River Day 11/28/2016

River Day this week brought cloudy skies and mild temps - low to mid 50s.  It looked like it could start raining any time, but that held off until late in the night - we enjoyed a nice dry afternoon.  Everyone made it down again this week, plus one: Ted, Jay, Pat, Tim and myself.  Freddy dropped by for his weekly visit, and Scott dropped in for a bit as well.

Although it was fairly mild out, we did have a nice fire, and we had plenty to fuel it with.  Pat brought another load of pallets, and Scott was burning some kind of evidence (okay, old paperwork).  Either way, we had plenty of heat.

The river was down extremely low for this time of year, so we got to explore an area that's usually inaccessible, unless you're wearing waders.  There's a large grassy area below the camp that typically has water flowing through it all year.  This week we walked the entire area without getting our shoes wet.  It's always funny what you'll find when the river drops like this: speakers, wallets, fishing lures.  We were just thankful there wasn't a body near the wallet.

It's always great catching up with everyone, and the conversations ranged everywhere from offspring gripes, to vehicle wiring, to Christmas events.

Several pictures to post this week, hope everyone enjoys them.

Happy River Day!

Thanksgiving Day 11/24/2016

Nope, not a River Day post, but I'd like to say that I'm very thankful today to be part of a great group of people that I count as true friends, something that's not too common these days:

Jay Harper
Ted Hemmelgarn
Tim Harper
Pat Conway

Happy Thanksgiving and Long Live the Rivertarian Party!

River Day 11/21/2016

This is the first River Day post since the Fall Camping Trip, and the first trip to the river for me since well before the camping trip.  It was good getting together at the camp this week, but once again there's been a lot of change going on. (I'm really starting to hate saying that.)  We had decent weather this week, even though it was pretty cool and windy - temp was in the upper 30s and we felt it early on, since we no longer have a wind-break around the fire area.  Tim, Jay, Ted, Pat and I all made it down.  Freddy joined in for a while to catch up.


Jay had told me about it from his last visit, but this was the 1st I'd seen the new construction going on.  We're not sure if it's for an episode of Tiny House Nation, or the remnants of a bad divorce.  Either way, it appears that someone is putting together a small camp structure.  The lot it's being built on has been a matter of dispute by the guy that owns the lot next to it.  As you can see from the pic, I guess he no longer cares what's going on at the river, because he's trying to unload his property as well.  No telling what kind of replacement will end up in his place.

Pat brought down several pallets for the fire, and Freddy brought us a load of old boards he's collected.  With the other stuff we gathered up, there was no shortage of burning material.

We took a little look around another recently vacated property behind the camp, just to check out the conditions.  It's amazing how some people will live, and the conditions under which they'll do it.  Nothing a one gallon can of kerosene couldn't correct.

As usual, we had a great River Day celebration, and I for one always enjoy getting together with fellow Rivertarians.

Happy River Day!

Best fire on the river!

Fall Camping Trip: October 26-30, 2016

Another annual fall camping has successfully come and gone.  This year's trip was back at Sherwood Lake in Greenbrier County, WV.  We were once again at the camping loop on the lake shore.  It's been 6 years since we've camped at the lake, and it felt a little like coming home. 

We had a good sized group of campers for the duration: Jay, Tim, Ted, Pat, Damon, Timmy, Todd and myself (Mark).  Scott also came up for one night, but couldn't spend the whole time like the rest of us did.  We had 4 campers taking up 3 sites, a little bit of food, a couple of cold beverages, and some firewood to make what I'm sure was the best fire in the National Forest.

The weather was better than good: temps in the day time ranging from 55 to 70.  Nights got down to the 40s and 30s.  There was only one day of rain, and that wasn't enough to discourage us from enjoying this end of season extravaganza. 

I won't bore everyone with the details of our time there, but I am posting a good number of photos.  I hope they capture the spirit of the week.  Thanks to Ted for contributing some pics also!

Needless to say, we all missed David again, and I kept expecting to see him every time I turned around.  It was a very nostalgic time for me, as I'm sure it was for some of the other "old timers" in the group that got to enjoy this time with him in the past.

Enjoy the pictures!
(scroll all the way down for a surprise video!)