Three Days on the Little River

Little River
Townsend, TN to Ft. Loudon Lake
3/17/2011-3/19/2011
~30mi

You know you have a reputation for putting together interesting adventures when your pre-trip correspondence reads like this.

 "I like how you keep saying how easy this float should be, dave...you might fool cody and laconic but i'm no idiot...i've already had a will written up and am bringing a gun for when things get like last time. let me know if you guys want me to bring a bullet for you, too."


Well, this years annual float trip was slightly scaled back in both duration and intensity, but the fun element was still very high.

30 miles-Three days

On Thursday we put in where HWY 321 crosses the Little River. What are usually very hectic day one logistics ran very smooth thanks to Caroline Zurhellen and her willingness to tolerate four men about to begin a three day testosterone fest. We were able to be on the water and on our way by 10AM. This was great except that it was so cold on the river I didn't feel my feet until sometime around noon.

A couple of goobs

Knowing that we had not that far to go and all day to get there, the breaks were early and often. Day one went fairly smooth, though we did hit a few potholes.

Hitting a pothole

In the past, I've been known for my inability to tip over a kayak. Not the case this trip, I was the first to go over. The amount of heckling I received was not slight. Brent spilled soon after I did and didn't fare so well, receiving some beat up knees and yet another case of hypothermia. To give Brent a chance to warm up and dry out we set up camp on a small island near Walland, TN. 

Thanks to minimal efforts at best, Day one resulted in the catching of zero fish. I rectified this early on Day two with a nice smallie.

First fish of the season

Later in the day, Schwenk looked for other things to catch seeing as how he couldn't catch any fish.

Skunk fishing

Our campsite for the first night was only slightly above adequate, but we scored a good one for night two. We spent the night on a thirty acre island and had the place all to ourselves. Early on Day 3 we even heard coyotes and turkeys.

Island Life

Certain aspects of multi-day kayak trips are outstanding. Nothing beats floating down a river with friends. Others aren't so great. There's sand in EVERYTHING and none of your clothes or gear are dry after the first day. With these latter aspects in mind, we made the decision to start somewhat early on Day 3 and push on to Ft. Loudon. I still managed to catch a few nice fish in between paddle strokes...

Day 3, the fish are bigger and the knees are redder

We hit our take out point around 1pm on Saturday afternoon and were all more than ready for a shower and life's other creature comforts. 

After three days on the river, the statistics and recognition read as follows:

Fish caught: Dave 9, Brent 2, Schwenk 0, Cody broke his rod in the first few hours

Hypothermia: Brent and his subsequent 14hrs of shivering in a sleeping bad

Lost Lunch: Cody wins by a land slide, absolutely projectile

No matter how exhausted and filthy I am when I get back from these trips, I'm always looking forward to the next one. I cant wait until next time.