Wednesday afternoon I was riding around listening to the radio and Wiley Q said it was a great day to be thankful. Sometimes those highly paid radio dj's can read your mind.
I was feeling it too.
My day kicked in when Fred called a little past 9. "Hey SJ, river's running 300 and the lake is right where they like it. Want to hit it before the corp turns down the spicket?"
I jumped, of course, and we met down at Rat Hole, loaded our kayaks and gear into the back of my truck, and proceeded to Garden Hole. Once parked, we ran into a couple of bird-watchers scanning the rocks for a small and skittish sandpiper. You'll see the tiny birds darting about just above the water when paddling downstream, but rarely see them standing. The birders were spotting them through binoculars a couple hundred yards downstream.
The sunlight on the large pool counters the cool water, quickly warming the initial chill. Garden Hole is a long hole of water, placid until it suddenly plunges downhill into the first of many long boulder strewn rapids that characterize the legendary Breaks gorge.
A half mile downstream, before the serious drops overtake your attention, we were surprised by a duck that noisily crossed our path from the right riverbank toward the left. The proverbial wounded duck.
There was nothing wrong with it at all. It was working to draw our gaze away from her gaggle of baby ducklings hiding in the shadows by the bank.
New life abounds in the gorge. Our landscape has transformed from the bleak brown and grays of winter into the greenest greens on the continent. Our greens make the Irish jealous.
This spring brought another development along the banks of the Russell Fork deep in the canyon, a reminder that divine providence can be a double edged sword.
Last March 3rd, the combination of rains and runoff from over two feet of snow brought the Russell Fork up to ten year levels. Peaking near 30,000cfs at Haysi, the floodwaters raged through the canyon and down to the Levisa wreaking havoc downstream. Some folks are still cleaning up.
But in the canyon, the huge flow scoured the banks of the river, 20-40 feet up either side, scrubbing away trash that had gathered for years. I've wandered the bottom of the canyon for nearly 40 years, and I've never seen it so clean. If 100 people had picked up trash every day for 20 years they could not have done what 24 hours of very high water did.
It looks like the creator's vaccuum cleaner came through and sucked it all away.
As we crossed the state line coming out of the canyon, we ran right into an old friend neither of us had seen in years. He, his son and a friend were fishing the shoals and having a great time of it. In less than an hour they'd caught and released nearly 20 fish.
It's been a thankful week here in Eklhorn. Last weekend's Apple Blossom festival had the best turnout in years. The spring whitewater clinic, sponsored by Kentucky's two major paddling clubs, attracted new boaters from all over the state. Rat Hole was more packed than I've ever seen.
Best of all, dozens of new visitors were introduced to the friendliest outdoor town in the east. When different groups work together to make it happen for our own and our visitors there is no place I'd rather be.
Wiley was right, it's a good time to be thankful.