Two for the Road

Billy Crews and Shawn McKee

(The following are the post-BNR 2011 emails regarding this year's trip.)  As Shawn and Billy were the only ones to make the pilgrimage this year, one is inclined to inquire:  Where the hell was everyone?!?

BUFFALO REPORT TO CORE COMMITTEE:

Ok, it was tough not having you two with us this year on the Buffalo. We did honor the core and place another year in the books. When we finally realized that we weren't going to find royster at Kyles with a hugh compound, something cooking, and smoking a cigar, we resigned to the fact that no one had reserved us a site the night before. So we left Kyles and talked to a ranger. Steel creek full, Ozark full, Lost Valley closed, we headed to Erbie. The road was fixed that week, best its ever been. The sites were freshly bush hogged and raked, private, enclosed by bamboo that had been under 15 feet of water the week before.  Found a great spot, set up camp. Once I realized that the good beer was disappearing from the cooler at the exact rate that I was drinking the good beer, then and only then did we relax and decide we really did not need you two to get us through the buffalo trip this year.  

We did miss y'all on the river. Billy's not much into frisbie. And I forgot to put ice in the cooler on the second day - had to bum it from a nice couple on the river.  But we survived.

So, here's the report. Bill can annotate.

1. water was perfect. 18 inches on Saturday, probably 22 on Sunday. Lots of class 3, haystacks, logs, debris from the big flood. 

2. fishing was good to very good, I would say. I enjoyed it. Lots of current and places to gather the food

3. people generally behaved. Lots and lots on saturday, one tenth as many on Sunday. Lots of kayaks, rafts. 

4. Erbie is a fine campground. I don't know why the outfitters hate it. The road is better and quicker than kyles. Spots are great. Close to Jasper. Will do that again. 

5. We did double shuttle because of one car. This works fine. No problems. Did not walk more than fifty feet either day.

6. Nalgene of Sierra Nevada Pale on Sat, Sam Adams Cream Stout on Sunday. Good west/east mix for the menu. (along with a few of Billy's GD 64s)

7. Lost Valley Canoe is now fully run by siblings of Larry and Jo. Jo retired, Larry is a bad topic. Chris and Brian, Larry's brother, alone with Emily and Bret do a fine job. First class.

8. Great meals this year including full breakfast every morning, full dinner every night, specialty coffee on the way to the boats. Excellent and cheap and fast and easy. ((ozark cafe))

9. Roy's cabin was awesome. Just can't say enough about it. Perfect. Great way to conclude the trip. 

10. Interstate barbecue and Roy's hamburgers with Johnie and Jace bracketed the travel. Really enjoyed visiting with you guys. 

There you have it. We decided, without quorum, that the water should determine the upper/lower thing every year. Like all the unpredictability of the Buffalo that we love, the water is the ultimate guide. Going to the upper was so perfect this year that it can not be missed. But in low water going do to Rush is the answer, staying on the river. Staying at Roy's on the final night is perfect.

ps. crown royal and pink floyd and 3am is a tradition.  -Shawn

Haha, nice report.  Glad to see you kept up the all night Floyd vigil.  Good stuff!  -Andy

Excellent summary!  There is nothing to add to the BNR part of the experience, but, I will say that the effects of the Great Flood of 2011 are far reaching and still viewable.  The flood waters in the delta I expected; the amount of standing water that has been pushed up and is still surrounding Little Rock was quite a shock.  'nuff said.

(I suppose I'll expand upon Shawn's treatment and SC blog it w/pix...)

PS:  I've concluded the following:  It's not Devil's Walking Stick (which is a small, ornamental tree) or "Fire Weed" (which is a perennial herb/flower that propagates really well in the wake of a forest fire).  It's Stinging Nettles:  Ouch, they burn.  I'm curious - I'm suffering from an allergy attack that started late Sunday afternoon, which is usually symptomatic of histamines being released in excess in the body.  I got branded by Stinging Nettles on Sunday afternoon, and part of my research found that part of the toxins released by the plant are histamines.   Hmm, any opinions on the relationship...?

PPS:  Roy & Johnny:  Thanks so much for the hospitality.  Both, the cabin and visit/burgers, really made the trip special.  We really appreciated it.  -Billy

I always thought it was fire weed. Maybe that's the local mary jane and poison ivy mixture. 

we also met some cool folks from kansas, baton rouge, texas, little rock, tennessee. bacheler party, viking party, india party, drunken party, cpa bikers, ex-pat from new orleans, first timers who grew up in harrison, canadians, unknown languages, kids on scavenger hunts, scouts, church groups, weird groups, hikers on the bnr trail, horses crossing the river, folks getting arrested, locals in ozark with no idea where they were or which direction to kyle's landing. the usual stuff. 

we found a cave. It goes, but not on this trip.  -Shawn

Anytime bud.  I just wish I could have joined you guys.  Maybe next year.
-Andy

Guys,
It's good to know I was missed.  Can't think how many mornings I've been
asked one or both of the following on the river:


McKee: Dale, are you getting coolers together?  Oh, yeah, you're already on it.
McKee:  Dale, are we taking nalgenes?  Oh, yeah.... uh, how many you got?  Okay, I think I can find some more over here somewhere...


(Mac, sorry good beer had to disappear from the cooler on a one-to-one ratio.  My bad.)
I only beered up one nalgene this weekend, but I discovered how to carry it to the pool on my bike (it hangs on my gps bracket--glad I finally found a use for that thing), so the weekend wasn't totally wasted.


Still, missed being there with you guys.  Although I know y'all had a great trip, just the two of you and 9,000 other people on the river on Saturday.


Hey, did y'all canoe "Ponca" to Pruitt?  Or do "Ponca" to Kyle's twice?  Did you catch up with the Andrewses at the cabin, or in L.R.?


P.S. Roy, I really missed seeing you (and the family)--not those guys, since I'm gonna be stuck with McKee and Crews for a week in a couple of months.  -Dale

Steel Creek to Kyle's (NPS won't let the outfitters launch at Ponca on that weekend), then Kyle's to Pruitt.  And we invaded the Andrews' at their "hangar" in Li'l Rock.  -Billy


Billy,
Thanks.  I knew about Steel Creek (I just couldn't think of its name)--that's why I put "Ponca" in quotes.  Billy, had you ever met Roy's crazy Portuguese dog before?  I think he and Brian Pope are related.  -Dale

Well, I met some kind of dog while visiting the L'il Rock gang, but he didn't look like Pope.

BTW, the river got a little smaller just below the Steel Creek launch:  Last weeks torrential rain and flash flood caused an "enormous" landslide on the south-side bluff.  I estimate that the debris field came from approx. 200 feet overhead and looked to be about half of an acre in surface area.  The pile along and in the river was unbelievable.  Trees that were a foot thick near their base were snapped like toothpicks.  I wish I could have been there to see it, but was glad I wasn't...  -Billy

yes! that slide was impressive.  Yosemite-ish.  It will be a clear hillside for the next 20 years.  Very efficient tree and land removal.  The new slabs of rock in the river slipped silently beneath our canoe looking no different from the other slabs except for their fresh clean virgin rock faces minted from formally solid cliff.  New sunlight will cultivate that section of river into something unlike the dark passage it was before.  We were told it happened within the last week.  The locals seem impressed also.  It actually closed the river for a few days.  -Shawn

Wow!  Glad you didn't see it too, Billy.  Did y'all take a photo?  Do you think it dammed/backed up the river pretty good before the new channel was cut?  -Dale

No, I purposely didn't take a pic (knowing I should have anyway), b/c the beginning to end "event field" was too large, and we were up close and personal w/it.  My pix would have done it no justice, turning an act of God into a ho-hum event.  You would have to see it to be impressed.  But I don't think it totally blocked the river; I seem to recall the new obstacles staying pretty much to the south side of the river.

But have no fear - the results from the event will be lasting for years to come.  -Billy

Thats because we shaved him Dale LOL.  -Andy

BTW... Shawn, would you please extrapolate the following data (you gotta know where to look, brother...).  We concluded that Saturday, 05/28/2011, equated to:  Damn perfect!  (My guess is 18 inches of air at Ponca.)  -Billy

I would concur with their red line 2.5 ft equals 24 inches of airspace.  I might set the bar a little lower at maybe 28 inches as the cut off but this could certainly be used. The drop rate for that river is pretty constant, I imagine, from storm to storm.  

If we had looked at this on midnight the night before driving up may 26 we would see 3.5 feet of water. But, even the next day would have been good canoeing if we had done Sunday and Monday, so the real indicator is 3.0 feet of water. 

Rule: If you look at this gage at midnight on Thursday night and you have 3.0 or better, you call Roy and tell him to head for Kyle's Landing. If below 3.0 you call Roy and tell him to pick up steaks for the cabin. (canoe the lower).  -Shawn