more pics.

http://community.webshots.com/album/224709304CqPcwv”

“Nice pics Ewker! It really looks like a beautiful river and a good time with good people.”

“I wish we could have gotten some pictures of us going over the 3' drop. I am sure my facial expression would have been priceless.

I did dump one time. I was the only one to flip over :(.

I hit the current wrong. It pushed me right into the bank against a tree. The current was fast enough that it flipped me in seconds. I fell out and tried to grab the kayak and paddle but let it go. I guess the rapids took me down the river about 50 yards. I was looking for a place to swim to but there wasn't any place. I did finally see a gravel bar along the shore. Dutch Oven Dave was headed towards it also to help grab me if I couldn't get over to it as the current swept me downstream. I made it though.
The other guys got my kayak and paddle. I waited till they brought it back to me before I could change clothes. There was a bright white full moon that afternoon..lol”

“Thanks Ewker, ya rock Dude!”

“thanks for the pics.
sure liked the breakfast. now i am hungry. :(”

“Great pics Ewker!!!!!

and I didn't get to see the moon on the river :(”

“(crying)...I just spent an hour doing my trip report and lightning struck nearby and the power kicked off and I lost it......

waaaaaaaaaaaa”

“I especially like the ones with ME in them.”

“Seems like yall had several feasts!

Nice pics Ewker. The water looks really cool in some of those.

Stikmon, I think my doggie would fall in love with your doggie. :)”

“thanks...but, would you fall in love with me.”

“What can i say..... the river was about the same as usual, except that I knew the names of most people i saw on the river. As for the food, typical from the dutch ovens (except the MASSIVE QUANTITY). It was augmented by some great bbq chicken, eggs, bacon, pies, and numerous other items.

Cobbler guy made a cobbler using 7-up, a technique i knew about but haven\'t tried yet. Baked to perfection! I\'ll have to try it myself sometime.

i can\'t thank moz jr. & others enough for the great guitar music.

for those who missed the hike going to greer spring... your loss you need to allocate some time to make the hike

with more practice, we'll have the car shuttle situation better organized...

speaking of practice -- i'm about ready to start packing for the next trip”

“Would that be BIG BEND?!?!?!?! or do you have something cooking prior to? I'm gonna try and sneak one more backpack in before BB.

Catch you all on the nother time or when my photos come back.”

“Thanks for the time on all the photos Ewker, just ate breakfast and looked through them all.

For your waterfall shots -- Take a tripod and I don't recall how slow a shutter speed ya need. You just have to experiment, which is easy on digital. A word of warning, however, if it's sunny out, you might need some kind of filter on the lens to darken for the long exposure. Otherwise the water starts to whiten and just gives a big white spot with no color, like in some of the shots. Shooting when it's pretty dark out also helps that problem. You'll get it next time! :-)

This was shot at dusk. The camera set itself to this speed. I was happily suprised at the shot! No tripod, but I had it braced on a rock or something and then used self-timer to alleviate my grip shaking the camera. http://community.webshots.com/photo/120205253/160929164rswYFB

I see there was a lot of karst topography. Gotta love it! We have that around here, too: caves, springs, streams that disappear underground.

Holy moly, lookit all that food! LMAO! A great trip, indeed! Glad you all had fun.
:-)
last edited: 12/02/04 8:29:31 AM”

“lizs, see what you missed by bailing on this trip. Just becasue you got a new tent was no reason to skip this great trip. Who knows you might have seen the full moon in the afternoon...lol”

“>8-O EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!

I did something not involving falling in the water, lol, finding two new geocaches in the area. Got a "first find" on one.
last edited: 12/02/04 8:47:29 AM”

“A first find...I bet you were all a tingle.”

“Sarcasm or true joy? LOL!

I'm not obsessive, for the most part, over geocaches, but I do like to get first finds. I coulda/shoulda had two that day... dang! Some day I need to countup my first finds. I'm sure I've got a higher percentage than a lot of people, being obsessive about it and all! LOL! We don't have tons of caches around here, so I don't tally the huge numbers. But lack of other cachers, helps with first finds.

anyhway, who cares, right? Back to great food, rivers and hiking... It was good to see your kitchen and the Thanksgiving spread again, Stikkie. Looking good!”

“Great pics Ewker. I really liked the one with Stikmon in his house shoes.”

“Arky, I got him to take off the Goofy ones even though they do match him in personality ;)

He was a great host. I do appreciate him and his mom for allowing me and divinity to spend Thanksgiving with them.”

“more than welcome...As my ole Gaffer used to say..."its not the food on the table that makes the meal memorable, its the ones who eat it with you".

Lizs...you missed a good one. Next year perhaps.”

“Stikmon, when are you gonna post your pics”

“the whole trip was a blast. great people,food and scenery. i was expecting a great group of people, based on what moz had to say about everybody.and was even more impressed when i finnaly got to meet everyone.”

“I won't post em till sunday. look for them late day.”