Those were the words that caused me to question exactly what we were getting into.
The put in was a pain to get to. An unimproved road down into the gorge that will test your shocks and springs and seemed to go on forever. Finally we get there and are rewarded nicely with the sound of running cool clear water.
Here's Dave in his element on his SUP. The first mile or so was shallow and we had to rock hop quite a bit.
I think this was big Springs but not 100% on that. It was one of those places that's just super cool to be in. I forgot the neat Pano feature on my new waterproof camera... That would have been awesome.
That is big spring coming in on the left. I think this section could support Rainbows....
Looking up from the last of the rock hopping places, or so we thought...
Rocks the size of houses litter this waterway.
The typical whiterwater here. Nothing more then a class one that I remember.
I brought a spinning rod this trip (new water) and a Rebel Craw. Here are a few samples of the fish I encountered.
A few miles down the water started to flatten out. We were in awe at the size of these sycamore trees. Pics do it no justice.
Dave got excited and was probing for Musky with his 10wt. I was a bit skeptical yet so I kept on with the rebel Craw. Then we hit a section that just smelled musky.
Sure enough after several fish rushed Daves fly one finally ate! (I have some video of the catch I'll get out later)
Love scars.
Sweet! Musky at last. I rigged my 10 and was getting into the game from here on out.
Next Hole we come to I'm sure I'll have my chance to stick one of these headwater fish that have surely not seen many flies if ever...
Then it happened. We were several miles in and the river just disappeared. There was nothing for us to do but drag the boats and hope it wasn't far till the river reemerges. You can't imagine the torture it is to walk on snot covered bowling balls in Keens pulling a 75 pound Kayak plus 25 pounds of gear. If I posted all the curse words I thought about I would have to ban myself. Ok it can't be that bad,, just right around the corner the river will welcome my already tired arms and legs with a cold welcoming liquid that will float us home. Just around the next bend....
WRONG.
Ok no big deal. This sucks but I think I can hear water ahead. This has got to be the end of the dry bed.
HOLY SHIT!!
We drug our boats for about 2 miles over bowling ball and beach ball size rocks. Some times they were ankle deep and covered in the slickest shit known to man and sometimes they were dry as if not so much as a drop of water had ever touched them, ever. The battey died on my camera trying to get a gps fix so I didn't get to film us finally finding the river again and paddling out IN THE DARK! We got to our truck at 9pm and had to haul the boats 60 feet up a 45 degree sandy bank. Then we had to take the road from hell back down to Dave's Xterra and drive the road from hell back up the gorge to the hwy.
I would put up a food pic except,, oh yeah there wasn't any food!!!
My feet are blistered and bruised but I'm in pretty good shape today considering the hellish trip yesterday. The monthly trainer and gym fees finally are paying for themselves I guess.
As bad as it was I'm glad I did it. I'm betting not many folks have seen that part of the river and very few if any have caught a musky on the fly in those sections. It's pretty safe to say I never will either.
All in all, I wouldn't undo for anything.
The Jackson Cosa isn't hurt at all. The bottom is scratched some but nothing deep enough to be concerned about. I'm amazed the keel isn't completely missing. I wasn't exactly babying it after about the first 100 yards. The more I fish this boat the more I'm loving it.
