11:45 am. I ask my boss if I can leave early, and I head home to pack. Guy, Doug, Greg and I meet at Guy's and head out in the corn wagon to Douthat State Park and literally almost run into Dave and Liz on I-64. The cabins at the park are cozy and warm and perfect for meeting up with more friends: Shawn, Laura, Thomas and Emily.
Saturday, 8:30 am. Shawn is anxious to get going but we're hoping if we drag our feet the gray skies will give way and we'll get some sun. For a few seconds it looks like that might happen, then the sky opens up on the way to the takeout. It let up enough to let us get on the river around noon at 3.6 ft/425 cfs.
Despite the Tellico-length shuttle, the trip was short and uneventful under a gray sky. At the end, nine frozen boaters piled into Dave's pickup to head back to the putin. By the time we got to the cabins, the gear was frozen in the truck and the wind had picked up. Dave fried awesome wings and fries that people continued to talk about the next day and Thomas made his famous green chili, and for dessert we were treated to a poetic reading of the cabin guest book by Thomas.
Sunday morning brought the promise of buckwheat pancakes at the (Warm Springs?) Ruritan Club about 75 miles away the long way. After filling our tummies with hot pancakes and maple syrup next to a cemetery with two port-a-potties installed we headed to the Maple Festival in Monterey. We found reasons to not buy 1.5 pounds of fudge but some people bought maple donuts from the short line (thanks for the bite Em!). By the way for those in the know, the guy at the head of the long line didn't move for the 15 minutes we waited in it and it was loooong.
Saturday's Weather:
Run Park Photos
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