Lower Caddo River Clean-up, Sunday Sept 7, 2014

[Cowper]

Those who didn't open this one because it said "clean up" just missed out on a unique opportunity.

Some logistical details are still being worked out, but here's what I know right now:

Meeting at 10:45 (yes, AM) at the Caddo Valley Valero, just north of I-30 on Hwy 7.
I believe this is Exit 78.
I KNOW this is N34.1864 W93.0715

The Caddo River below Degray sees a heavy load of summertime "tubers" and purely recreational floaters. As you might imagine, this leads to a lot of "lost" beverage containers, but, also a heavy load of another type of litter: Air mattresses and tubes. Basically, by the time they get to the take out, some of the tubes are leaking, and sadly quite a few tubes are left to just float away downstream instead of being carried back to a car or disposed of in a dumpster.

So our goal is to float about 2.6 miles of the Caddo, from near the Freeway, down to the junction with the Ouachita, getting as many tubes and and much other litter as we can.

One problem with cleaning this stretch of river is that there are limited public access points, making for a relatively long float from Caddo Valley down to the next public access at Arkadelphia. Don't worry, we have a plan!

Is your boat too small to carry a lot of trash? Don't worry, we have a plan! (Trust us!)

Bryan H is bring his airboat to serve as a trash barge. You will be able to off load frequently so that we can keep getting more. AND, when we get down to the confluence with the Ouachita, don't worry about the 6 mile paddle out. We'll be turning the air boat into a "ferry" to carry the other boats downriver to the boat ramp at Arkadelphia. (can you say "woo-hoo!")

(Of course, if you would rather paddle out, that's fine too.)

I do recommend bringing a lunch. If someone has commitments Sunday evening, please be sure to let us know that, and we'll try to make sure you are on one of the first rides downriver; we can probably get about 3 boats per trip but depending on turn-out we probably won't get everybody on the first run. If turn out is bigger than expected, we may suggest that you continue downriver while the first run is going on, just to shorten the "cycle time" between ferry loads. Also, we will have at least one extra truck downstream to shuttle you back to your vehicle. We can also help move your vehicle downstream in the morning if you have a strong preference for that.

I apologize for the short notice and for doing it the same weekend as the Arkansas River clean-up, but I just found out about some scheduling conflicts that prevent us from doing this later in September.

Hope to see some of you there! If you know you're trying to come, let us know so we can keep a general head-count.

[maggiepowell]

Wow! Two clean ups in one weekend. It doesn't get much better than that!. I may even try to find an open boat to paddle just for the fun of it. I will let you know as soon as I can as I may need to find someone with a truck to put the boat on.

Anyway, I do plan on attending.

Mags

[Cowper]

Update: Just changed time to 10:45, give folks a chance to sleep in bit Sunday morning.

May change from ride downriver, to a ride back upstream to the starting point; that depends on how many show, what type of boats, etc. I promise it will be fun whichever way we go.

Canoe vs. kayak, good arguments for either. The canoe is certainly easier to get out of as needed, and hauls more. The kayak is easier to load on the airboat at the end of the day. Go with whichever is easiest for you.

[Ouachitoff]

This is my home river! Super stoked this is going down, hope I can make it Sunday.

[Jim Krueger]

Cowper,

This has also been my home river too for the many years I have lived nearby on my farm. I would like to join you all on Sunday.
I have a bit more info for you regarding the float plans, please check your PMs.

Best Regards
Jim

[riptide]

Cooper, I will be there, I love the Caddo and would love to help keep it clean! Any ideas on how long you plan to be on the river?

[Cowper]

Cooper, I will be there, I love the Caddo and would love to help keep it clean! Any ideas on how long you plan to be on the river?

Is this a trick question?

UPDATED/REVISED:

We'll try to keep the water time under 4 hours, possibly less. We're only trying to go down a 2.6 mile stretch of river. So on one hand, it is possible we could be on the water less than 3 hours, plus an hour at each end for shuttling, loading/unloading boats and trash, etc. So I think at 4 PM we'll be all loaded up and talking about whether to eat supper together at the BBQ place in Caddo Valley, or just head to the house. The more people we get, the more likely we can get a lot of trash with only a couple of hours of work, and maintain or beat this schedule.

All that said, we are historically, notoriously bad time estimators. I'm going to break with tradition and make a solid promise that you will not need a flashlight to load your boat. And anyone who lets us know they need to be off the water sooner, we're going to take care of you, but you have to tell us in the morning when we are deciding where to "spot" each car (at takeout, or leave at put-in, etc.) I know this sounds silly, but I was on a river trip one time, still a couple of miles from the takeout at 3 PM, and for the first time I had heard it, someone tells me they were supposed to be somewhere else at 5 PM. To make matters worse, that place was more than a two hour drive away. All I could do at that point was to give them my best dead-pan look and say "you're not going to make it."

[riptide]

Cowper
I take back my question. I am new to the crew, but I catch on quick... Cowper+River clean up=Flashlight...got it

[Cowper]

Update: Don't know if the airboat is coming or not - repairs underway but don't know if it will be running by morning.

The clean-up is still on, it just changes our logistics some...

[riptide]

Have to back out
Pick up a few pieces of trash for me.
Thanks for keep the rivers clean

[firepilot52]

Just checked in and saw this...see you there!

[YarTheBug]

Planning to be there.

[Cowper]

Great, sorry one had to drop, but happy two more have joined in!

Also, Jim K has secured permission to use an access on private property near the confluence, so even if the airboat doesn't make it we can keep our total time on water about the same. Thanks Jim!!!

[Jim Krueger]

What a good day for the Lower Caddo! I think we had eight in our group today to scavenge trash, and really worked to clean this last river section very well I thought. The weather, and water conditions helped very much, not too hot, and the water felt so nice to wade around in while working on the project.

I sure appreciate the end result! It was so fun to visit, every one really made just the best effort!!
Thank you Cowper and Debbie for organizing the day!

Best Regards
Jim

[Cowper]

A fun day, even if we did run into some mechanical difficulties! It caused us to miss the 4 PM takeout, but not the "no flashlights for loading promise" (barely). And we still accomplished our mission. Some photos: