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| Location: Date/Time: Conditions: Water Temperature: Flow Rate: | French Creek from Union City Dam to Rt. 6N (Leg #3) May 23, 2004 · 11:00 to 17:40 EDT 81° F, Cloudy early then sunny most of the afternoon, at times strong wind. 64° F 1000 ft³/sec |
Wow! Awesome canoeing weather. The weather and flow rate worked out perfectly for us. "Strong to severe" thunderstorms were predicted for the entire afternoon, but instead it was clear and sunny, go figure. The raft idea didn't work very well, it was made for being pulled behind a boat not cruising down a creek. But we were able to use it as a trailer and throw a lot of our gear in it. | |
 | Jen, me and Ray ready to go. Everything OK up front? Yep. |
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 | Everything OK in the rear? Actually no, Ray was taking on water through a mesh vent area. I suppose that would work if you're being towed 20 mph behind a boat, but it doesn't work behind a canoe. First pit stop straight ahead at the bridge. |
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 | We decided to bring Ray on board instead of making him sink in the raft. Coming up on pit stop #2, aka "beer bong spot", right around the bend. |
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 | A few standard happy couple shots. The sun sure felt good. |
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 | Just the three of us on this trip, the rest of the crew went the day before when the creek was raging fast. One canoe dunked, the girls were stuck in a tree and the Fire Dept. was called in to get them. Everyone was fine, just embarrassed, especially when the local TV cameras showed up. A nice scarlet tanager, very cool bird. |
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 | I don't know what I said, but it must have been something nice. Go me. Although it looks calm, the flow was pretty fast. We did very little paddling, like when we needed to beach the canoe and take a pit stop. |
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 | The creek was so high there weren't any rocks to avoid and we never scraped bottom like we usually do in some spots. A crew of about 10 tubers go flying by (I realize there's only 6 in this pic, but trust me 8^). |
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 | We all got sunburnt. Ray got it the worst, he's got more surface area. These guys caught up to us here at the end. The guy ended up jumping off the bridge, twice. Not me, I'll stick to the canoe. |
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