Pipeline #5 to New Hwy. 72: April

4/21/13

Pipeline #5 to New Hwy. 72

            As far as I am concerned, this is the premier section on the Wolf River. On this float, John Henry invited a local man who had given us permission to cross his land in order to access the river at the pipeline. Even though this man had lived in the area for forty years, it was his first time on this section of river, and his second time in a kayak.

            The conditions for the float were perfect with sunny skies and temps in the upper 60s. Because of recent downpours, the river was up 4 inches from March. The runoff from the storm gave the water a brown, tea color instead of the usual translucent green.  The high water certainly helped us in crossing logs. John and I initiated the local man in “log jumping” . This technique involved us paddling as hard as possible towards the partially submerged log in hopes that the momentum would slide us to the other side. If the log jump failed, one would have to move his body in rhythmic fashion back and forth to free the stranded boat from the log. 

We had fewer log portages, but we did encounter a new obstacle. Spatterdock, the invasive water plant with the yellow button flowers, was clogging the main channel through the big swamp. There was less open water than on previous trips. I noticed the large stump that I had explored in March was now encased in the thick, glossy leaves of the spatterdock.

            This was the fastest of the pipeline trips so far. We managed to finish in 5 and half hours. The highlight was the blooming wild azalea bushes. The flowering shrubs lined the bank with pink and white blossoms.  The spicy, sweet scent of the bloom impregnated the air.  The other surprise was the lack of beaver activity. I saw some gnawed trees and a lodge, but the once mighty dams appeared to no longer be maintained. This made the channel much easier to navigate, but I missed the sound of the trickling water that cascaded over the dams on previous trips.   Wildlife included deer, an armadillo, and of course an eagle guarding a nest with possible chicks. We didn’t get close enough to ID eaglets, but there appeared to be movement in the massive nest.

            John Henry and I now understand this area much better that we did last year. However, this is still a challenging section. One must remember to take a right turn back into the woods when the channel branches. The last mile is also difficult because the river becomes braided, and there is no clear passage through this part of the river. We had to drag over a small piece of land to rejoin a larger channel that would carry us to the bridge.