Pine Creek Trip

[richpinky]

Ed, The work schedule was posted today and I do not have to work on Sat. 4/19 so I will be meeting you at the campground on 4/17.

[EAR]

Great to hear from you people. I have made my reservation for a luxury trailer at the campground also. Right now we have 7 people lined up for the trip. If anyone else is thinking about going, please let me know soon. I am going to call the outtfitter on Monday and give them a head count for the shuttle. Pine Creek Outtfitters has regular pick-ups in Blackwell and I am signing up for the 5 o'clock one. Shuttle price is $12/person plus $5 for the boat.
The forecast for the area is mostly sunny Thurday, Friday and Saturday with highs only in the mid 50's. I'm predicting a water level of just under 3ft, which is a good, fun depth.

[erbego]

If it isn't too late my friend Barry and I would like to go. We're not sure yet whether we'll have a canoe or our 2 kayaks. I do have a question, so if you don't mind could you give me a call at three three zero eight six seven zero six four six?

Erin

[brucea]

Dianne and I are leaving around 8:30 AM Thursday. We hope to be there by 1:00 PM. Were looking forward to seeing everyone. Ed, what time do you want to be in the water on Friday?

Bruce

[erbego]

Thanks, Ed, for organizing the trip; Barry and I really enjoyed it. Rich, it was good to paddle with you again. Jerry, Mike, Bruce & Diane, it was nice to meet you all.

The Upper Pine on Saturday was delightful; we enjoyed the scenery more on that section, though it didn't have the excitement of the rapids in the canyon. After taking out on Saturday we went to Colton State Park and did 2 short, scenic hikes, then drove to the National Forest and camped at Asaph. We were the only campers there. It is a nice little campground nestled in the hemlocks along a pretty stream with about 10 primitive sites, vault toilets, and a water pump. Sunday we slept in, broke camp, then hiked for a couple of hours before heading home. On the hike, which was atop a ridge at about 2200 feet, we saw some awesome beaver dams that had formed a rather large lake. It made us wonder whether some of the waterfalls we saw in the canyon were the result of similar ridge-top lakes, rather than springs.

[EAR]

Good time on the Pine last weekend.I'll try to be brief.
The campground thing worked out well. We were all together and close to the creek . We were able to do 2 trip from camp. On Thursday 4 of us went up 4.2 miles and paddled back to camp. Fun ride! A solid classII and several I's and we were back to camp in less than an hour!! The next day was our 17 mile run thru the canyon. Water level was at 3.7ft for that day. The first 3 miles are the flattest water of the trip as you float the top of the mountian. The GPS said we went 3.3 miles the first hour. The next hour we traveled 5.2 miles. The 2 biggest rapids, Owassee and Split Rock were hoot!! Big waves, big rollers, front end crashing through the water, on my knees pulling the paddle hard to keep straight. Solid class III. Then it seemed like a mile of smaller wave trains. Our group did great. The 2 tandem canoes of Bruce and Diane, and Erin and Barry worked really well together. We seen a few who didn't make it. We made the halfway stop, 8.5 miles, in 2 hours. A long stop and then finished up the other 8.5 in about 2.5 hours. Beautiful scenic creek the whole way down.

[brucea]

Great job Ed!! Thanks for leading this trip. We always wanted to go to Pine Creek. I posted some pictures on the site and put a video on you tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BktxTJqjAjw


Bruce

[mfdanko99]

Bruce what a GREAT Video WOW!!! Nice job
Mike

[jerry lyda]

Thanks Ed for a great trip . One of the best rides ! Great to meet all of you. Bruce and Diane, Erin and Barry , and Mike . Great time , great people !