Sunday, March 11, 2007

March 11, 2007 - Spring is coming!





Beautiful weather with temperatures in the 50's and blue sky gave hint of the coming spring. The recent snow melt engorged the river to a gauge height of 6.86, which meant only 1 thing......where was I going to go kayaking and with who(m?). Both Kent and I spent Saturday occupied in our respective houses tied to the dreaded "honey-do's" list. Sunday was the day for the float.


We put in at Hidden Lake with a takeout of Royce road. Kent did not disappoint as before we even started to float he had declared (as he always does) that he was too hot and he had to shed a layer. I am not sure if he does this for my entertainment or not but it cracks me up every time. Right away we knew that with these conditions a float down the Dupe was far superior to painting the walls (even white!). Our next pleasant surprise was the total elimination of the major river blockage right before the Arboretum that had always required a portage.


We had multiple sections of nice water action and the wildlife highlight was a huge beaver (Kent estimated 40 pounds), a large owl and our first heron sighting of the year. A couple of beverages, some chips and salsa at riverside capped off a delightful Sunday afternoon.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

March 4, 2007...2 boats, 4 men and the streak hits 16




Taking advantage of the high water (over 6.0 ft on the Naperville gauge) and the bright sun, Pat, Dan, Kent and Mike (a Duper virgin) launched at Centennial Beach and took out at Knoch Knolls park. The temperature was in the 30's and the significant ice that choked the west branch a couple of weeks ago was not an issue. We did have to break through some recently formed ice get the trip started, though.

It was not long before talk of rubbing, looking for the "V" and the topic of how good a kisser Kent was indicated that Mike fit right in. The normal Einstein-type conversation that we so enjoy was not going to be scarified today! Hey, Mike, why is one side of the geese formation longer than the other? The mom can tell what by tasting what?

We had many enthusiastic fans along the river walk and the river had some nice action in a few spots, although we could see that it had been 2 feet higher just a few days ago (gauge was over 8 ft on Friday). Wildlife sightings were limited to ducks and geese but we did see some nice ice formations from branches down to the river.

As always boys, the time spent on the river with you guys is always enjoyable and entertaining.