Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

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Dogpaddlin
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Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Dogpaddlin »

A couple of weeks ago my baby brother, who is hairier than I am and not much of a baby, and best friend floated the first 20 miles of the Brazos below Possum Kingdom. Also in attendance was my 100lb chocolate lab, Moose, and Chad’s blue heeler mix, Kimber. You guys will have to forgive the over exposure of pics of the dogs :oops: … We used Rochelle’s (http://www.rochellescanoerental.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )for our shuttle service, very nice people. Flow was a little on the low side, around 130cfs, there were maybe half a dozen spots were we had to walk but never more than just a few steps. We all met at Rochelle’s Saturday afternoon and were off the water and headed home mid-morning on Monday. We decided before leaving to make this a nice leisure trip, no worries, no hurries.

The Crew:
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We launched below the Hwy 16 bridge around 2:30pm:
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Just a couple of random shots from the 1st day:
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We only paddled a few miles before making camp the 1st night:
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There was a burn ban in effect but campfires were still allowed (I don’t get it either). Regardless, we decided to keep things simple and all meals were low fuss dehydrated back packer variaty. It was also a little warm for a fire.
Drew “cooking” dinner:
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I brought along a system for hanging my hammock w/out trees, turns out it needs a little more work… I wound up setting it up as a bivy.
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We did some fishing that night, caught a couple of buffalo and a small needle nose gar. Unfortunately my brother is the only one that took pics of the fish and I still don’t have a copy.

We broke camp around 9:30 or so the next morning. Some more random shots:
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We planned on camping at the big rocks or “David’s Campground” the 2nd night. We wound up getting there pretty early in the afternoon and after swimming for a while decided to push on and make our final day’s paddle a little shorter.
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Kimber wasn’t much on getting wet… Moose on the other hand wouldn’t stay out of the water! (look for the brown spot to the left of the picture)
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A couple of miles past the big rocks we passed this tee-pee:
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Moving on down river we came up on an area that was burned. Did the fires around PK a couple of years ago come this far south? I am thinking this looks a little to recent to have been the big fire.
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Camp for the 2nd night was an island we dubbed “Fire Ant Island”. I thought I had finally found a place to hang my hammock but the ground around the trees were thick with ant beds. While one of the advantages of a hammock is not having to worry about ants and other creepy crawlies I didn’t want Moose to have to deal with them either, so I set up my bivy again.
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Drew and Chad’s tents:
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Couple of random pics of camp:
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We were all up early Monday morning, Chad took a couple of really nice sunrise pics:
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I took a few “artistic” shots of my new canoe:
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About a mile or so from the take out we came across a small gaggle of geese. Given the mid to upper 90 degree temps I think these guys were lost!
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Pressing on:
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Right before the take out is a nice little set of ripples, it was a great way to end the trip!
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We all had a great time. Plans are already underway for another trip, but I think we are going to shoot for some cooler weather!
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Nano-Skiff
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Nano-Skiff »

That looks like FUN
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larry long shadows
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by larry long shadows »

Looks like a very good trip.. thanks for all the pictures... The last one with you and your buddy is a Keeper you should frame :clap: that
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Hirsch
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Hirsch »

The fires got as far south as Strawn, almost I20 a few years ago.

Thanks for a great report. I missed your handmade "woody" there. That is a beautiful canoe. Glad it went well. November will be my 4th trip through there.
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Thinwater skinner
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Thinwater skinner »

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the picts... Dogs seemed to be well trained for the trip.
Dogpaddlin
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Dogpaddlin »

Hirsch wrote:The fires got as far south as Strawn, almost I20 a few years ago.

Thanks for a great report. I missed your handmade "woody" there. That is a beautiful canoe. Glad it went well. November will be my 4th trip through there.
I had an incident involving the garage door and my wooden canoe just a few weeks prior to this trip. It wasn’t catastrophic but did make me wince (I still wince when I think about it). I have a knack for being hard on things and I really want to hand that canoe down to my son when he gets a little older. Fortunately I have a wife who is pretty understanding and commissioned me to build another woody AND gave me the go ahead to purchase a plastic boat to abuse now! I wanted one of your Discovery 119’s but no one had them in stock. I found this Sawyer Summersong on Craigslist, it is more of a high performance style hull. It was a LOT of fun to paddle!
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Hirsch »

Nice find on the Summersong. I read good things on it. What is the payload like?
Dogpaddlin
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Dogpaddlin »

As I recall max load was 250lbs. Payload for the trip: boat around 50lbs, at least 50lbs of gear plus my 225lbs for a total of 325lbs. She did just fine :D Drew and Chad were both using a double blade kayak paddle and I could EASILY run off and leave them using a single blade.
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Johnny5455
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Johnny5455 »

Good pics! I need to do that one day..looks like fun and relaxing.
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Aggroman »

Great pics! :clap: Thanks for sharing, looked like a blast.
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Hirsch
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Hirsch »

Sounds like you love it. Is that Mad River Canoe a Freedom Solo? How did the owner like it?
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Phishtech »

Quote: " Camp for the 2nd night was an island we dubbed “Fire Ant Island”. I thought I had finally found a place to hang my hammock but the ground around the trees were thick with ant beds. While one of the advantages of a hammock is not having to worry about ants and other creepy crawlies I didn’t want Moose to have to deal with them either, so I set up my bivy again. "

I learned a long time ago to never go camping without a bag of Durasban or some other flaky ant killer to spread around the camp site. Before I learned to do that I woke up one morning to find ants completely covering any food that was available to them. Won't leave home without it.
ernestrinconjr
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by ernestrinconjr »

Wow thats what I'm talking about. You guys look like you had a blast . Im in beeville tx and I really want to get in to it I'm going to hit goliad trail soon solo probly . All my buddies are lazy or to fat lol .
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Earl
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Earl »

Great report and pics. That is one Tx river I just have not spent enough time on. Sure like your new canoe. Thanks for the reports. You got to make that trip in Dec or Jan.

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Dogpaddlin
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Dogpaddlin »

Hirsch wrote:Sounds like you love it. Is that Mad River Canoe a Freedom Solo? How did the owner like it?
The Mad River is a tandem, I am pretty sure it is an Explorer model. He liked it alright, he would have prefered to have been paddling something more efficient. He did like the stability, especially since it was his dogs first trip!
Earl wrote:Great report and pics. That is one Tx river I just have not spent enough time on. Sure like your new canoe. Thanks for the reports. You got to make that trip in Dec or Jan.

Earl
If the stars will align we will do it again during the cooler months, maybe right after they stock it with trout!
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makenmend
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by makenmend »

Great report, glad to see there was a little more water there, when we went in feb this year,
plus you had it a little warmer. :)
I pod pics brazos trip 008.jpg
Have my sister and brother in law visiting from UK next April, hope to take them on that trip, weather/water permitting.

Oh yes I also missed the woodie,they are tougher than they look, plenty of river miles on mine.

MM
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Iamdamoder »

Great set of pics, looks like a great trip for both man and beast. :)

The new boat looks like a winner. I am a sucker for a good tumblehome.

I hesitate to ask but hope instead that the garage door took most of the beating.
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Post by Ramjet »

Didn't see it mentioned , where was your takeout point ?!
Dogpaddlin
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Re: Brazos River Below PK - Report - PIC HEAVY!!!

Post by Dogpaddlin »

Ramjet wrote:Didn't see it mentioned , where was your takeout point ?!
We pulled out at Rochelle's.
Iamdamoder wrote:I hesitate to ask but hope instead that the garage door took most of the beating.
It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Ripped a chunk about .5" X .25" out of the stem. Basically I used it as an excuse to add to my fleet :wink: My CFO authorized the purchase of the Summersong AND said I could begin building another woody! 8) Now if I could just get all my in-laws stuff out of my garage. We moved my brother-in-law, his wife and two kids in with us and they are using MY garage as storage! :cry:
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