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| Robin inflating the first of the stack of five boats |
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"Believe me, my young friend, there is
nothing...half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
--Water Rat to Mole in
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
Our book group had been planning for some months to camp at Russell Gates Fishing Access Site on the Big Blackfoot River and paddle the 12 miles from River Junction back to the campground. A few weeks ago, Robin and Gary scouted the dirt-road maze out to River Junction and walked upriver from the Scotty Brown bridge to preview the rapid marked on maps. Very helpful! Brian's hip replacement and Joyce's splenectomy kept the whole group from making the floating and camping part of the trip, but Joyce, Kathy, and Brian brought food and spent an evening with us. Also very helpful--and fun. We're grateful to Catharine and Robin for having so many boats; to Gary and Robin for their scouting and leading the way; and to Joyce, Kathy, and Brian for driving out, cooking, and setting up dinner. And what a campground--open ponderosa forest and sites with views and sounds of the
river!
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| Eric, Robin, and Gary at our lunch and sunscreen stop |
Paddling along the river, we saw cliff swallows, red-tailed hawks, osprey, and a whole bunch of folks fishing
from rafts. It seems likely that much of the attraction of this
beautiful stretch of this river is the pull of
fishing Norman Maclean's river. The book sure was part of the frame for our experience floating: "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it."
And then there's the tao, the energy of live water.
Keeping the camera dry, we took very few pictures on the river, but we do have these from lunch and a leg-stretching and boat-draining stop.
Happy campground photos follow these few from the river.
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| Catharine showing Joyce the cabinets |
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| Robin cooking |
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Eric breaking camp
Brian cooking |
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| Kathy |
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| Joyce |
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| Brian |
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| Eric and Gary at breakfast |
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