River Day 12/19/2011

Every one was able to make it down this week for the last River Day celebration before Christmas, 2011: Ted, Jay, Tim and I (Mark). We had a nice evening with temps in the low 50's and overcast skies. We also enjoyed our annual gift exchange, along with traditional Christmas music on the XM radio.

No fishing this week, nor any projects. The majority of the evening was spent either picking up the occasional piece of firewood, or just tending the fire. Because of the recent high water level at the river, there's plenty to burn right now. What didn't get thrown on the fire was added to the wood pile. Jay brought some scrap lumber, as well as the longest pallet I've ever seen. All of these contributed to what was probably the best fire on the river.

We would like to wish a Merry Christmas to Rivertarians everywhere (and anyone else who happens to read this blog)!

River Day 12/05/2011

With only a few weeks left in the year, and quickly approaching winter, we had unseasonably warm weather at the river this week. Temps were in the low 60's when we got there, and had only dropped into the mid 50's by the time we left. The river was back down, after rising toward the middle of last week. Ted, Jay, Tim and I were all able to make it the weekly celebration.

One of the benefits of rising, the lowering water levels is all the "firewood" that gets left behind. We took advantage of it and gathered up some wood for the colder weather that is sure to be with us soon. We were able to get a pretty good truck-load into Jay's truck so we didn't have to carry, or drag the bigger pieces to the wood pile. Jay and Ted also did a good amount of raking around the camp and we got all the leaves burned.

Duwan also showed up this week and blew and burned most of the leaves off his lot.

One of the first things we noticed this week was the absence of Dave's (neighbor) camper from the lot behind the camp. We couldn't remember how many years it's been there, but he relocated the camper to the driveway of the house he's now renting. Wonder how long that spot will stay empty?

I tried to do some fishing again this week, and just like last week, nuttin'. Guess it's all over for fishing until next spring. Oh well, can't catch anything if you're not trying.

With all of the wood and leaf burning going on, I think we can safely say that once again we had the best fire on the river.

(What the crap is this thing?)

River Day 11/28/2011

The good news: there was a River Day this week!
The bad news: I was the only one that got to make it down!

Work and weather kept everyone else from making it down to the weekly celebration, but I still had a nice evening. Can't say much for the conversation though. I didn't get to help solve any of the world's problems, complain about politics, or even gripe about kids. Ok, I might have griped about kids a little, and there was no one around to dispute my position. There's something to be said for one sided conversations after all.

The weather turned out to be nicer than what was forecast: overcast and 65 degrees when I got there, then about 45 minutes of rain, then some clearing with (mostly) blue skies. The temps only dropped 5-10 degrees while I was there, but it's supposed to get a bit colder as the night goes on.

I tried a little fishing with last week's night crawlers but had no luck whatsoever - not even a nibble. Oh well, can't expect much this late in the year.

I took some old bed parts from my storage building to burn, and yes, you guessed it...best fire on the river. Too bad there was no one else around to enjoy it.

Not too much activity around the camp. I saw Dave raking leaves and talked to him for a few minutes, waved at Leo when he came in, and talked to Freddy on the way out about deer hunting.

Even though is was quieter than usual, still a pretty good night at the river. (Are there any bad one's?)

River Day 11/21/2011

Despite an early rain-out, Tim and I (Mark) got the chance to celebrate holiday this week. The sky was overcast most of the day, with some rain early. Temps were in the low 60's. It seemed like the rain was finished for the day, so I got the chance to try some late season fishing. I picked up some night-crawlers at the packette at the top of the hill. The kid working the counter said "everyone else is out hunting, and you're fishing." I figured with everyone else hunting, there would be less pressure on the fish. Good theory, and no, I didn't catch anything.

Tending the fire was about the only other activity around the camp this week. We had a decent one going in spite of everything being wet. Probably the best one on the river. It was relaxing sitting in front of it, and I'm sure that if Tim hadn't pulled up when he did, I would have been well on my way to a little siesta.

We did hook up the XM radio, but couldn't/didn't bring ourselves to playing the Christmas channel(s) just yet (yes, they are already being aired). I'm sure that'll change as we get a little closer to the (other) holiday and the weather starts getting colder. I don't know about the others, but I'm looking forward to the snow.

The following pictures show the mist/fog coming off the river as the rain started coming in. Hope the photos do it justice.

Happy Thanksgiving to Rivertarians everywhere!

Monday 11/14/2011

So this past Monday was a little different then the usual weekly celebration. With Mark out of town on business Jay, Ted and I (Tim) thought we would take advantage of the nice weather and go down to WaynesWorld and finish winterizing our campers to prepare them for the upcoming winter weather. This is usually a job that one dreads... for a couple of reasons, one being the reality that the camping season is over for the year and the other just because it’s a pain to do!
Although there was no fishing this week.... you can see that some of the weekly traditions carry on regardless of the location, one being that we did have the best fire on the branch! And that we still had time to enjoy a couple of "cold ones" and a few stogies.... (Some things ya just gotta have) All in all it was a very enjoyable and productive Monday night.

River Day 11/07/2011

Another evening of great weather this week for the River Day celebration, and Jay, Tim and I got to take advantage of it; clear skies and temps. in the low to mid-60's. We were able to get in a little end-of-season fishing, but not of us had any luck. At least we're getting our money's worth out of our licenses!

Not much going on this week. The closer it gets to winter, the less you see anyone moving around on the river, including the locals. We did have a short visit with Freddy, who was tooling around on his 4-wheeler. Trish even came down for a few minutes to swap vehicles with me. It felt funny driving out in a car instead of an SUV.

One of the benefits of all the leaves being down is that it's easier to find plenty of wood to burn. We drug a few "sticks" back to the fire, and of course that contributed to the best fire on the river. We even got to see the last of the mantle (literal, not spiritual) that was passed on to Tim (it definitely won't be passed again). The smoke from our fire formed into a neat looking "band" that hovered over the river for a while; hope it shows in the picture.

We did get to see the moon come up over the hill across the river from the camp. It wasn't full yet, but it was definitely bright.

Once again a great evening at the river with good friends. Can't figure out why everyone doesn't celebrate River Day. Oh well.

Annual Fall Camping Trip 10/26 - 10/30/2011

While this isn't a traditional River Day post, we thought it would be appropriate to put up some pictures from our annual fall camping trip to Sherwood Lake in Greenbrier County, WV. The crew that makes it (most years anyway) camping is the usual group that celebrates River Day...plus a few extras. The pictures aren't in chronological order. The weather went from mild and rainy to snow, then really cold over the weekend. Most of the time was spent in and around the campsite, with a little Geocaching thrown in.

Enjoy the pictures!

From left: Tim, Ted, Mark, Jay, Pat, Scott, Damon and David.

Pool of water in the creek above the campsite.


Early Saturday morning around the fire. About 2 inches of snow overnight.


The creek just below the campsite Saturday morning.


Jay's camper.


Sherwood Lake Road.


Creek by the campsite.


Back of Jay's truck right after the snow started coming down Friday evening.


We always have the best fire, wherever we are!


Snow sticking to Ted's jacket, Friday evening.


Thursday afternoon we were able to get in a few games of washer toss.

Early Friday, before the snow started, looking down Sherwood Lake Road.

Snow hanging in the pines across the road from our campsite, Saturday afternoon.

River Day 10/24/2011

I'm sure it looks like there hasn't been a River Day for a couple of weeks, but we did have one last week. No one brought a camera, so no one made a post. Jay, Tim, Ted and I did make it last week and had a nice celebration of the holiday.

Anyway, this week there were only three of us down on Monday: Jay, Tim and I. We had a nice relaxing evening, and the weather was, well...I think we had everything but snow this time around!

We started with mostly clear, sunny skies. Then the clouds rolled in and with them a pretty strong wind. It felt like the temperature went from 70 to 60 in 15 minutes. It rained leaves for a little while, then started actually raining. After 45 minutes or so of that, the skies cleared up a bit and we actually had a little more sunshine. A little snow would have covered all bases, but I'm sure we won't have much longer to wait for that.

Not much going on this week. No one tried any fishing. No washer toss. No projects. We were pretty well occupied with making and discussing the final plans for the annual fall camping trip coming up in the middle of this week. Even though it's not River Day oriented, the River Day gang will all be going, so I'm sure we'll post some pictures from the trip after the end of the week.

I am adding a few pics from this week, and one short video to show how strong the wind was blowing at one point.

River Day 10/03/2011

Big change in the weather at the river this week - shorts and t-shirts last week, jeans and jackets this week. Temperatures were in the upper 50's and we had a light rain on and off for most of the evening. Jay, Tim and I made it down for the weekly celebration.

All three of us fished for a while, but as far as I know we all came up empty handed (I did anyway). Jay brought helgramites, so we thought we might at least get a bite or two. Nada.

We didn't have anything unusual to burn this week, so we settled for firewood. Even though it was a bit smaller than the last one, it was still the best fire on the river.

A good part of the evening was spent solving problems, okay, griping, and talk led to this River Day's quote of the week: "Don't be wearing shorts and a freakin' t-shirt when it's January outside!" (Classic.)

If you need any explanation on this one, ask Tim.

River Day 09/26/2011

Just Jay and I at the river this week - everyone else was either working or out of town. We had a nice quiet evening (not because the others weren't there) and spent most of the evening fishing. The fish were still biting this week, but not as aggressively as last week.

The weather was mostly good again this week with temps near 80. The skies did get darker later in the evening and we could hear thunder toward the north. We never did get any rain at the river, but there were some areas that had rain for a good part of the evening.

We did have a small fire this week, nothing as outstanding as last week's, but that one will be hard to beat.

All-in-all, just a relaxing evening.

River Day 09/19/2011

Another great pre-fall evening at the river this week - mostly sunny skies, mild temps (around 70), and a light wind. You can feel fall getting a little closer each week. Tim, Jay, Ted and I all made it down for this week's River Day.

The river level was good this evening for fishing. Tim stopped at the packette at the top of the hill and actually found helgramites; we all thought the season for them was long past, but they had some and he picked up a dozen. We divvied them up and Jay, Tim and I each caught something. I guess I was in the right spot and caught 11; 10 on the helgies and one on an artificial lure. It was a little surprising that they were biting at all with the way the summer has been of late, but I guess a bass just can't resist a little helgie apeteaser.

The real highlight of the evening had to be the fire. Did I say fire? Okay, inferno. Tim brought down an old roulette type wheel and stand that had been in storage for a few years for disposal. (Please note the posts this year that had an "out of the ordinary" project - who's idea do they all seem to be? I'm starting to see a pattern.) The obvious disposal method was to burn it. We started with a small fire that slowly got moved into the base of the wheel. The result is shown in the pictures. I'm really glad no one called the fire department on this one. Truly spectacular.

We also got into a few games of washer toss this week where the Harper boys soundly beat Ted and I.

All in all, this was a great night at the river.

River Day 09/12/2011

After the dry, hot summer we've had, you can definitely see and feel fall on the way. We haven't been down to the river for a few weeks because of the holiday last week, and in that two week period even the feel of the river is different; cooler temps, leaves changing, water level up (and cooler). Celebrating River Day this week were Jay, Tim and I (Mark).

You can see in the photos that there are already leaves on the ground, not just changing, and the temperature this week was in the upper 70's to near 80. Everything was quiet around the camp; guess all the summer hoopla is over for the season. Freddie was the only one of the locals we saw this week.

We spent the first part of the evening fishing, or trying to anyway. Since the river is up compared to the last few River Days, we had to fish closer to the bank. Tim was the only one that had any luck. I trudged out through the grass and water and tried fly fishing for a while but never had a bite.

After the fishing we got into a few games of washer toss, otherwise known as "hillbilly horseshoes". I'm pretty sure Tim came out on top of that little competition.

Since it was still warm, we didn't have a huge fire this week, but it was probably still the best one on the river (not pictured this week).