Buffalo River

“So, I am guessing we should just go ahead and shoot him now.”

“As long as y'all gave him a fair trial.......”

“Prosecuter:

Did you piss on a gravel bar?

Stratdewd:

Yes?

*Bang** Bang, Bang***”

“LMAO! Someone should tell him Stratty gots a Glock.....

Trip report tomorrow”

“The Plan
Carver to Gilbert, 36 miles. Arrive Thur afternoon and shuttle vehicles, arrive at Gilbert Monday by 6PM. Steve and Brian(brothers) and I would each have a 17' canoe with gear.
The Forecast
They were calling for rain every day of the trip....but those forecasters are almost always wrong, right? We convinced ourselves it probably wouldn't get that bad and we had plenty of rain gear
The Omen
On the way to the river, Steve was following me too close and couldn't see the terrapin and squished him. He felt terrible about it but these things happen sometimes. I worried it was a bad sign.
The shuttle to Gilbert
When we got to Gilbert to leave the truck and trailor we discovered that the only plave to park the long rig would be on the gravel bar. With the rain coming we knew that was a bad idea. There is a store right there and we asked them and theysaid we could park in there field for the low low price of $10/day. $50 we weren't counting on, down the drain. The worst part was how rude the people at the Gilbert store were. I will never, EVER spend another dime there.
The Trip
There wasn't anywhere to camp at Carver so we loaded up the boats and went to the first cool camping spot we found, which turned out to be right arounf the corner. The river was calm, low and had that killer Buffalo blue color to it. We caught some catfish and smallmouth but no keepers. I jammed out a little bit on my Martin Backpacker and the sound bouncing off the bluff was incredible. T-bone steaks rounded out a perfect evening on the river.
The next morning we rolled out the next morning and about 10 minutes after leaving, it started to sprinkle. We pulled over and put on our rain gear and then I cut the CRAP out of my forearm. I was cutting a rope to tie stuff down with and just got careless bacause I was in a hurry because of the rain. It's was a 1 1/2" clean cut through the first layers of hide but it wasn't bleeding at tall. Steve slapped some duct tape on it and we moved on. It rained off and on for the next 12 hours......
Later that afternoon, we had had enough and during a break in the rain we found a spot about 10 higher than the current water level because we knew the water would start rising soon. We set up camp, complete with tarps over the fire etc. Ate dinner, had a drink and kept a close eye on the water. We kept track of it by markig the edge with a stick. It came up slowly but surely, an inch an hour. We decided to take turns watching it. About midnight, Brian yells...BRAD! GET UP! WE GOTTA GO! I looked out and the water had come up 3 feet in the last 30 minutes! DOH! BUG OUT! We were smart enough to pick a spot with another level behind up to bail too if needed....The next hour was a mad scramble, dragging out boats and all of our gear to the top of that steep, muddy hill and set up camp again. It was CRAZY! But we did it. The water came up another 3 feet after that while we slept.
The next morning, we climbed up the mountain to call family and let them know we were ok. That's when we found out about Joplin and realized how lucky we were because that's really not that far away. the rain had stopped and the river started dropping and we finally decided to get in a few miles. The river was still HUGE but all we had to do was maintain the boats in the middle and we'd be fine. Steve clocked us with his GPS and we were going around 6 MPD without even paddeling. Well, we came up on this submerged island and I got sucked into the current and before i knew it, I couldn't get away from this tree. I hoped I would bounce off it but when I slammed into it, the boat tipped and within 1 second, my 17' Coleman was bent insideout abound this 10" tree and ll my gear was bobbong in the current. It was a very sketchy situation. 10 foot deep and an extremely strong current. I made my way to the bank, Brian and Steve both keeping an eye on me. Once ashore, they emptied one of their boats and we all got in and went out for my gear. It took a lot of effort, 2 trips, and some big nards but we got it all. I hardly even lost any beer out of ym icechest. Everything was soaked, including my guitar but I was happy to be alive and very bummed about Pinky(My canoe). They kept telling me we could save it but I didn't believe it. I was about as low as I've ever been at that moment.
The next day, we waited for the water to drop enough till we could get a rope on the boat and got it pulled out. I was astonished when we popped it back into shape and it didn't have any holes in it at all. The aluminium support poles were broken but i cut some saplings and rebuilt everything and it worked. IT WORKED! I made it the last 25 miles in it , no problem.
We ran into this poor guy there and he was ll alone and had lost almost all his clothes and food in the flood the night before. We think he was homeless and living out there so we hooked him up with a bunch of food and fishing tackle and even a 6 pack. It was nice to help someone in need.
We floated on down toward Tyler Bend and camped at a killer hole the last night. Made it to Gilbert about noon on Monday, just as it started to rain again. On the way home, we had to pull over because we had stumbled into a bad storm. We later learned that they were seeing rotation in that cell.
If we had only filmed the whole thing, it would have been a perfect Man Vs Wild episode. Nature threw everything it had at us and we made it. Learned a lot and none of us will ever forget it.
The End”

“WOW! I don't do swollen rivers. Good thing there wasn't an undertow.”

“It was crazy strong. Luckily there was an eddy behind that tree so when I bailed I had a sweet spot where I could gather myself. It was intense though.”

“I'm looking into finding some new aluminum tubing to repair Pinky's frame.It's about 1& 1/2" thin wall tubing. I've never seen it for sale anywhere.”

“Try metals suppliers in your area. The only problem would be minimum orders in some cases.”

“Hmmm, very wise choice, oh great bait of tree”

“Perhaps you can find metal electrical conduit at a home supply that will work.”

“http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=229397270406863&id=100000097762297#!/photo.php?fbid=10150195785918038&set=a.19407308037.30951.750543037&type=1&theater
We got a cabin last weekend near the Compton trailhead. My son took this panoramic from the deck on his Iphone. We floated on Sat. It was too crowded but we still had a blast”

“So if you didn't read the report above, I wrapped my canoe around a tree last year. I took Owl's advise and replaced all the busted pipes with conduit and it's stronger than ever. Our spring float trip starts this Wed after work. We're doing about 35 miles in 3 1/2 days on the Buffalo from Tyler Bend to Rush. I'm about halfway packed, the trailer lights are all working. I'll get groceries this weekend.
This year's entertainment: Noodeling!”

“Good luck, be safe and have fun.”

“Thanks !”

“Tyler Bend to Rush:
The trip was great. We only scraped a time or two and we probably should have done 25 miles, not 35. We fished a ton, I used sunscreen and didn't get burned. I found a catalpa tree full of worms so we had fresh catfish for dinner. We had killer spots every night and not too many people( exce”

“Except for Saturday between Dillards Ferry and Buffalo Point, that was the drunken college kid party zone. We just powered through all the idiots playing AC/DC on their boom boxes. Hopefully the river will get lots of rain because it's getting really low. I doubt you could do our float in another week. I got a picture of a mink(or river otter?) and a bald eagle I got really close too.
That's a bout it, no big disasters, nothing dramatic. Just an awesome time in the outdoors.
The End”

“whats the matter..you don't like AC/DC”

“Lol, yeah I do. Hell's Bells is just so cliche though. That guy was so....large, he couldn't even sit in between the rails on the canoe seat. Amazing!”