Cold Trip Report

[GloryDaze]

Here is the link to pictures if you would like to see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glorydaze/

Here is the report-

Current River Trip Report: Cedar Grove to Pulltite- 17 Miles

December 20-22, 2008

Boat: Buffalo 16’9 canoe

Floaters: Ken and Nolan

Temperature: High Low Water Conditions: (Gauge above Akers, MO)

December 20th 39 16 1.25 foot

December 21st 25 4 150 CFS

December 22nd 25 2 ** Low Floating Level**

Saturday, December 20th:

We took off from Arnold around 1 am and planned to be in the water by 1:30. We arrived at Cedar Grove, got suited up an were floating by 2. We didn’t plan to float many miles today since the forecast was for cold, cold weather. The day was not too bad at all and this section of the river is just beautiful. We did rent a canoe this time from Aker’s Ferry since neither one of us could manage to get the right vehicle for our kayaks. We drug quite a bit since the water was down and the canoe was loaded.

There is not nearly as many gravel bars on this section as there are downstream. It seemed really secluded p here and kind of hidden away from everything. I did notice quit a bit of trash (beer cans and orange trash bags) and I’m not really sure why?? We decided we would down river from Welch’s Spring for the evening and right before we stopped we happened to see 2 other people hiking (thought we would make it without seeing anyone) We settled in for the evening and it was windy and cold- we tried to build a big fire to stay warm but the wind just made it hard.

We spent the night eating and having a couple drinks along with some hot chocolate and coffee- **DISCLAIMER** For the first time in our lives we had to actually take the beer out of the bottom of the canoe and heat it by the fire before we could drink it- it was frozen solid!! It was a cold but comfortable night in our individual solo tents, but when we woke up, both of our tents were covered in ice, inside and out.

We were on the water today from 2-4:30 and covered about 4-5 miles

Sunday, December 21st:

Woke up at 8am this morning, so I guess you could say we had a good night’s sleep! We knew it was going to be a long, cold day before we started. We decided to get a late start and stay warm by the fire. Today the water level was much better and we only drug a few times. We ran into a couple Bald Eagles and a flock of Turkey flew across the river just behind us. Today was definitely a cold day and the wind was howling. The body part taking the worst of the cold were our feet. Somehow my Mukluks allowed water in them (I think it’s because they were frozen solid the night before and when I put my feet in them the thawed) but we managed. We passed the private cabin about a mile down from Aker’s and I stopped by to see if anyone was home to say hi- The owner and President of my dad’s company owns the cabin and he used to hire me in the summers when I was in college.

We passed cave spring and started looking for a place to camp out of the wind. Once again another cold night with ice in the tents and everything was frozen except for us. I had on 6 shirts, 3 pair of pants, 3 pair of socks and Nolan wore the same thing basically. The night was rather comfortable until the zipper broke on my Mummy style sleeping bag and then I was pretty much frozen- I could not get the thing zipped up to stay warm!! I still can’t get over just how dead silent it was out there both nights- I guess when it’s that cold nothing wants to make a noise!!

We were on the water today from 12pm-4:15 and covered 8 miles

Saturday, June 21st:

We camped right by a cave and decided to goof around and climb up in it for a while, at least it was warmer than the outside. We goofed around the campfire and then got another late start because of the cold weather. Today we saw a lot more iciles cascading form the bluffs and I still think they are just beautiful. Other than being flat out cold we had nothing too exciting happen today. Web stopped at Pulltite and loaded the car to head home. The funny thing was ow many people had called and left us messages bout how worried they were about us being in the cold.

We concluded this meant one of two things:

1) Ignorance is bliss- of course they were concerned, they had never done anything like this and they could not have possibly known just how prepared we were.

2) Maybe they were right, we should have been worried- but like a bunch of stubborn headed mules we were camping and floating come hell or high water!!

[laker67]

Ken and Nolan,

Great pics! And I must say that I admire your courage, taking on a float and camping in such extreme weather conditions.

[Forsythian]

Great report, thanks for sharing!

I'm hoping to get out a time or two before March rolls around.

[jdmidwest]

Anybody been above in the trophy area lately?

[cnr]

I was out on Friday. Fished from below Ashley creek to Parker Hollow for the first time. I have always stopped a little below Ashley creek and wanted to see the water all the way to Parker hollow. I have to say it wasn't exactly my type of water, the first part of the stretch below Ashley wasn't too bad, but the closer you get to Parker hollow the bigger and slower the water gets. I did manage to pickup two rainbows around 15", one on an olive woolly bugger and the other on a BWO. There was some sporadic hatches going on but nothing to keep the fish looking up with any regularity. Funny thing is that every time I fish this trophy water I only seem to catch rainbows, I haven't caught a brown in my last three trips. I didn't have the best of luck this trip but it sure was a nice day to be on the river (aren't they all!). Someday I may figure this trophy section out and actually land a trophy size fish. Until then it sure is fun to try!

[jdmidwest]

I always pick up a few browns this time of year, but the majority seem to move up closer to the spring in the winter. I really wish they would dump a load of rainbows in the area between the park and cedar grove once a year to add to the fishing.

[cnr]

Good thought JD, I should of known that. I usually stay as far away from the park as possible to avoid the crowds and I fish primarily in the winter. Maybe next time I will fish the cable down to TanVat and see if I can turn up a brown or two. Thanks for the insight.