Saturday Paddlers - Guadalupe River

With the Guadalupe River running at a little over 160 cfs, about twenty-five paddlers launched at Nichols Landing for the 5.6-mile trip to the FM 311 bridge crossing.  A big surprise was the friendly and helpful attitude of the attendant at Nichols Landing.  Perhaps Comal County is interested in attracting tourists after all.  Now, if they would only charge visitors the same parking fee as county residents, I'd really be convinced.

Note:  Click on any photo to enlarge.

About two miles downstream from Nichols Landing, several of us took the small detour up Spring Branch to view the waterfalls along this charming creek.  Pictured above are my Whitesell canoe (an old canoe newly acquired) and Miguel's and Joan's kayaks, pulled up at the foot of the first waterfall.  Well, not everyone can have a boat as beautiful as mine!

The second set of waterfalls is created when the creek spits into two to pass around this tree.  The one on the right (as approached from below) is shown above, while Joan is sitting below the left-hand waterfall.

Miguel relaxes on a chair someone left behind at the first falls, holding some trash that had also been left behind.

Ed on his way to the second set of falls.

The rapid immediately downstream from the Hwy. 281 bridge was jammed with bathers, most of whom never bothered to look behind them to see what might be approaching.  I narrowly avoided several of the clueless horde, and did not have an opportunity to take any photos.  Too bad, because there was some interesting wildlife.

A short distance upstream from the FM 311 bridge, the river splits into two, with a swift channel passing around the right side of a small island.  It makes for an exciting run, with a large rock at the end of the channel where it rejoins the main river creating a small rapid.  In these photos, Retha crashes through the waves created by the boulder.

Next up was Demetrius, who was paddling a kayak for the very first time.  By the time we arrived here, he was definitely getting the hang of it.

Success!

Joan made it look easy.

Waiting for the final two paddlers to appear.  Joline wonders where they are.

Finally, Larry appears, ...

... followed by Robert.

Note:  For an additional 17 photos from this outing, click here and then click on "Slideshow."

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."

Saturday Paddlers - San Antonio River - Saspamco Paddling Trail

After a scouting trip four weeks earlier to check out the access points, the Saturday Paddlers ventured for the first time onto the recently-opened Saspamco Paddling Trail. This stretch of the San Antonio River runs from Loop 1604 in southern Bexar County to FM 775 in northern Wilson County, a distance of about 12 miles. The origin of the trail's name is not particularly inviting. It takes its name from the nearby community, whose name is the acronym for the San Antonio Sewer Pipe Manufacturing Company. This company was the primary employer in the area until the 1960's. Nancy, our resident historian, recalls her family thinking that they had finally left San Antonio when they passed through the small town on trips to the coast. I think they were traveling by motorized vehicle, but can't be sure.

Note: Left click on any photo to enlarge.

According to the Elmendorf gauge, the river was running at about 120 cfs when we launched around 11:30 from the San Antonio River Authority park at Loop 1604 and at about 80 cfs when we reached the take-out at SARA's Helton - San Antonio River Nature Park about five hours later. Our group consisted of fifteen paddlers in ten kayaks, two canoes, and Robert's new Mini Canak, which I hesitate to classify as either. The river winds back and forth throughout the twelve miles, and the photo above depicts the typical scenery.

We discovered no gravel bars along the river, and very few places to pull over and stop. Fortunately, the sandy loam of the river bank at one location provided just enough room for us to gather for lunch. Doug and Nell are shown above among the boats at our stop.

Scott, Kirk, Pamela, Alex, Nancy, a shy Joan, Joline, and Atsuko relax after lunch.

Kathy is pleased that we came across some actual rock outcroppings along the river.

Many of us were surprised by the high bluffs along the river.

Another surprise was this large snake encountered at the primitive boat ramp at the midpoint of the paddling trail, where the river passes under Gillette Road (CR 125). Atsuko had left her vehicle at the small park there, and I helped her carry her kayak up the steep hill. I must have passed within a few paces of the snake when I returned to get back in the canoe, but no one spotted the creature until we were pulling away from the bank. After trading places with Kathy, Joline was now in the bow of the canoe. Her most powerful paddling strokes of the entire day came as she urged the canoe forward and away from the snake as I was attempting to back the canoe back to the snake for more photographs.

Just another day on the river for the Saturday Paddlers.

Saturday Paddlers - Guadalupe River - Requiem for a Camera

The Saturday Paddlers gathered to run one of their favorite sections of the Upper Guadalupe River, the stretch from the Zoeller Lane crossing to the Sisterdale bridge. The river flow had been steadily declining since the last rain showers, and the Comfort gauge indicated that the river was running at only 63 cfs. This was still an improvement over the level during the lengthy drought. However, the new Zoeller Lane bridge, while providing a more secure crossing for vehicles, appears to have been designed to also make river access more difficult than before. Sorry, Kendall County, but we were not deterred.

Note: Click on any image to enlarge.

Don and Cynthia enjoying the scenery.

Joline and Nancy desperately signaling to indicate the preferred route (river right) through some shallow rapids. Kathy, in the turquoise kayak, ignores them and pays the price. To be honest, everyone else ignored them, too. But don't let them know.









Martha shyly glides by.

Nancy was having fun.

Kelley leading the wagon train past Dear Leader, who captained from the bow of my canoe.

Susan leading Reiko.

Nancy G., with Kathy still struggling in the background.

Kathy using a novel approach to test her new river boots.

Please don't ask!

Reiko, Anne, ...

... Martha, and Katie all made it safely around the boulder.

We did have one mishap along the way. As Kathy came around a sharp bend in the river, she became tangled in some tree roots extending down from the undercut bank. The next boat was swept into hers, and over went Kathy into the water. The good news is that Kathy's camera is waterproof. The bad news is that it was not attached to anything and quickly slipped down to a watery grave. We searched the river bottom as well as we could, both there and further downstream where the current slowed, but to no avail. Then we came up with a plan. Since the water level was declining day by day from its already low level (63 cfs), we would return the following week with our snorkeling gear and try to find the camera. What we didn't count on were the heavy rains less than three days later. By Tuesday morning, the river was racing along at nearly 5,000 cfs! I guess a replacement camera is in order. Followers of Kathy's blog, Hometown Tourist, are already lamenting the lack of high-quality photos in her recent posts. No, the smartphone camera is not up to the task.

After taking out at the Sisterdale bridge, some of us met at the nearby Sisterdale Smokehouse to chow down on their delicious BBQ. We just happened to be there at the right time - they are open only on the first and third weekends of each month. Shown above are Kathy, Joline, Larry, Reiko, Susan, Nancy, and Sandra. I think everyone was happy with their orders. And I was even happier, because Joline picked up the tab for Kathy and me - something about payment for my having done all the paddling in the canoe!

Note: For an additional ten photographs of this outing, click here to be magically transported to my Flickr page, then click on "Slideshow."

Canyon Lake - New Stairway

Work continues on the house at Canyon Lake. These images show the construction of the new stairway leading to the second floor bedroom.

Note: Click on any photo to enlarge.

Oak treads and risers on the second run.




The complete stairway, prior to the installation of banisters. The scaffolding is for the drywall work and painting in the entry way, which is now two stories tall.

The second landing was raised about 13 inches, leaving enough headroom for a new doorway to the garage. This allowed us to remove the old doorway, which led from the garage to the utility room, and to convert that room to a bedroom.

The oak flooring obtained when the 1960 addition to the Kings Highway home was demolished by the new owners now has a second life. It replaces the dreary, old carpeting. The wood flooring also provides a nice foundation for the Fisher piano given by Dad to Mom when they were dating. I can almost hear Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op.3, No. 2. Well, maybe one of these days!