So we loaded up the canoe on top of Bertrand’s Toyota Avalon with like 2 million miles on it. I followed behind in my truck and headed to the put in on the Meramec. Interesting note, on the way we saw a full blown police chase. A black Charger was flying down the highway at what had to be about 100 mph. I didn't even see it till it was on my left and cut in front of me by inches then wove through the rest of traffic without even tapping the brakes. Scared the bejeezus out of me. Saw the Highway Patrol flying up shortly after and just prayed they got the guy without any issue.
The put in wasn't too far from the highway and just south of Six Flags St. Louis. This is when I got to thinking about outdoor opportunity. I was maybe 25 minutes from my front door and about to paddle a couple miles on the river. It was a bit surreal. Though not as surreal as the hiking trail just north of Six Flags. You walk right by one of the larger roller coasters, seeing and hearing people scream at the top of their lungs as the train (or whatever it’s called) drops down a huge hill and goes up to a sharp turn. The smells are also pretty crazy as funnel cake and giant turkey leg carnival smells waft through the trees. It’s quite a juxtaposition against the serene valleys.
Anyway, we dropped my truck off at the finish line and headed to the put in, I was pretty sure we were going to tip at some point, so I just accepted it and checked that I brought dry clothes. Bertrand, of course, sealed that deal with the kiss of death, “well, I’ve never flipped, almost once”, he said ominously (Bertrand says pretty much everything ominously. Must just the way fathers in law talk to their sons in law. Or maybe that's how sons in law hear their fathers in law). Thanks, Bertrand, for ensuring we would flip and emboldening me with great confidence (as the sarcasm drips from my fingertips)
Bertrand gave me a quick refresher on paddling and we were off. Really, I wasn’t all that nervous about the put in or paddling. It was, and probably always will be, the landing and take out. Maybe it's from my many misadventures of docking boats at Taneycomo or maybe I just know how badly I lose focus at the finish line, either way it is just something I need to prepare for. Anyway, I didn't even bring a fishin’ pole since I really wanted to focus on relearning, but I did keep my eye out for potential spots. For the most part, I think this short trip was exactly what I needed at the time. I just kept my eyes open and enjoyed the quiet (well for the most part, Bertrand’s a bit of a talker). The Meramec is a pretty standard river, not really much to report. Though we did float by an undercut cliff that caught my fancy. The river created around a ten foot overhang to the bank through solid rock. I pondered what the rock looked like before the water started taking it apart, which led to what that rock looked like during the Civil War or when Mastadons roamed the area. Was it uneroded and pristine before the dinosaurs? Has anyone had this same thought about this particular undercut bank before? Just a few Sunday afternoon thoughts. Probably should have taken a few pictures of that or, ya know, anything, however I was far too scared to take my phone out. The only other point of interest was this fish that swam up to check us out. It hung at the surface of the water for a beat, just before it realized we were far too big too eat. I think it was a sturgeon, but I haven't found any indication that those exist in the Meramec.
Alright, so the mileage was much shorter than I planned or my powerful paddle stroke sped us too quickly to the end. Take out was upon us. Again, I know this is my weakness and I was positive I would end up in the water. The line Bertrand took, was not the one I would take. Of course any canoeing confidence I had gained was about to take a nosedive anyway, so i was going to go down swinging, then swimming. We were taking out at a boat launch, which isn't ideal- just no slow water to ease into the shore. We were coming in hot and quickly narrowing the margin for error. With no water depth to paddle, I just held on. We hit hard and the back end spun downstream. The canoe jerked and I stuck my hand down to steady, reaching the bottom. I don’t know if that saved us from tipping, but I did end up with a wet arm and an untipped boat. Bertrand may have yelled at me, I may have yelled at him. Either way, we were on dry land with dry underpants. That’s my goal of every boat trip - dry land and dry drawers.
All in all a good day and once I get a manageable backpacking/canoeing/kayaking fishin’ pole, I will be hitting some of those spots I spied.
As we packed up and headed home, it again sunk in that this short little trip was a totaled about 4 hours and only 2 miles from civilization. Might as well been about a million. Who knew serenity was just off the Highway at the exit to Six Flags?
This little trip also helped me sort through an idea jammed up in my brain box, I’ll have to post more on that at another time, but here’s the gist of it.
As the OFG frequently reposts Redington’s Find Your Water series, I got to thinking that my “home” waters (or trails, or happy hunting grounds) were all pretty far away by vehicle. Travel creates an obstacle, not one like Lewis & Clark experienced, but something to think about and plan for nonetheless. Travel also is just starved for your time. I’ve always said if you travel 6 hours round trip, it should be for at least 12 hours of doing the thing you traveled for. I guess what I’m saying is, you might not be throwing streamers to salmon in the Rockies after hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, camping in Alaska and waking up in the morning to hunt Caribou, but similar activities are right outside your door. Or at least a half hour’s drive or so.
I know I tend to think like a lion when it comes to everything I do, but of course not in the super cool “king of the jungle” way. You see, a lion (and most predators) can judge whether chasing after particular prey is worth the energy they would expend to catch it. They’ve specifically evolved to do this. It makes sense, a squirrel a hundred yards away just wouldn’t make up for the calories expended. I’ve found this is not a great approach to life and really sucks the enjoyment right out of it. My thinking was always - How can I hike this little two mile trail when there’s Everest? Why fish for bluegill when the world record trout’s swimming around just 4 hours away? I still don’t know if there’s an answer for me or you, I just know that I’m doing my best to find places closer to home. Since I’ve started looking, I’ve found a ton of them. It’s like my eyes were opened and I’ve often thought, “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?” When the real question is “why did I never ask?”.
