Frosty Blue Balls Float

“I'm figuring Divinity snagged some pygmy (sp?) man from a long-lost tribe indigenous to the Mark Twain Forest and made good use of him.

LMFAO!!!”

“body warmers=chemical hand warmers only BIGGER...and last longer........the toe ones suck......”

“LOLl.....no men on the river......NO one was out....oh wait..there were some guys fishing one day....BUT I think they saw Yukon Jack and got scared off.........”

“O M G ...and how could I for get Dave's PINK Pants?????????”

“oh wait...not a girly pink....

more of a manly fuchia

LOL..ahahahahahhaha”

“"manly fuchsia" ... LOL!

So, you're saying Dave has a "pinky thingy????!?"

You quit sticking (edited) down your pants, Div!!

And now you're talking about Toe sucking??? WHOAAA... this was quite a trip!!

LOLOLOL!!”

“did I mention toe sucking???”

“What happens on the river, stays on the river..... so they say

Upon arrival at greer, i realized that stikmon & div are not there yet, so i did my traditional loop through the campground to access the number of campers/floaters who might be potential river campsite competitors. Surpising me on such an expected cold weekend, there were numerous vehicles and a total of 10 other canoes. I don\\\'t remember seeing any kayaks there. I decided to begin unloading my gear at the boat ramp before the other boaters got there so I would not have to pack my gear as far. I was probably about 70% unloaded when stik & div showed up. We finally managed to shove off somewhere around noon. The other boaters probably went upriver to float since the water level was higher than normal. If this was a summer trip, I would have proposed a change in the river trip, ie start at thomasville, and takeout at greer. But with the colder tempatures and higher waterlevel, I felt that we should stay with the stretch of river that we were most familiar with.

The boat stik used on this trip was the \\\'drowning witch\\\' (how do i get a photo available?) which is the boat he purchased during the Big Bend backpack/Rio Grande River trip less than a month ago. I hauled it from texas to my home, and then delivered it to greer for stik........has anyone besides stik been up a creek without a paddle? Fortunately I had brought 3 paddles which allowed one per person.

After we were down river a short distance, stik got concerned when I put on my life jacket. I reassured him that it was not because I sensed any upcoming danger, but only because the foam in my lifejacket provided a readily available layer of insulating clothing.

The river was quick but quite peaceful, the crisp cool air seemed to make the surroundings so much more vibrant. The most amazing thing to me was that we did not see very many eagles. Normally at this time of the year, I would see at least one eagle for most of the trip. It would not be the same eagle but different eagles for they seem to stay in their own territory.

Div was in my boat for the trip, but I don\\\'t recall having to paddle any more than normal (I usually try to paddle little as possible). For the most part, any paddling done was for the most part to stay warm or to keep us going straight.

I enjoy floating in the winter probably the best for one reason, you can see the surrounding landscape better. During the other seasons, the landscape is obscured by green vegatation. There were several times while floating when stik would say \\\"i\\\'ve never seen that before\\\"... which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

It seemed like we were always needing to change our layering (except for div who had most of her layering on). We had several different layering requirements: in the sun and out of the wind, in the shade and out of the wind, in the shade and in the wind....which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

One of the few times that Div got her paddle wet was when I turned around in a strong current and was trying to pull the boat into a small cove so we could gather firewood for the evening. We debated floating by and just gather firewood near our soon to be campsite but I managed to convince stik that firewood in hand is much better than get it later firewood when the nightime temps would be in the teens.....which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

Winter camping is much more time critical since the amount of daylight is much less than during the summer. We were hoping to be at our campsite about 3:00 to allow time to get set up and firewood gathered, etc. We managed to get to camp about 3:30 which was ok since we gathered firewood upriver. We chose an campsite downriver about .25 mile down from our initial planned campsite due to the higher waterlevel. The campsite was high off the water and was very flat with sand and/or very small gravely spots for under the tents. Contradictory to Div\\\'s standard procedure, i started working on creating a fire before I got totaly involved in setting up my tent. I wanted to get a fire going an get some coals so we could get something warm to eat. We decided to keep going down river instead of making \\\'lunch\\\' when we stopped at Turner\\\'s Mill. Besides, it wouldn\\\'t be the first time that i\\\'ve set my tent up in the dark.

Meals, which have been discussed by stik & Div, were quite typical of those meals prepared when stik & dutch oven dave get together.......except i forgot to bring whipped cream......which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

When I woke up sunday morning, I layed awake in my sleeping bag hoping that i might be the second one out of the tent. the first one up usually manages to get a fire going, coffee started, and dishwater boiling. After 20-30 minutes while I layed in my sleeping bag, i decided that i needed to get motivated. Still seeing my breath inside of the tent, I decided that the tent heater that i brought along should not go unused. I fired it up and gradually unzipped my sleeping bag as the heater cut the chill. I managed to get out of the bag to allow some of the dampness in my polytech to evaporate. I changed into two dry pairs of socks and got completely dressed before getting out of my tent. I managed to fan the coals back into a small but comforting fire before the others stirred. I do not recall when Div & Stik surfaced from their tents but they were both out of the tents shortly after the call: \'coffee & cinnamon rolls are ready....\'

We all felt pretty lazy that morning and we decided that we would rather stay at our present campsite and paddle out on monday. After breakfast, we worked for a couple of hours gathering, cutting, & splitting firewood. ......\'we have subway\'..... stik bought subway sandwiches sat. morning for sat. lunch but were never eaten...so we had subway sandwiches for sunday lunch. it was a good thing that they didn\'t put vinegar & oil on them. As we sat around the fire eating our sandwiches, the sun began shining on the bluff across the river. Occasionally, you would be fortunate enough to watch as huge icicles would break free and crash on the rocks below. The entire time we were at the campsite, there was an small spring trickling down the bluff wall.

As the evening approached, the wind picked up and we could sense the tempature falling. We decided to put up one of our tarps (moss outfitter wing) to use as a wind break. I\'m so glad we did because when you stepped outside of the tarps wind-break, the wind really cut into you......which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

We ate supper & dessert and spent the rest of the evening around the campfire, watching the master fire builder at work. A process of stacking firewood around the existing fire to pre-dry before entering into the fire. On occassion, the fire ignited the wood in the pre-dry area.........which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

Monday morning.....I yelled at stik at 6:30 that it was time to get up since he wanted to be off the river early. I asked a local later in the day how cold it got on sunday night and all they knew for sure that it was 16 degrees outside when they got up...
It probably was colder than that by the river\'s edge. By normal standards, we really did not have a typical breakfast. I did not make cinnamon rolls on monday (still had 2 left over from sunday). I made coffee in the morning and then began to break camp. I heated up the leftover ham & veggies from last night while breaking camp. When we had most of the non-kitchen items packed we ate our breakfast. Breakfast of leftovers: ham,veggies, cinnamon rolls, & brownies..... We saved the leftover biscuits & gravy for Kahtru.

The rest of the trip was a typical winter trip. The recent high water has changed the river as it always does..........which reminds me of something else........ what happens on the river, stays on the river.......

It was a great trip, i just wish i wrote down even half of the quotes available for \'out of context\' remarks........ you should have been there! it was great.”

“Great reports! Thanks”

“More like it!

;-)

Great Reports!”

“The end.”

“LOL>..hahahahahaha....good report Dave.....and way to go...now we have everyone wondering what happened on the river.......LOL..the quotes were great....too bad I can't remember them either.....I had a GREAT time......you and Stikky are great companions....
...so where are the HORRIble pics??/
the trio in boots.......wind burned face.....all the clothes I own on......”

“my internet speed here sucks at the hotel..It'll have to wait till another time...oh, and I forgot to link this to the trip thread...I'm bad...I'll go stand in the corner now.”

“well....speaking of cold..I am going to bed....way cold in my room...brrrrr”

“maybe I'll do it now that all my work is done.”

“Stikkie, I have begged Matt to link things before... and he has. Could try that.

So how is weather in Chillicothe? Is there snow there? How about closer to St. Louis?”