PADDLING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

[Louiscov]

It is so great when ACC members post about paddling with their kids and grandkids!! I can never read enough of these. The stories always take me back to paddling with my oldest, now 30, married, a professional engineer with a grad degree. He still calls me twice a year and says "Dad, lets go to the river." We started him at age 2, and these are my top 10 of many, many wonderful memories. Even now at 30, when we paddle and camp and he arranges the fire and plays in rapids, I've got both my little boy and my young man back!! Every minute, every dollar we spent boating was worth it many times over.

age 7: first trip to Buffalo R, hanging out a Grey Rock, watching paddlers dump. First time he heard an adult say "sh*t" and he tells his 2nd grade teacher his new vocabulary word the next week.

age 10: Solos Ponca to Kyles in a Mad River Courrier solo canoe.

age 12: I flip on Nantahala at Whirlpool Eddy and call home. He tells the pastor (he'd never see me flip) and the preacher announces it from the pulpit in front of 400 people. Ever had your swim announced to that many people?

age 13: Solos upper Little Missouri at 18" with Jim Simmons leading us down.

age 14: Solos Boxley to Ponca after 8th grade graduation.

age 15: Solos Helton's to Longpool on the Piney. River rises 3.5 to 5.5 feet and he swims at the Mother in a thunderstorm. Two canoes come by, one flips and is never seen again. Scared to death, we asked them how far to the Mother. They told us we'd passed it and it was such a relief.

age 16: Piney again. My paddle hits a rock in an eddy, polevaulting me into the eddy and splintering my $90 wood paddle like a toothpick. I look up to see my Dagger Encore floating upright downstream and him laughing so hard he almost flipped. He laughed until he cried.

ages 18 - 20: Three August trips solo canoeing at Nanty. First year he does the last drop of the falls backwards and tumbles out of his canoe. The canoe floats on downstream upright and never flips. To this day he says he's "never flipped" at the Nanty.

ages 19 - 20: He leads 8 - 10 college friends down Mulberry (High Bank to Turner Bend) and Piney (Heltons to Long Pool) in successive February's during La. Tech quarter break.

age 27: Piney, around a campfire. Our very inebriated campers at the next site debate way past midnight on the "Jenkins Ferry" battle, its military and political implications, and talk about "running the Mother from all angles, including not in the canoe." Late that night boaters come up looking for two friends who lost their canoe at the Mother and were walking out, one without shoes, one without a shirt, both without a flashlight in the February cold. Both made it back along the west bank about midnight.

PLEASE SHARE MORE ABOUT PADDLING WITH YOUR CHILDREN WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

[Richard]

Rodger Keesee and I invite families to join us this weekend.
http://www.arkansascanoeclub.com/mb/vie ... =5&t=10318" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[scoutdad]

I hope me and Tyler have that good of time over the next few years

[Susan Tinker]

ok, you asked! My daughter and I use to canoe the Buffalo at least once a month, starting when she was 4 yrs old. At 7, my sister put her in a canoe with her friend that had never canoed. They fought all the way down and did Buffalo Point to Rush going from side to side. Made it a much longer trip .... and my sister and I laughed the entire way.
We did this until she became a teenager. Then, her senior year in school, she invited her friends and their moms to go to the Buffalo and we had a great day. The lowest we'd ever floated, or dragged, but great memories before she went off to college.
Once she graduated college and was planning on moving to Kansas City, MO, the only thing I asked for my birthday was to paddle Buffalo River one more time ....
Well, I camped (yes camped) last Spring and she was meeting me at Buffalo the next morning. She got the wrong directions from Fayetteville and ended up at the other end of the Buffalo River and went back home! But, the weekend before she moved, she joined me and the Kruegers for one last float, down the Caddo.
I had told Marlo that my daughter would really have enjoyed shopping more but came because it was my last request before she moved away. She got in the rec boat, paddled out by Marlo at some point and Marlo asked her what she liked to do or something ... and Michelle said she'd rather be shopping! I think she did have a fun time and know that someday, she will get back to paddling and enjoy it!
She has told me that if they move to a ranch in Austin, there is a little house on the river next to where they may live and that I can live in that house and kayak all day long!
One thing I will say about raising your kids paddling .... when you take their friends ... their friends will talk about it forever and ever because most kids don't have the opportunity to go. What better memories than paddling together! And, like Louis said, they will always remember getting to laugh at their parents when they swim!
ok, you asked!
Susan Tinker

[Louiscov]

Glad I asked. Thanks for responding.

Congratulations on the good times.

[lobbylady]

I have to get my kids on the water. They are getting older every day, as we all are I guess. My girls are 15 and 11. I worry about taking them on the water because I am so new as well. I think I am going to take them on Richard's trip...either this Fall or in the Spring. They will probably like that.
Thanks for sharing your stories!

[lobbylady]

Day trips may be the thing to start with actually.

[Richard]

lobbylady, I would highly recommend this weekend for a few reasons.
1. The water is on the low side of ample and running very clear. Beautiful.
2. The weather will be warm during the day. Cool at night. Great paddling weather.
3. From a safety standpoint, we have some very good paddlers going who can shepherd your crew.
4. Hwy 14 (possibly Buffalo Point) to Rush is a scenic and gentle section.
5. Bice Bend has one of the best camping gravel bars on the river.
6. Ken Smith will be at Buffalo Point this weekend. He will be there doing trail work for the next two weeks.
7. This trip can be a day trip. Come prepared for camping but know that a daytrip is possible.

Because we are only two days away this is pretty much assured.
As we go further toward the new year, probability of bad weather increases dramatically. We had to cancel last November. December was cold but we paddled. I think we canceled in January. Spring brings big water.

If equipment is an issue, let us know.
http://www.arkansascanoeclub.com/mb/vie ... =5&t=10318" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Clif]

My oldest started going along when he was quite young. I had him swimming in his life jacket before 2. First thing we did was go to the lake in our "new" Genesis and flip over. Just to let him know what to expect and what to do. The younger brother also goes along now. Since we have kayaks, canoes and rafts there are options.

The cleanup last week was first time on the cataraft for my 4 year old. At first he was not excited. By the end of the day he was pointing at the fish and the whitewater as he called it. "Over there daddy, hit the waves." He was not happy I would not let him row like his brother. Ya think in a few years I can take them along and ride all day?

[lobbylady]

I think we are going to go on the trip.
We are planning to do the trip in one day... The only thing I am worried about is the 2 miles at the end of the trip that we will be alone. I am going to call Wild Bill's tomorrow to see if they are expecting a lot of people on the river. As long as we are likely to paddle the last 2 miles with other people, it will be fine. Just don't want to take the kids down the river by myself.

There are no strainers on that last 2 miles or anything, right?

I think we are going to camp with you guys on Friday and then rent the canoes for Saturday.

Hopefully I will see you all on Friday.

Guess, I should change my name from Lobbylady to Worried Lady :)

[bart]

This was the 3rd year that my wife and I took our 2 grandaughters to the Buffalo. They're both 7 now. This year we added one of our 2 year old garandsons. We do a 3 to 5 mile section with them to keep it fun. They swim (float) more than they ride in the canoe, we just try to let them do what they want to so that they'll want to go back. I could call either one of them tonight and ask if they want to go this weekend, and they'd be jumping up and down with delight!! They love it as much as my wife and I. We plan on keeping it at least a yearly tradition, and it really needs to be more often than that.

[lobbylady]

Yikes!
Could you give me directions to the campsite and if I need to make a reservation for camping?

[Richard]

We will be in the Walkin camp area. As you go down the hill to the campground the road Ts at a stop sign. Turn left. You will see a large parking area and grassy field on the right. That is the Walkin area. I will be driving a 2002 Subaru Forrester with a green Old Town canoe on top and wheels attached to the Stern.

The River is wide with no strainers between Bice Bend and Rush.

Its OK to be Worried Lady. It is great insurance. Most things we worry about never happen.

[kayakcono]

I prefer to use a Werner. Children squirm around too much and there is way to much flex in them. But, to each their own... Freddie

[lobbylady]

UGH!
This has been my story this week... Wanting to go paddling and not being able to do so.

I may get up early tomorrow morning and meet you guys at the Hwy 14 put in. My daughter has 4 tests next week and is determined to study for them...How can I be upset with that?

Hopefully see you tomorrow...On the other hand, I will have the last two miles to paddle all by myself and that isn't good either.

I have some thinking to do.
Jacqueline