Meramec River Trip

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It had been a long time since we had taken a company trip.  So, with some of my co-workers having expressed interest I organized a company canoe trip.  I decided that since there would be several kids that we would return to Meramec State Park for their 5 mile float.  This was where Colin had his first float trip at 18 months.  It is a very family friendly section of the Meramec River.  We all met at our 3 reserved campsites on Friday night, August 19th.  Saturday morning we were greeted with a thunderstorm, and many wondered if we would be able to canoe that day.  Having faith that it would clear up we made breakfast under the canopies and it soon quit raining. By the time we put in at the Sappington Bridge Access it had turned into a beautiful day!  Though the trip was short, and I had to stay in a campground with the noisy campers, it was a very nice trip visiting with everyone around the campfire.  I hope to get everyone out again next year!

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Gasconade River Trip

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After hearing me talk about taking Colin on canoeing trips my neighbor Chris decided that he and his son Benjamin would like to join us.  We took off Thursday July 28th and headed down to his family's cabin at Lake of the Ozarks.  We had a nice dinner out and spent part of the evening out on the water.  Very relaxing!  I can see the appeal of having a weekend getaway.

Friday morning we headed down to the Boiling Spring Campground on the Gasconade River.  We had arranged for a 14 mile trip and after a short wait for the owner to return we headed to our put in.  All of us had a nice day on the river, especially the boys.  We stopped to swim several times and even spent some time fishing.  Colin caught his first fish and then reeled a few more in!  He was very excited!!  Towards the end of the day as we were looking for a good campaing spot we encountered a 3 mile stretch of river that was SLOW and swampy.  In fact, we found a spot that we thought was clean enough for a swim and within a few minutes I had a leech crawling up my arm...back in the boats boys!  So, with the sun beginning to set we settled on a less than ideal gravel bar and quickly setup camp, made dinner, and went to bed as the mosquitos started to swarm.

Saturday on the river was enjoyable, without any of the slow swampy sections to slow us down.  We had gone 8 miles on Friday so we only had 6 to go.  It was very hot out (high 90's) but the water was cool and enjoyable.  We had an especially nice rest at the confluence of the Gasconade and Big Piney rivers.  We finished up at the Boiling Spring before heading back to the campground and on to the lake house for dinner.  After dinner we went swimming and took the boat out.  Colin got to go tubing for the first time (with me), and after the initial fear, he decided it was very cool!  It was a very nice and relaxing weekend!



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Elk River Trip

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After a few weeks back to normal life after our trip to Yellowstone I needed to get out!  So, on July 16, 2011 I headed down to the Elk River for a solo trip.  I had been on the Elk several times in previous years, but had not been for a while.  I had hoped to do an overnight trip, but couldn't find anyone to pick me up any further downstream than Noel the next day.  So, I started on the Little Sugar Creek and the nice people at The Falls Campground agreed to come pick me up at the Mt. Shira access.  The river was completely full of the typical partiers.  At times it was a chore paddling around the traffic jams created by the rafts, but even with all the people it was still nice to be on the river.  I ended up doing the 8.6 miles in around 4 1/2 hours so, after waiting 30 minutes for my ride to show up I headed home.

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