“Water draws the only straight lines in nature. It is in curvatures, however - in movement - that its true character comes most clear; where a velvety layer of limid water spills over granite ledge, for instance, defining liquidity. This should not surprise us. The earth is beautiful because of water.”
John Jerome - Blue Rooms (1997-Henry Holt and Company, New York)
In this blog entry I’ve documented three different outings I was fortunate to have had on some of our area rivers in the last week and a half. The first outing was with my family on rippling Turtle Creek. The second involved a friend and his son, together with my son Todd and I, on the snaking Sugar River. The third trip brought area teachers and members of the “Gulo Adventure Clan” onto the steady Rock River.
Pictures & videos follow each entry.
On Saturday, July 2nd my family loaded up the old Dodge Ram that Todd has been borrowing from Grandpa Firman this summer. It’s a perfect vehicle to throw our old canoe and two kayaks into, strap them down, and drive the back roads to the “put in” spot.
On this day we traveled up to Shopiere, Wisconsin and Sweet Allyn Park. We unloaded our gear, and then Todd and I took the truck to our drop off point at the “Town of Turtle Canoe Launch” off South Creek Road. Afterwards we traveled back in our old Jeep to meet the girls. It was also the maiden voyage for our dog Kora. All week I had been getting her used to the canoe in our back yard; having her getting in and out and rocking it around while she was sitting in it.
She enjoys water, so we decided to have her be a part of our adventure. The day was perfectly cool early on and then warmed up as the day progressed. This typically is a fairly quick run, although the water was low due to the lack of rain recently; so for that reason we were a bit slowed when we scraped bottom and had to get out and pull our vessels over the gravel bars. That led to some consternation, but the struggle also allowed us to get out and play in the water from time to time. Kora ran in the shallows, and probably could have done that all day. I love this little creek, as it’s shallow in most spots, has a gravel bottom in this section, and has clear water so you can see fish and other fun critters under the surface. At one of our stopping points we were fortunate to see two red-tailed hawks sitting in a tree beside the creek. The way they were calling, and since they were not spooked by our presence, it led me to believe that one of their young (called an “eyas”) was up in the foliage, undetected. Once we were out, a bit difficult with the bank you have to get up, we all loaded back into the truck, drove back over to Shopiere to pick up the Jeep, and then made our way home.
Jodi, Kora and Todd-Sweet Allyn Park-Shopiere, Wis.
Cindy and Kora
Red Tailed Hawks - Do you see the 2nd one?
The Family on Turtle Creek
On Saturday, July 9th our friends, Mark and Garret, drove to our house by 7:30 am and helped Todd and I load the gear that we had stacked and ready to go, into the truck and Jeep. This time we headed westward out to the Sugar River. We dropped our equipment off, completed the vehicle drop-off, returned to the boys, and then began paddling downstream a little after 9:00. Mark and I manned the canoe, as it was loaded with an arm full of firewood, and a tub of our food and cookware. The boys had the kayaks. Mark and I have gone out on outings with the boys before (See “Men Of The Hood”), and so with Garret college bound this fall as well, this was a chance to continue our friendships with a summertime adventure. We talked, laughed, found a sandbar to cook breakfast on, stopped to swim and cannonball off the bank into some relatively deep water (if you ran hard and jumped far enough), and had a race down the last stretch to the takeout spot. We arrived only slightly out of breath. They say, “To the victor goes the spoils,” and perhaps it does. Our spoils were already cashed in, however, after a great meal, beautiful scenery, a hot sun over cool water, and playing in the water; before we had a picture taken and packed everything back into the old Dodge Ram. We picked up the Jeep, and through tired eyes, headed back home.
Breakfast on a Sandbar of the Sugar River
Mike, Todd, Garret and Mark at the "Take Out"
Yesterday, on Monday, July 11th, after having left the canoe and kayaks in the back of the truck after Saturday’s outing, I met a group of the “Gulo Adventure Clan” at 7:00 on the Rock River in Roscoe. We planned a Riverside (Park) to Riverside (Bridge) extravaganza. The group is made up of guys tied in one way or another, either past or present, to the Prairie Hill School District (Prairie Hill & Willowbrook Middle School). My friend Louie and I started the madness eight years ago, with an “End Of The School Year Adventure.” Although Louie teaches at Roscoe, we had coached boys basketball together at Prairie Hill for 9 years, and had grown into good friends through the process. After 5 years of enduring everything from kayak trips, to long distance hiking and biking, we opened it up to some other friends, and then eventually to all of the guys at school. It’s always an open invitation, so that without pressure men can join us if they want to, based on their schedules and the activity we have planned. Yesterday our group consisted of Louie, Justin, Tyler, and two new inductees: Doug, and Greg who was five years out of retirement. This was a different kind of paddling than my first two trips; the Rock River is wide and sweeping. It was early enough though, that we paddled with virtually no other boat traffic, and if you hugged the inside of the bends that turned to the left (as we headed south) you could take advantage of the shade from the trees that provided relief from the hot sun bearing down on us. The wind was also out of the south, so we paddled into that head-wind most of the morning. Greg and I paddled the “Party Barge” canoe while the others took to the kayaks. We stopped at Atwood Forest Preserve at a perfect time for a break, and quickly cooked up the infamous breakfast over a wood fire on one of their massive grills next to the picnic shelter. It was the inaugural usage (out-of-doors) of my new fifteen inch iron skillet. The sucker weighs 12 pounds, and is not for the faint of heart. I figure that on these water outings it could do as an anchor in a pinch! The rest of the guys talked and tossed around a football while I made the fire, added the ingredients, and cooked. After presenting the newbees with their official membership cards (thanks for starting the applause Justin), we ate in the shade, under the roof of the shelter, for a break from the sun. After cleaning up and hitting the water again, we made one more stop alongside the Forest Preserve Headquarters. We were hot, and needed to cool off, so we pulled up on a sandy shore and dove in for a few minutes. Nothing is quite like your first swim in the Rock. It really was refreshing, and had we not had to finish off the trip, I think Greg would have reverted to his high school days of distance swimming and gone all the way across the river. We continued on and arrived at a little marina, near Riverside Boulevard in Rockford, after about three total hours of paddling; four and a half hours with the stops. The crowning moment was when we then pulled the kayaks out and loaded them onto Louie’s pontoon boat and tied the canoe on behind. As he said, “This is the first time we’ve gone down and have come back, all on the river.” It was a great ride back up the river to Riverside Park. That aspect of the adventure took about an hour and a half, but it gave us the opportunity to continue the conversations, and enjoy the homes and views along the banks. You can never have too much time on a river.
See you along The Way...
Doug, Mike, Louie, Tyler, Justin and Greg at the "Put In"
A twelve pound skillet with a Million Dollar Meal
View of the Flotilla from the "Party Barge" Canoe
A quick stop for a swim break
End of an Adventure - The trip back up River
“I find myself thinking that we’ve finally succeeded in getting away from the world, and then realize I’ve got it backward. The world - the phenomenal world, unmediated - is just what we’ve found our way into.” John Jerome - Blue Rooms (1997-Henry Holt and Company, New York)
No comments:
Post a Comment