After launching at the Pinnacle Park boat ramp, we quickly determined that the last flood had moved Portajon #1 from its last known position, and low water prevented a downstream search in the motorboat we had brought for transporting our finds. Not being quitters, we reloaded the motorboat and headed to another ramp 5 miles downstream. The property owner there insisted the jons had been taken far downriver by the floods, to locations unknown, but we suspected he was talking about only one of the two jons and decided to continue our search. We launched and motored back upstream. Along the way, we were treated to the sight of a fawn and its mother.
We managed to motor and drag to within 1000 feet of where we had just been, and found the jon wrapped around a tree only a few hundred feet downstream from its earlier location. Doug used his leatherman multi-tool to prepare it for transport….
After offloading the gas tank and battery to lighten the load as much as possible, we dragged the boat upstream to within 200 feet of the jon, which we sledded through the woods and loaded onto the boat. We then dragged back downstream, reinstalled the battery and gas tank, and motored slowly 5 miles back to the lower boat ramp, picking up considerable more trash along the way (tire, pickle bucket, child’s plastic playground slide, a large wooden table, and parts of the Pinnacle rental shack that had also been carried away by floodwaters). By the time we got back, we were still floating, but it was a very good thing that it was not a windy day.
We also saw a number of birds including a red-headed woodpecker, and at least two snakes. The drive back to the Pinnacle park to offload our goods was slow due to the over-width load, but uneventful except for a short stop to help push a stalled car out of the road. It was only after we got back and asked the ranger where to offload the goods that I think there was a full realization of what we had been up to, which turned out to be one of the more interesting conversations of the day.
I guess I’ll close by saying “Thanks” to those of you who gave us positive feedback for past efforts, and to those of you who would have gone if you could or if you had known. Fryingsquirrel had originally planned to go on this particular mission with me but had to work, and I know Eric always drools about the clean-ups we do far from his home base. And I know there are others…
Larger versions of the photos are here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/582802562VytRmJ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
