YouTube is still processing image stabilization but I thought I'd post this now.
What a great paddle down the Mullica River this weekend with new HF member pilsburythrowboy12 (Ron). I really wanted to see the river at 4.16 ft. stage (five feet is flood stage). Ron signed up for the trip on Friday night and I had a paddling/shuttle partner.
Ron had little sleep since he went turkey hunting early in the morning, then drove to Atsion. I was running late (which never happens!), We met at Atsion, loaded all the gear in my car, then shuttled his car to Batsto Village. We made small talk in the car. At some point, I asked him if he was married, but I had the window open so couldn't really hear his answer other than something about "my partner Mike."
We got on the river about 4:30 pm. I wish we had started earlier 'cause it was a beautiful day, but I wanted to get to camp with daylight to spare. Mission accomplished: we pulled into camp at 7:45 pm and had enough daylight to set up. Since throwboy is new to hammocks, I set up the gear. I gave Ron the following:
1) Tablecloth hammock - Dynaglide continuous loops through channel; Dynaglide ridgeline. Whoopie slings with Dutch hooks.
2) HG 0* Burrow - may as well make him fall in love with Argon CS!
3) HG 0* Incubator
4) Grand Trunk Funky Forest Tarp
I used my DL tablecloth hammock (my favorite), HG 20* quilt set, and HG Winter Palace.
While I set up the hammocks, Ron went hog wild batoning wood, getting a fire started, and heating water for washing and rinsing dishes (he's a clean freak). We had some Jamaican beef patties as an appetizer - very good. Ron brought chicken thighs and commenced making a soup.
Last week my son and I camped without tarps, so I asked Ron if he wanted to do the same. He was pretty emphatic - he'd rather have the tarp just in case. Good call on his part, 'cause in the middle of making dinner a thunderstorm came through. We rushed under the tarps and the storm passed in about 20 minutes. The fire stayed lit so he commenced cooking dinner. We didn't eat till 11:00 pm but it was good: chicken bisque. He brought enough food for several people so I felt pretty bad that I couldn't make a dent in all he cooked.
Our conversation about marriage was bugging me, so I told him I hadn't heard his answer and asked if he was gay and I hadn't heard him coming out to me. He assured me he wasn't and we had a good laugh about it.
It rained at night, which made for beautiful sleep. I woke up about 5 am to pee, and look for a bottle of water (Ron had stashed them under his tarp). I looked around under his tarp but couldn't find them, but thought I'd check if he was warm - he had kicked the Burrow off him.
We got up around 9 am and Ron started a fire. He cooked honey venizon sausage on the grill, fried some eggs, and grilled some veggies. It was good - but again too much food for me. Lo and behold a hiker wandered into camp to get some water from the pump. Ron offered him some food and he ate all our leftovers.
We took our time paddling the lower Mullica. We stopped for lunch and had a couple of adult beverages and a Jersey Mike's sub. When we got to Constable Bridge I suddenly realized why the Waterwatch.gov website lists 5 ft. as flood stage. The water had risen to maybe 12 inches from touching the beams of Constable Bridge - so five feet would swamp the bridge. We sat there for quite a while trying to figure out if we had to portage around the bridge or somehow squeeze under the bridge. After some discussion we chose the under the bridge option. We had to lay in the bottom of the canoe, under the seats, with no part of our bodies above the gunwales, to get under. Of course, the current was swift and we ran into obstacles on the other side of the bridge. It probably took five minutes to get under the bridge. If Ratdog or SilentOrpheus were in our party, they would have had to portage.
My memory came back to me and I realized there were two more bridges before the Pleasant Mill pullout. The next one was a pedestrian bridge. We again chose the under option and it was a very tight squeeze - took us about ten minutes to get under it, fighting the current and obstacles. The final bridge had plenty clearance so no contortionist stuff required.
Another great paddling trip, and I give two thumbs up to pilsburythrowboy12 as a paddling partner:
1) Strong like bull
2) Loves making fire (less for me to do)
3) Loves cleaning pots and dishes, and he has a system (less for me to do)
4) Crazy - he actually jumped off the shore into the canoe at one point. I soiled myself when he did it.
In conclusion, anything over 3.5 ft. flood stage on the Mullica will probably require a portage around two bridges (unless you're a contortionist). We saw several kayakers who went under but some were too fat to fit and had to portage. Some even bushwhacked around the bridge.
I think I was the only one who twerked at the pullout.
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Originally Posted by aircoder
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