River Day 02/28/2011

We had another night of mild temperatures this week, but the weather wasn't nice by any means. It stayed in the mid 50's, still unusual for the end of February, but we had heavy rain and fog for most of the evening. It rained hard enough to keep us (just Tim and I this week) in the building for all but the last 45 minutes or so.

Sitting in a tin building, with a tin roof, with constant rain, sounded a lot like being on a firing range. You don't realize how loud you're talking until you get back outside. I'm pretty sure I'll hear that noise in my sleep tonight.

Not too much going on this evening, just a nice, peaceful break. Because of all the rain today, the river level was slowly coming up, but it only rose 4 inches or so while we were there. Hopefully, there won't be a repeat of the flooding that occurred close to this time last year.

Oh, by the way, if we'd actually had a fire tonight, I'm confident it would have been the best one on the river.

River Day 02/21/2011

After a two week hiatus, Jay and I were able to go down to the river this week; everyone else was either working or otherwise MIA.

You'd never guess we were still in the middle of winter with the weather we've had over the last few days, and Monday was no exception. We had a couple of instances of light rain, but the temperature stayed around 60 the whole evening. It was kind of nice getting to wear light weight jackets again and not have to bundle up like Eskimos. All of us have enjoyed the winter weather at the river this year(I think), but when it starts warming up like this, then you're in spring-mode and ready for the cold and snow to be gone.

We both took advantage of the break and tried fishing on an off for most of the evening. The water level was down a bit for this time of year, and unlike the air, hasn't warmed up much yet. We gave it a good try, but still came up empty handed. I'm sure another three weeks or so will change that, and trying's always fun.

Not too much activity around the camp this week. We saw a couple of the local guys, but everyone and everything was quiet. We even kept the fire down to a respectable level this week, but as I'm sure you've guessed by now, it was still the best one on the river!

River Day 02/07/11

We might still be in the middle of winter, but we had nice, mild weather at the river this week. Temps were in the low 40's and the rain that was forecast held off until the end of the night. Jay, Ted and I (Mark) were able to make it down.

Jay tried fishing for a while (twice), but we're still a few weeks early. Oh well, you can't catch anything if you don't cast.

I forgot to mention it last week (or take a photo) but we've added to the furniture around the fire; kind of a rustic easy chair. Who knows how long it will last, but for now it's pretty comfy.

We had a quiet evening; nothing much going on around the camp. Even though it was warm, we still had a great fire going; probably the best one on the river. So we're giving a special thanks to this week's sponsor: the Ohio State Pallet company (see the label in the photo).

River Day 01/31/2011

With the warmer temps and longer days, it won't be too long until spring. And that means fishing "season" is also right around the corner. Jay and I decided to get head-start and both bought our licenses earlier today. I think the goal was to get our money's worth by being legal for every month. Whatever the reason, I (Mark) tried to fish a little. I didn't spend much time at it, and didn't get any bites, but at least I can say I fished in January.

We were a little surprised that the river wasn't any higher than it was this week. All of the snow that we've had over the last several weeks has all but melted away, and the ground is saturated. If you check the pictures on this blog from this time last year, we were preparing for a flood. The level now is actually a little lower than "normal" for this time.

As always it was a great night at the river; Ted and Tim were also down this week.

And I'm pretty sure we had the best fire on the river.