Well I'm sitting her chomping at the bit to be done with another day of school. Not much happens these last few days as the kids have finished all their assignments and are sitting with me, playing the waiting game. The groups are set, The General and Gary are taking the Tank, Radar and Jess are floating in his canoe and Johnny Rambo and I are paddling the Core Craft. I was hoping to be soloing it this year just for the simple fact that I just wanted to float a bit on my own and reflect on the past school year. Still, I am happy to have Johnny in my canoe as that old bastard has the best balance of anyone in the group. I have watched John do balancing acts in a canoe that would make an Olympic Gymnist jealous.
As I was sitting in my room today, working on cleaning up the walls and bulletin boards I started to think about canoeing the entire Bigfork River in one shot. I figure it would take a least two solid weeks to complete the journey. This would also include spending nights at most of the camp sites along the way. This would be a family trip with my wife and four kids, however, any other River Runner that wanted to join sure the heck could. I figure that would have to wait for at least another three years so Bug has some time to grow and get stronger.
The one thing that I want to come from this year's trip is a good story to tell. I know for a fact we are going to get our shit wet because the weather is calling for a shit-load of rain on both Friday and Saturday. My plan of taking off Friday night fell through because The General and Johnny will be the only ones there by the time I make it to the 140 tomorrow night. I know it would have been assholes and elbows to get things loaded and moving on down the river. I think it would have made for one hell of an adventure, but I feel the older crew is not so keen on pushing themselves anymore. I suppose I will be that way when I hit my fifties also.
I have a few things left to get ready tonight. Some clothes and a few other minor items that are just waiting to get put into the car for the trip to Effie tomorrow night. I just have a feeling, as I do almost every year, that I am forgetting something. I suppose I will remember about a mile down the river and then the General will have some quip to make about my forgetfulness. Oh well...
I guess I'm done for now as the bell is going to ring and I have things to do tonight. Sorry this post is kind of boring, but tis better than no post.
Until next time I will 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.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Year 21 and counting...
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
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
What the fuck happened to us?
Damn, it has been a long ass fucking time since I posted on our blog. The great thing about this web shit is that my words will be here forever and a day...as long as there is a web I suppose. It is tough to put into words the reason's as to why I have not been on here recording our events as of the last few years. To be honest the trip has become a bit stale as of the last years. It has made me often wonder why this has become something that isn't what it used to be. That fucking fun killer LIFE has become the bane of the RiverRunners existence.
Not don't get me wrong, life is a ride that needs to be rode and experienced with all the joy that has to be offered to a person, however, sometimes the bitch gets in the way of tradition and puts a fucking chink into the damn mix. Over the last five years we have lost so many of the regulars to the casualty that is life that the trip has not been the same. Mini-Hulk and Mule have had their trio of kids and have not been back since the year of 2010, fuck me that blows the mind. I didn't realize that it has been six year since we had the Mule on the trip to carry our shit. Yet I did say that the lest few years have been shitty.
Digger, Ducky and The Bartender left us the following year. Digger found herself a new man who made her the center of his life, not that I'm taking anything away from Dishman...but he did fuck up...but I digress. Ducking got married, bought a house, had a couple of kids and now has to work this fucking year so she will not be joining us AGAIN. I harbor no ill-will, but I do miss having my best friend on the trip. This leads me to this year.
I guess I should catch all up to the point where we are now in the chronology of the trip. Remember awhile ago I said we were gong to canoe the entire Bigfork River, well, we are eight miles short of hitting that mark, however, I just don't want to finish the bitch yet. We need to get some of the original crew back to finish the sonofabitch. I know we are not going to get all of the originals back, but some of the people that have made the trip more than once.
I need to share something with all those that read...last year in the month of October we lost one of the OG River Runners. My little brother Jake "The Snake" Cleath took his life for reasons I can't explain. This year's trip is going to be in Memoriam of my little brother from another mother.
I just had a hell-of-an-idea...I should get in touch with Big Dog and see if he want's to take Snake's place this year for the trip. Maybe we could make the trip that we did on the first year. We could start from highway one and then slip our way to the Busti bridge like we did on the first year of the trip. This would be something cool as it could be in memory of the OG RR Snakes. Although, a lot of that is up to Mother Nature.
We had a very early spring and the Bigfork popped close to six weeks ago which means the river level will be low unless we have a lot of rain.. A low river is going to make the rapids really, really tough this year. So I don't fucking know.
I suppose I could get to what has been happening the last few years.
Until then I will remain Crazy Joe...
Not don't get me wrong, life is a ride that needs to be rode and experienced with all the joy that has to be offered to a person, however, sometimes the bitch gets in the way of tradition and puts a fucking chink into the damn mix. Over the last five years we have lost so many of the regulars to the casualty that is life that the trip has not been the same. Mini-Hulk and Mule have had their trio of kids and have not been back since the year of 2010, fuck me that blows the mind. I didn't realize that it has been six year since we had the Mule on the trip to carry our shit. Yet I did say that the lest few years have been shitty.
Digger, Ducky and The Bartender left us the following year. Digger found herself a new man who made her the center of his life, not that I'm taking anything away from Dishman...but he did fuck up...but I digress. Ducking got married, bought a house, had a couple of kids and now has to work this fucking year so she will not be joining us AGAIN. I harbor no ill-will, but I do miss having my best friend on the trip. This leads me to this year.
I guess I should catch all up to the point where we are now in the chronology of the trip. Remember awhile ago I said we were gong to canoe the entire Bigfork River, well, we are eight miles short of hitting that mark, however, I just don't want to finish the bitch yet. We need to get some of the original crew back to finish the sonofabitch. I know we are not going to get all of the originals back, but some of the people that have made the trip more than once.
I need to share something with all those that read...last year in the month of October we lost one of the OG River Runners. My little brother Jake "The Snake" Cleath took his life for reasons I can't explain. This year's trip is going to be in Memoriam of my little brother from another mother.
I just had a hell-of-an-idea...I should get in touch with Big Dog and see if he want's to take Snake's place this year for the trip. Maybe we could make the trip that we did on the first year. We could start from highway one and then slip our way to the Busti bridge like we did on the first year of the trip. This would be something cool as it could be in memory of the OG RR Snakes. Although, a lot of that is up to Mother Nature.
We had a very early spring and the Bigfork popped close to six weeks ago which means the river level will be low unless we have a lot of rain.. A low river is going to make the rapids really, really tough this year. So I don't fucking know.
I suppose I could get to what has been happening the last few years.
Until then I will remain Crazy Joe...
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