7/18/10 trip up ouachita river

[vtsquid]

hay all,

Goin up the ouachita as far as I can this sunday if anyone is interested! I plan to put in at the 27 bridge and go from there! Our plan is paddle as far as we can go, maybe push up any small rapids, stop for lunch and swim breaks and then come back down river. If we don't feel like we got enough paddle time we are going to explore some of the lake below the 27!

shoot me a message if you are interested!

Bryan

[vtsquid]

firmed up plans, 0900 at the 27 recreation area for a put in! Hope to see anyone who would like to join us there!
Bryan

[Jim Krueger]

Bryan,

How'd your trip go? I meant to make a post earlier and also suggest that, if you had others going along, and had a shuttle, you might consider putting in at the Dragover take-out and float downstream to the Hwy 27 access. Just to keep from paddling upstream and not to view the same scenery going up and back down. I've never floated this section but the best I can tell, it looks to be about 11 miles.


Best Regards
Jim

[vtsquid]

well it was a long trip... 11 hours total and 20 miles.
btw if anyone showed up and left at 915 im sorry i was late. I tried snoozing my alarm to wake up and find i shut the darn thing off.... :roll:

But carrie and i got there at 0915, paddling by 0930,
we got to mile 10 up stream around 1600 or 1630, Carrie was not feeling well to begin with but still wanted to paddle (she is hard core :) ) so by that point I was well warn out. we dragged up a 3 or 4 rapids maybe more and turned around 2 or 3 miles from the bottom of drag over.

on the way down the river helped for a few miles and the rapids, which we had to drag back down 2 of them, should have dragged 3 of them...
by mile 4 on the way back down my back was sore, sholders in a knot and my chest tight. needless say it was a little stressful, but not a bad trip totally. There was a gar on a jug line that we freed, he was just tangled up in it, about 3 feet to 3.5 feet long, saw a beaver on shore and got real close before the dog noticed him and scared him off. Only one power boater the whole 11 hours, and 3 other canoes, one was fishing the bottom of the river, and the other two where finishing up a 5 day float trip down the river.

the main reason for going up river and then back down, we wanted to test our limits a little (ending up testing them a bit much) and just to do it. we wanted to paddle to the top of drag over but I dont think We could have made it with out hurting some one.

but again, it was a good trip, would not give it up for the world, saw some more gar and other fish, paddled the whole 11 hours, no swim stops... well we stopped paddling to drag the canoe up rapids... but the water was so warm it did not help at all cool us off... wicked hot day sunday!!!

I think next trip will be drag over maybe twice, I can con... I mean invite some friends from work to do that one!

[Jim Krueger]

Bryan,

Thanks for the trip report! I can tell you must be a kindred spirit though, with such a long-paddling day that you had. As I get older, I have about a 'two-hour kayak butt', then have to get out and stretch... We've made several ten-milers each year, but twice that distance is out of the question for me any more unless we're on a very swift river :)
I don't know that we'll paddle the Dragover, or even Upper Caddo any more this Summer since the levels have fallen to seasonal lows, and the temperature of the waters have warmed. We probably will be making the Remmell Dam float on the Ouachita River mostly until the Fall rains arrive, and I invite you and Carrie to please join us one weekend soon. It's usually a Saturday around noon to meet, then about a three hour or so float back down to Rockport. Cold water, with minor rapids, and one big one at the very end.

Best Regards
Jim