[tomcat]

welp....to all those who have heard be biatch about lack of rain in Arkansas.....check out this 7-day rainfall amounts. over 16 inches in the Ozarks. We just had the most epic last five days of paddling I can remember and I've been paddling for almost 30 years. Got some Ozark hair creeking in on Lake Creek-type water. Yea baby!


tomcat

ps: Patricia....you've seen Richland with no water and was impressed. Think about it with 20,000 cfs. Yep....20,000 is not a typo. Big Piney went from 250 cfs last Monday to over 100,000 this past Saturday.

 

[tomcat]

oops....here's the link on rainfall....

http://radar.accuweather.com/adcbin...er=accuweather&getArea=AR_&nxtype=7d&x=58&y=7


tomcat

 

[Geezer]

Shit TC... that's a hell of a lot of water. You be careful out there. We keep getting snow and rain so our situation looks better all the time although totals will still be below average.

 

[gh]

Sounds good tomcat. I just got back from no. cali. They have water out there as well. How's the shecat?

 

[Patricia]

Finally the dry speall has been lifted!!

Hey there sweetness!
I was going to call you this weekend but assumed that you'd be paddling your heart out catching up. 20,000 in Richland - I can't even imagin it - what was if flowing when I was there? 200 CFS? Crazy - I wish you had some footage. I am glad you finally got LOTS of rain. Did you paddle with JB, too??? Wish I was there to watch and lend moral, beer drinking support! What else did you paddle?? You had to be going out of your mind with everything pumping the way it was! Not knowing what to hit next! I can just imagine the grin on your face right now! Can't wait to hear the vivid details! I just can't imagine 20,000 CFS - Doors #1, 2 & 3 must have been insane, nasty holes. I just can't believe that volume in that creek. :shock:

I'll talk to you some time this week. Wish everyone well for me. Glad you got your paddle on!!!

Lots of good Kharma from CO to Little Rock.

 

[tomcat]

It was epic. It had been raining some all week so I was out on the creeks starting on Thursday. We paddled Bobtail Creek and then Richland Creek that day. It really rained hard Thursday night so we ran a second-time-ever creek called Bear Creek on Friday All I can say is that it was the most intense day I've had in a long time....class five in the same class as Lake Creek.....the first 1.5 miles drops at over 300-400 ft per mile then settled down to about 200 ft per mile. Alot of wood, blind drops...hair! Very remote Ozark gorge. We put on before 10:00 and I thought we would be done in about 2 hours over the four mile section and only took one water bottle and one power bar. I finally got back to the truck at 5:00....very tired and hungry and glad to be alive.

Then went to Richland campground and camped. It started raining...rain some more....all night and all day Sat. Hard rain! The bridge at the campground went under water at 9:00 that morning and we didn't see it again till late that afternoon. The road was washed out on both ends of the bridge and we had to move big rocks into the washout to use the bridge the next day. This was a 50-year flood.

All we could do on Sat was build a big fire and drink beer all day waiting for the creeks to settled down. Paddled Richland on Sunday at high water and then tried to go home but the roads were a mess. I got stuck in the big 4x4 truck and had to be winched out. Drove around LR yesterday looking like a studly man in the muddy truck. :lol:

More rain forcast this Friday....... :mrgreen:

Oh yea....JB wasn't there as he and Diane are in Italy. Haha.

gh....Diane is doing very good. She stayed at home to do some work-work all weekend. Just as well as this was some kind of sloppy camping in the rain. I hope you had a good trip to Cali. Was this for a clinic or just river-running?


tomcat

 

[Patricia]

The Perfect Situation

Sounds crazy - glad your safe and I'll hope for rain for ya this weekend! You had your dreams come true - to be stuck by Richland Creek at big water :lol: Have Diane get some footage next time!!

BTW - You don't need a muddy truck to look like the studdy man you already are!!! :wink:

I'll take to ya later.

 

[gh]

Ah jeez, Patricia stop already. He will be strutting all around LR today if ya keep up that up.
Tomcat, glad to hear that Diane is doing well and yes it was the clinic.

 

[Patricia]

Hey Greg!
Just letting the high go a little longer ) Tommy doesn't get many of those days. But, the way things are looking - AK will have more water that us this year. Tom - be prepared, you my have a winfall of boaters for CO to paddle all that water. With that said - Long live TOMCAT - lol lol
:lol:
Hey, I'll be down in COS next week - can you play hooking again? Plan on boating on of those days - not sure what day but I'll drop you an e-mail. Hope all is well!

 

[gh]

Depends on what the MRI says. I may have retorn a previous injury.

 

[tomcat]

greg...bummer about the reinjury. Sure hope it doesn't mess with this season of paddling. Keep us posted.

tcat

 

[gh]

I will know more after the MRI but the doc thinks I have torn the pec major loose at this point. Pisses me off. I worked very hard during the offseason to mend it. After the MRI I may get a second opinion from Dr. Abbott in Vail. Everyone seems to think very highly of him. Real tired of this problem coming back and the worst possible times.

 

[Patricia]

Hey Greg - Sorry to hear you tweeked it again - you've been dealing with that for a while now.n I am suppose to have surgery in July but I am holding off 'til next year when I can afford it. I saw two orthos before I really knew what was going on - Dr. Hawkins is awesome in Vail. When you make an appt give me a call and you and Theresa are more than welcome to stay. Keep me posted.

 

[Mike Harvey]

Funny...I was in Arkansas last week finishing up the conceptual plan we put together for the Ouachita Whitewater Improvements and all of the guys from the Canoe Club were showing me their video of all your creeks out there. Of course while I was there no paddling at all, the Ouachita was only 300cfs or so. So I get home and we are skiing on the same storm that rained all over you all. I turned on CNN after skiing three feet of pow on Saturday and see photos of flooded houses in Arkansas.

Damm, all I know is the next time I travel to Arkansas I am timing it better. Have fun.

 

[tomcat]

Mike, I was at the ACC chapter meeting last night and heard about the great presentation you did on selling the ideas to the locals. Good on you! Rockport has alot of potential. Not bragging but I was the one who first started using the area back in 1980 when I started slalom racing and I used the old bridge to hang some practice gates. I spent the better part of the 80s there putting blisters on my fingers.

Yea, we need some paddlers from CO here when it rains like that. Obviously, we are proud of our creeks and rivers and we love showing them off to others who can appreciate it. I was with Lance (Lazer) over this past week chasing creeks. We are part of the same band of brothers.....so to speak.

Sorry I haven't made it down to Malvern when you've been here. I am also a avid bicycler and ride alot when we don't have creeks to run. But, I do try to get down to Rockport at least once per week during summer. Sure hope to meet ya sometime.

Again, thanks for professional services you are providing for us!


tomcat