River Day 08/20/2012

River Day was celebrated in a new location for the the group this week.  We went up-river to the mouth of Glade Creek, then walked up to the old bridge piers, at what was once the town of Hamlet, along the New River.  Pat, Jay, Tim and I (Mark) made it out this week; work kept Ted from making it.  We had great weather when we got there, but on the way down the mountain we drove through some rain showers.  Temps stayed in the mid-70's.

We all got to the parking lot at the trail-head at about the same time, and started the hike up the trail.  I guess we never considered that we would still be affected by the big storm at the end of July, but there were a multitude of tree-falls across the path, making the walk a little tougher that anticipated, especially carrying fishing gear, tackle boxes, and of course, coolers.

Tim's 1st catch

Anyway, we found a good spot on the river and all started fishing.  Even though we could see fish jumping all over the river, Tim was the only one catching; 2 good sized small-mouth bass, and 1 smaller one.  I don't think anyone else even had a bite.  I know I didn't.

Pat decided to set a good example for young Rivertarians everywhere and decided to climb one of the bridge pylons.  He was more trusting of the hand rungs than the rest of us and successfully made it to the top, and back.

Even though the sun was a little warm on the river bank, we felt compelled to build a little fire.  Big shocker there.  We even put a nice little fire ring around it (for safety, of course).

The walk back out was quite a bit easier.  We took an alternate path that ran a little closer to the river, and the downed trees weren't nearly as bad.

I took a lot of photos this week and am posting as many of them as I can; it was a beautiful spot on the river and I couldn't decide which ones I wanted, and which to toss, so you get to enjoy lots of them this week.

Another memorable River Day!

Tim's 2nd catch!