Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

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Freed Roger
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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by Freed Roger »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 3:05 pm
Do you drop your bike off at a location, drop in upstream with your canoe, paddle down to the bike, then bike back to the car and go pick up the canoe? How do all the logistics work?
Almost always I drop my bike at the paddle take-out, (I paddle a SUP) then put in upstream and paddle down, bike back, drive home and pick up my paddle stuff on the way** Being in Stl it works well because the rivers run toward me and they often have trails alongside them. Missouri Meramec Mississippi.

I've hacked out workable routes in the Ozarks - Current River , Big Piney, and upper Meramec using backroads and trail.

up and back paddling is OK certain times of year.

I do use car shuttles with friend -for MR340 my friend ran his van and trailer upriver - all masked up, windows down, little conversation in the vehicle. Gawd, it will be so great ahead having more shuttle options.

**as you probably know, river accesses and trailheads are notorious for theft. So far I've had no issue with theft vandalism. - I can put a half-ass lock on my SUP, but ideally I lock and stash it and my paddle in the weeds. My bike cost 35 dollars 20 years ago but I lock it up. a few times I had trouble finding where I hid it all lol. I tend to go off-peak time - like tomorrow. But frankly, having my vehicle window smashed open is probably what is most likely to happen.

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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by Popeye_Card »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 3:07 pm
-Spent a lot of time on the lake in the summer/fall
I've spent a lot of effort this year trying to convince my friend who has been itching to buy a boat for the past, oh, 10 years to finally pull the trigger this year. Those efforts, thus far, have not been successful.

I've really been wanting to fish this year. We had originally planned to take trips to New Orleans in the spring (didn't happen) and Alaska this summer (didn't happen) where we could have gotten some good fishing in. I turned down the only invite I've gotten this year to go walleye fishing on Lake Erie because I was otherwise busy. My buddy needs to buy that damn boat.

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Popeye_Card wrote:
December 9 20, 4:05 pm
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 3:07 pm
-Spent a lot of time on the lake in the summer/fall
I've spent a lot of effort this year trying to convince my friend who has been itching to buy a boat for the past, oh, 10 years to finally pull the trigger this year. Those efforts, thus far, have not been successful.

I've really been wanting to fish this year. We had originally planned to take trips to New Orleans in the spring (didn't happen) and Alaska this summer (didn't happen) where we could have gotten some good fishing in. I turned down the only invite I've gotten this year to go walleye fishing on Lake Erie because I was otherwise busy. My buddy needs to buy that damn boat.
You could offer to go in on it with him. I've bought half boats thrice in the past with friends and it has worked out well. Plus it lets you have a say on when/where you go.

We have a pontoon but did a lot of fishing off it. Didn't catch much worth keeping, then hired a guide on the lake where we keep the boat and he taught me how to fish the lake which is a bit different than what I'm used to. Cooking fresh fish is so damn good. Yes. Your buddy should buy a boat.

The lake we're on is pretty weird...just a mountain range damned up and not clear cut except for, well, what props have done over the years. I'm used to fishing up near the shore and looking for cover which is where all the small fish are. The bigger mamba jambas live hundreds of feet off the shore on ridges. So, the water at shore is obviously 0' then drops to 100' then on the old hilltops that are now submerged the depth jumps back up to 20-30'. I know where those bad boys are cause it always stresses me out watching the depth finder go from 100 to 20 in 3 seconds then back down. Anyway, apparently there's a lot of fish in those areas. And a lot of stumps and brush piles and all sorts of stuff people have dropped over the years.

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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by Freed Roger »

AW - we visited Greer's Ferry Lake in early June (actually stayed in rental below it on Little Red R.) Beautiful, and so much fun.

It was kind of surreal as hardly anybody was there. Its deep in a dry county, so not like Lake of Ozarks people-wise at all (I think we took advantage of weekdays) Climbed up both versions of Sugarloaf Mountain.

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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Freed Roger wrote:
December 9 20, 3:46 pm
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 3:05 pm
Do you drop your bike off at a location, drop in upstream with your canoe, paddle down to the bike, then bike back to the car and go pick up the canoe? How do all the logistics work?
Almost always I drop my bike at the paddle take-out, (I paddle a SUP) then put in upstream and paddle down, bike back, drive home and pick up my paddle stuff on the way** Being in Stl it works well because the rivers run toward me and they often have trails alongside them. Missouri Meramec Mississippi.

I've hacked out workable routes in the Ozarks - Current River , Big Piney, and upper Meramec using backroads and trail.

up and back paddling is OK certain times of year.

I do use car shuttles with friend -for MR340 my friend ran his van and trailer upriver - all masked up, windows down, little conversation in the vehicle. Gawd, it will be so great ahead having more shuttle options.

**as you probably know, river accesses and trailheads are notorious for theft. So far I've had no issue with theft vandalism. - I can put a half-ass lock on my SUP, but ideally I lock and stash it and my paddle in the weeds. My bike cost 35 dollars 20 years ago but I lock it up. a few times I had trouble finding where I hid it all lol. I tend to go off-peak time - like tomorrow. But frankly, having my vehicle window smashed open is probably what is most likely to happen.
Wait, just googled SUP. You take a paddle board on the big rivers? I didn't even know that was possible!

When I was in school in middle missouri, we went on a lot of float trips on the Meramec, Spring, Current, Gasconade, etc. The school allowed us to check out kayaks and canoes for free. Eventually they just told us to not even bring them back because we were the only ones using them and multiple times we just broke in since they were closed and took them and then put them back before anyone even noticed anyway. But, we'd typically just take two cars. Drop one off downstream and then put in upstream. But we only had one truck so we'd leave the gear off in the woods for the 30-60m it took to go get the truck and never had an issue. Of course, we had some pretty odd take out places that weren't necessarily well travelled.

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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Freed Roger wrote:
December 9 20, 4:48 pm
AW - we visited Greer's Ferry Lake in early June (actually stayed in rental below it on Little Red R.) Beautiful, and so much fun.

It was kind of surreal as hardly anybody was there. Its deep in a dry county, so not like Lake of Ozarks people-wise at all (I think we took advantage of weekdays) Climbed up both versions of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Beautiful lake. And, yeah, hope you had all the booze you wanted before you got there.

We keep our boat at Ouachita which is surrounded on all sides by a mountain range and has almost no development on it sans a few marinas/campgrounds. No houses/subdivisions/etc. And, the water is relatively clean.

Little Rock is divided. Most people in north/east of Little Rock go to Greer's Ferry and anyone south/west of LR goes to Ouachita. Within the city, it's mostly divided on money lines where people will go... Greer's Ferry or Hamilton for those with it as they can get a lake house/condo and Ouachita for those without due to the beauty. Hamilton is a lot like LOZ (although much smaller) in that it's owned by an energy company and is fully developed with houses and condos thorughout. Due to the development (and shallowness), they use Ouachita as a flood control lake to keep the level of Hamilton within a couple feet year round. And, that means Ouachita fluctuates greatly, probably about 20' on a typical year from April/May to September/October. Towards the end of the year, you'll see a lot of tree tops sticking out of the water in areas people drive in the spring/summer.

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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by Popeye_Card »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 4:24 pm
Popeye_Card wrote:
December 9 20, 4:05 pm
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 3:07 pm
-Spent a lot of time on the lake in the summer/fall
I've spent a lot of effort this year trying to convince my friend who has been itching to buy a boat for the past, oh, 10 years to finally pull the trigger this year. Those efforts, thus far, have not been successful.

I've really been wanting to fish this year. We had originally planned to take trips to New Orleans in the spring (didn't happen) and Alaska this summer (didn't happen) where we could have gotten some good fishing in. I turned down the only invite I've gotten this year to go walleye fishing on Lake Erie because I was otherwise busy. My buddy needs to buy that damn boat.
You could offer to go in on it with him. I've bought half boats thrice in the past with friends and it has worked out well. Plus it lets you have a say on when/where you go.

We have a pontoon but did a lot of fishing off it. Didn't catch much worth keeping, then hired a guide on the lake where we keep the boat and he taught me how to fish the lake which is a bit different than what I'm used to. Cooking fresh fish is so damn good. Yes. Your buddy should buy a boat.

The lake we're on is pretty weird...just a mountain range damned up and not clear cut except for, well, what props have done over the years. I'm used to fishing up near the shore and looking for cover which is where all the small fish are. The bigger mamba jambas live hundreds of feet off the shore on ridges. So, the water at shore is obviously 0' then drops to 100' then on the old hilltops that are now submerged the depth jumps back up to 20-30'. I know where those bad boys are cause it always stresses me out watching the depth finder go from 100 to 20 in 3 seconds then back down. Anyway, apparently there's a lot of fish in those areas. And a lot of stumps and brush piles and all sorts of stuff people have dropped over the years.
Yeah, you would have to know this guy. I would offer to go in halvsies, but it isn’t a money thing at all. Simply an indecision thing. He grew up near Lake Erie with his dad always owning boats. He wants to take his kids out. His wife wants him to buy one. He just won’t pull the damn trigger because he is waiting for the perfect deal to come along.

If he waits much longer I’m just going to buy one and tell him to take care of it for me.

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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by Freed Roger »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 5:12 pm
Freed Roger wrote:
December 9 20, 4:48 pm
AW - we visited Greer's Ferry Lake in early June (actually stayed in rental below it on Little Red R.) Beautiful, and so much fun.

It was kind of surreal as hardly anybody was there. Its deep in a dry county, so not like Lake of Ozarks people-wise at all (I think we took advantage of weekdays) Climbed up both versions of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Beautiful lake. And, yeah, hope you had all the booze you wanted before you got there.

We keep our boat at Ouachita which is surrounded on all sides by a mountain range and has almost no development on it sans a few marinas/campgrounds. No houses/subdivisions/etc. And, the water is relatively clean.

Little Rock is divided. Most people in north/east of Little Rock go to Greer's Ferry and anyone south/west of LR goes to Ouachita. Within the city, it's mostly divided on money lines where people will go... Greer's Ferry or Hamilton for those with it as they can get a lake house/condo and Ouachita for those without due to the beauty. Hamilton is a lot like LOZ (although much smaller) in that it's owned by an energy company and is fully developed with houses and condos thorughout. Due to the development (and shallowness), they use Ouachita as a flood control lake to keep the level of Hamilton within a couple feet year round. And, that means Ouachita fluctuates greatly, probably about 20' on a typical year from April/May to September/October. Towards the end of the year, you'll see a lot of tree tops sticking out of the water in areas people drive in the spring/summer.
Have been really impressed with the outdoorsy stuff in Arkansas. I have a trail running friend that moved to Centerton - he loves it. Ouchita is well known amongst my running friends here, and of course several of them are also into mountain biking so they are all over it. I'll get down there more over time, especillay to the Buffalo N.R..

With paddling, It really opened up my ways to explore places. Midwest in general is underrated IMO for outdoors rec opportunities - it's beautiful, it's accessible, it's not as crowded and wilderness is often not as domesticated to accomodate crowds. Not as expensive as somewhere out west or on coastal. And it's green and heavily forested, which I think strikes some sort of primal chord with me. Glad you get to enjoy it man.

We had plenty of booze - even though we were unaware of the dry county situation. My wife tends to overpack things you can nornally get on the road, and it paid off this time.
Anyways, here are some gratuitous pics from Heber SPrings, Little Red River area
[SHOW]
Heber Springs Bridal Veil fallsImage
Paddling the Little Red River - the literature was all frightful about paddling it during dam release, so I scouted it on paddles for a day, then had my whole clan out there soon. Don't paddle up to river docks or you might get trapped under them, der.
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Sugarloaf Mountain #1, it's an island in middle of the lake.
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Sugarloaf Mountain #2 it's right in Heber Springs
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BonusImage
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Freed Roger
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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by Freed Roger »

AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:
December 9 20, 5:04 pm
Wait, just googled SUP. You take a paddle board on the big rivers? I didn't even know that was possible!

When I was in school in middle missouri, we went on a lot of float trips on the Meramec, Spring, Current, Gasconade, etc. The school allowed us to check out kayaks and canoes for free. Eventually they just told us to not even bring them back because we were the only ones using them and multiple times we just broke in since they were closed and took them and then put them back before anyone even noticed anyway. But, we'd typically just take two cars. Drop one off downstream and then put in upstream. But we only had one truck so we'd leave the gear off in the woods for the 30-60m it took to go get the truck and never had an issue. Of course, we had some pretty odd take out places that weren't necessarily well travelled.
That's awesome. You were just winging it - and you survived. I don't think that stuff goes on as much now. If I'm doing a new expedition, I normally research it, google maps, river maps, and whatever I can find.
I feel safer on a SUP on a big river - it can't be swamped. My daughter has paddled on the Missouri with me in kayak and SUP, and I feel safer when she is on the SUP. I can be dumped off, but it's not full of water. Disadvantage from kayaks is it's marginally slower, and not as good at hauling [expletive]. And a headwind can make the day extra rough for a SUP. Advantage is it's cooler than sitting in that cockpit of a kayak or something like an aluminum gruman. SUP has Better viewpoint. Easier to haul/transport. And I normally have something to sit on - like my cooler/stool. Best of both worlds. My paddling friends are mostly in kayaks, and we don't consider ourselves as doing different activities -just paddling. If I'm paddling with a kayaker, I'll usually be ready to shove off like 10 minutes before they are, and it works out that they catch up down river etc. It's no different concept than someone that prefers single blading in a heavy aluminum canoe - it's just the method we prefer to experience things with for some hair-brained reason or another.

Anyways, I have 3 SUPS and one kayak, and am itching for a 4th. My friend built my big river SUP for the MR340. A splurge for me, but no regrets.
Here's the gratuitous paddling river pics.
[SHOW]
Sunset/night paddle on the MO with my daughter and friend on 4th of July fireworks in Hermann - I've done a lot solo, but have been fortunate to get my family involved a bit.

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Morning on Berger Bend after sandbar camping
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Paddling to the Confluence of the MO and Mississippi - camp-over on Pelican Island
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Bad ass river house near confluence
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Cora Island near confluence
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Sandbar just past confluenceImage
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MR340 picsImage
Boonville, halfway!
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Looking back at Jeff City heading into night 2
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Random big river pics - will spare you the Ozark river trips.
Near Grafton
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Portage Des Sioux area
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Aw hell , I got more, but you get the point.


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AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: Pandemic - What is keeping you busy?

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

Awesome pics, freed! Thanks for posting.

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