Greetings to all that take to time to read the crap I have to say. Well, we are getting ever so closer to that time of year when we take our little journey down the Bigfork. We are less than 72 hours away from when we are going to me at The General's 140 on the Bigfork to prep for the float. Normally we take off on the Friday of Memorial Weekend, however, this year I was not able to get the day off from work as it is going to be the last day of school with students at RLHS. In year's past I have been able to schedule a doctor's appointment that day for one of my children so I can take them to their appointment and then head for the river. We all know that life doesn't always happen the way we want so we have to make due with the cards we are dealt. This brings me to the topic of this post's discussion.
Like every year I have been keeping a close tab on the Bigfork's water level as well as the weather prediction for the weekend. As I mentioned before we had an early spring so the water level is way down this year. Currently she is only kicking out 685 cubic feet per second at the measuring station in Big Falls. On average she should be between 1500 to 2000 CFPS which usually make for less paddling and more leisurely canoeing. On the flip side of that the forecast is calling for rain the rest of the week up until Friday, however, Saturday is calling for a 90% chance of rain and storms. According to this year's plan, that is the time we are planning on being on the river. With the rain during the week the Bigfork is going to come up but that doesn't change the fact that we are going to have rain on Saturday.
I have been kicking around the idea of maybe just getting on the river late Friday and paddling our happy asses down to the Easy Half camp site that evening so we can have base camp made before the rain decides to show up. The problem with this is we are going to have to bust some ass Friday night to make it to Easy Half before it gets dark, but that also means we won't have to paddle in the rain and make camp in the rain. We have done both before, so it really isn't a big deal, nevertheless, not paddling in the rain is always a plus. The weather is looking to be warm so we won't have to worry about getting too cold on Saturday, but still...do we want to canoe in the rain?
A lot of the plan is going to depend on the conversation I have with The General in the next coming evenings. I need to touch base with him on some of the logistics of the trip so we can really put together a great plan for this year. I suppose the part of me that wants to put in on Friday is because it is going to provide a bit of a challenge to this year's trip as we are going to have to really bust some ass to make the ten miles to Easy Half before dark. I know we can do it, but does The General want to do it. I will have to get back to you on that one.
As the title suggest, this is going to be the 21st Annual River Runner Canoe Trip. I just can't believe we have been doing this for 21 years. It sometimes seems like only yesterday that we were just getting this thing off the ground and making it a yearly tradition. We have had so many great people come and go on the trip that it is truly a joy to remember. I honestly hope that I am able to make this trip again and again for another 21years. By that time I know some or all of my kids will become a part of the tradition for in 21 years my youngest will be in his late twenty's. That would make me 62 and only five years away from retirement. It is my goal this summer to finally initiate my kids on the joys of canoeing.
My wife, Emily, and I are planning to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary on the Bigfork this year with our four kids. We are planning on making the same run we are doing for this year's Memorial Weekend trip. It is an easy stretch of river with no rapids and soft current to get them the experience they need. Logan and Bug have already had the pleasure of canoeing the Bigfork over the last few years, however, this time around it would just be the Marthaler family and no one else. This means it will be Serenity and Wade's first time on the Bigfork. They have expressed interest in canoeing, but just haven't had the chance to go. This is all pending on me being able to borrow two canoe's from The General, but I don't really see that as being much of a problem.
Well, I'm going to be needing to get to some other work so I will say TTFN
Until next time I will forever remain...Crazy Joe
The story of The Bigfork River Runners begins back in 1996. It was the end of my first year of higher education and to celebrate I put together a motley crue of friends to take a canoe trip down the Bigfork River on Memorial vacation. The trip was a blast to say the least; since then we have carried on the tradition of canoeing the river every year on Memorial Weekend. Through this blog The Bigfork River Runners will share their stories and pictures from trips past and trips to come.
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