My nephew, King (“Catfish”) Pugh, and I had been speaking about and planning a canoe journey down the Satan’s River for a number of years, and it lastly got here collectively as King’s pal, (“Minnesota”) Steve Timm, a grasp sawyer from Minnesota, and my son, Trey (“Griz”) Sayles, joined us for a 48 mile float, push-pull, portage, paddle like loopy in opposition to the wind, adrenaline pumping expedition down what’s arguably essentially the most demanding and essentially the most pristine, crystal clear river in Texas.
King introduced his new Bell 17 foot carbon fiber canoe. I had Buck McMullen’s cumbersome, outdated 17 foot Alumacraft, and Trey was in an 11 foot rental kayak. We camped the primary evening at a personal “campground” (weed-eated spots with no bathrooms or trash receptacles) at Bakers Crossing, and it was evident once we loaded the canoes the subsequent morning that King, our grasp chef and supply sergeant, had over-prepared.
“We seem like a ‘map the Nile River expedition’,” stated Trey as King’s buddy, Steve, whose favourite canoe journey is the higher Missouri River, shook his head in settlement and insisted that King go away his battery powered air conditioner and recliner behind.
There have been many instances once we have been in peril of drowning, critical harm, sunburn, or snakebite, however we have been by no means in peril of not having sufficient to eat. Prime t-bones an inch and 1 / 4 thick cooked over pecan wooden coals accompanied by salad and campfire potatoes will not be precisely “roughing it” in relation to consuming.
Nobody can evaluate to “Catfish” King Pugh in relation to campfire cooking, and we have been going to eat nicely no matter what else occurred.
One evening, camped on a flat rock shelf subsequent to the river the place we couldn’t put up a shelter tarp, King and his helpers cooked fried Mexican quail, subject peas, campfire potatoes, and salad in a wild rainstorm, accentuated with good shows of lightning, whereas the outdated man waited, heat and dry in his little tent, to be served a connoisseur meal.
Though we learn as a lot as we might concerning the river, the rapids, and different recommendation from earlier vacationers, we needed to make our personal choices about methods to deal with the rapids or negotiate the huge, difficult mazes of shallows obscured by grass islands with grass greater than eight toes excessive.
On one set of sophistication II rapids that we are actually referring to as “the satan’s toenail”, King and Steve entered the speedy and have been in it with no alternative however to run it and hope for the perfect. They made it by way of, after which they climbed again up the rocks to warn us. Trey went for it, too, and made it by way of, however the Alumacraft, loaded to the hilt with gear, and powered by a single paddler, would by no means have made it.
I urged that we unload it and portage down beside the speedy, however Trey and Steve have been assured they might line the loaded canoe by way of the treacherous, waist deep torrent that cut up proper and left across the toenail rock itself.
Catastrophe. The bow of the canoe began down one facet, however the stern was picked up by the present taking place the opposite. Trey made a heroic effort to push the strict again in step with the bow, nevertheless it was too late, and the canoe shortly took on water, pinned by hundreds of kilos of water stress to the satan’s toenail itself.
I did not see any means for us to get the canoe off, however King insisted that we accomplish that, even when we needed to reduce the canoe down the center to get it off. Trey, considering extra virtually, reduce down a small tree along with his folding noticed, and, after eradicating all of the gear, the 4 of us levered the canoe, inch by inch, up out of the water.
What a reduction to see it get carried down the speedy to the swirling pool beneath, badly wounded, however nonetheless floating.
Trey stomped the canoe again into form, and a few 5 minute epoxy and Gorilla Tape have been used to patch the cut up within the aluminum pores and skin. Gorilla Tape proved to be a really helpful addition to the expeditionary supplies. I broke one facet of my kayak paddle and used epoxy and Gorilla Tape to repair it. The paddle endured the remainder of the journey with out incident, and is in my storage ready for use once more. We used Gorilla Tape to fix fishing rods, restore rips in nylon tarps, and maintain collectively absolutely anything that wanted holding collectively 슈어맨.
Though none of us fished as a lot as we might have appreciated, we caught perch, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, hybrid bass, and catfish. King, generally known as “Catfish” due to the distinctive catfishing strategies he makes use of to catch them on the Clear Fork of the Brazos, used a river cane pole with a hook, cut up shot weight, and sizzling dog meat for bait to entice a number of catfish out of the deeper holes within the rapids whereas we waited at one of many solely clothes shop take-out factors alongside the river.
We weren’t ready to be taken out, although, we have been ready for the clothes shop to return with some ice so King might have ice in his Jack and Coke.
Dolan Falls, with no public entry apart from by canoe or kayak down the river, was awe inspiring, and, after portaging across the falls, we dove from the rocks and performed to our hearts content material.
We had seen no different canoers on the higher river, till a gaggle of scout masters who had camped on the Nature Conservancy’s cabin with sizzling showers and actual beds, floated in behind us on the clothes shop’s takeout. And, beneath that takeout we noticed no different canoers.
At instances it appeared that we have been in a timeless land the place Indian cave shelters, pristine, un-polluted waters, and the absence of different folks, transported our souls to a greater time on planet Earth.
Low water circumstances and excessive headwinds on daily basis made progress by way of the frequent rapids and shallows in addition to by way of the lengthy, deep swimming pools of emerald inexperienced waters tough and exasperating, however the rewards of being on this wonderful river and of sturdy, male companionship underneath trial, made all of it worthwhile.