Medina River - Water at Last!

 

Two weeks after the Medina River Cleanup, some recent rains had raised the Medina River from 18 cfs the afternoon of the cleanup to 160 cfs on Saturday morning.  This was enough to entice Jon and Robert to join me on this jewel of a Hill Country river.  We met at the Home Depot in Boerne a little after 9:00 a.m., loaded our boats onto my trailer, left Jon's car in the parking lot, and proceeded in two vehicles to Bandera.  After dropping off Robert's van near the take-out on Peaceful Valley Road, we drove in my van to our put-in at the Chenaults Lane crossing.  We were on the water a little before 11:00.  As might be expected, the river flow was more than adequate, and certainly much nicer than it had been two weeks earlier.

Note:  Click on any photograph to enlarge.

Jon and Robert on the crystal-clear water, about half way between our launch at Chenaults Lane and the Highway 16 crossing just a mile downstream.

We did have to maneuver under and around low branches on many occasions.

Around 12:30 and about 3.3 miles from the put-in, we arrived at the old dam below the junction of Laxon Creek and the river.  Jon and Robert decided to portage around the dam on river left.

While Jon and I pondered the line I might take if I decided to run the falls, a group of kayakers came crashing through the far left cut of the dam and down onto the shallow water running over the rocky ledge on that side of the river.  This kayaker's cooler of beer somehow remained upright and intact.

I decided to try the most river right cut in the dam, which had the largest drop.  Other than one large rock at the bottom, it had the fewest obstructions and deepest water at the bottom.

This was my first outing in my newly-acquired Whitesell Piranha, and I was impressed with the way the canoe easily handled the drop and landing.  And thanks to Jon for letting me borrow his helmet - just in case.

The boat and I pretty much stuck the landing.

I was hoping that we would find the great rest stop that I recalled from about thirty-five years earlier - some giant boulders on river left.  Sure enough, we arrived there around 1:30, just in time for lunch.

Jon enjoyed the comfort of the largest boulder.

After consuming our lunches, we took turns swinging from a rope tied to a nearby cypress.  Here is Robert showing off his training for the London Olympics.  The blue line is a painter from one of our boats, used to lengthen the existing rope so that it could be more easily retrieved.

Splash landing

Robert retrieves the blue painter.

Our boat also enjoyed the rest stop.

Here is the view looking back upstream from our perch on the boulders.  The main channel of the river comes in from the left.  In the background is an interesting side channel we decided to go paddle back up to and explore.

Although the water was a little stagnant in this backwater, the rocks limestone bluff and boulders were very scenic.

From here, it was about another two miles to our take-out at the Peaceful Valley Road crossing.  We arrived there around 3:30.  We agreed that it had been a great trip.  Based on the Bandera gauge, the river flow was down to about 155 cfs when we reached the end of our trip.

At the take-out, we were informed by some people there that the Spurs were down by 18 points to the Clippers in the first quarter of Game 3 of their playoff series.  After retrieving my van and trailer from Chenaults Lane and loading our canoes, we headed back to Bandera and then on to the Home Depot parking lot in Boerne.  We enjoyed listening to bits and pieces of the radio broadcast of the second half of the game.  And it was most enjoyable, as the Spurs roared back from a 24-point second quarter deficit to claim a 12-point victory.  All in all, a very good day.

Note:  For an additional 16 photos from this outing, click here and then click "Slideshow."