A couple dozen buzzards perched in trees ominously overlooking the put in below Juliett dam while I literally stood gnawing my fingers tips. Today was my 'get over it' or 'face your fear' day. I was going to go down the river through a few sets of shoals with someone who would help me learn to relax, read the rocks, and not panic. I watched a family of mallards floating idly between rocks then climb up on one for a mid-morning nap. If they can do it so can I.
Let me talk plain for a minute. The put in looks worse than it is because you put in in the middle of a set of shoals. In low water you can just about wade out to the entrance to the shoot. There are about 5, 6 or 7 sets of shoals, most of which are just a small maze of rocks to paddle through. Three, maybe four, of which are interesting. Between the shoal sets there are slow, lazy sections.
The wildlife is fun through here, both otters and eagles have been spotted along this section. We took a canoe and had no trouble. On this day the water was very low. I've been here when the water was higher and it makes for a much more interesting ride. This section is about 10 or 12 miles long. We put in around 10 and after slow conversation paddling and a couple swimming/eating stops we got out around 3:30.
The forecast called for scattered showers and that is exactly what we got. The drops softly patted the top of my hat, sprinkled my shirt and dotted the surface of the water with silver bubbles. "Well if it rains, I don't care don't make no difference to me" the melody skips through my mind as lightly as the drops patting the top of my hat. There's something blissful about paddling a smooth surface in the quiet rain.
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