Poke Bayou: October 13, 2012, Batesville (DATE CHANGED)

[DeBo]

Poke Bayou is a clear springfed stream which flows into the White River at Batesville. The upper section of the creek is beautiful and wooded with clear water that runs at a floatable level all year. The cleanup marks the beginning of a project to recover the lower part of the stream and create a park with both a foot trail ad a water trail. This is not a usual wetland trip but I am posting it for all interested parties. All help is appreciated.

Batesville, AR – Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers invites the public to Poke Float and Clean Up on October 13, 2012. Anyone interested in preserving the natural beauty of Poke Bayou is urged to attend. Participants will meet at 8:00 am and the float trip will begin at 8:30. A vehicle caravan will begin at 8:15 a.m. to the take out and a shuttle will transport volunteers to the start. The two mile trip will begin at Poke Bayou Park at the White Drive Bridge and will end at the lower pipeline just off lower Main Street. The public should bring canoes, kayaks, and trash bags to assist with the clean up. Food and refreshments will be provided for volunteers at the end of the float trip. For further information contact Sam Cooke at 870-307-8922. More information on the sponsors of this event, Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers, can be found at http://www.friendsoftherivers.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[Cowper]

For those of you not familiar with how to get there (which included me until my first trip a few weeks ago):

Put-In and Meeting Place: Poke Bayou Park GPS N35.7917 W91.6444
Google maps version: http://goo.gl/maps/5qfta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tell me and Debo what we can do to improve participation.

Free ride from Conway area? (valid for first responder only due to limited space)

Free pizza after the event? (Wait, scratch that - FREE FOOD and REFRESHMENTS already being provided by the event organanizers)

Carry your boat from your car to the water and put it in for you?

Chance to watch me go all OCD working on a tire that is going to take about four of us to dig out and load in the boat?

[Lupe]

Tell me and Debo what we can do to improve participation.

It might help to list the day of the event in the post title....it looks like this is scheduled for Saturday, Oct 6, but the title says Sept 12...which unless you provide a time machine, will make participation very difficult.

[Cowper]

Good point. The other date was the "dateline" on the announcement from the Friends of the River, but that could be confusing for some if we don't follow our standard ACC practice of putting the event date in the Title, not "buried" in the body. I took the liberty of cleaning up "most" references to the Sept date so the thread won't have multiple references to the wrong date.

[Deuce]

Tell me and Debo what we can do to improve participation.

Clone me. I've been scheduled for two months to be out of town this weekend, otherwise I'd be all over it.

[sig]

What "tools" would one bring to an event like this?

[Cowper]

From their website: "Participants should bring canoes, kayaks, and trash bags to assist with the clean up."

So the short answer for ACC folks who are joining me and Debo is, bring yourself, a boat, some gloves, and clothes you don't mind getting wet and dirty. Everything which follows is "icing".

And of course the same stuff you would take on any day float, like maybe dry clothes for later. Drinks, yes, food, maybe a snack if you're one of those folks who needs to eat often to keep energy levels up. But they are promising food after the clean-up, so I think a good breakfast should hold you until the clean-up is over.

I've got a good supply of highway department bags and AGFC mesh bags. For this event I plan to use the plastic bags; I'm hoping the AGFC participants will recognize that the volume of trash to be collected will most likely not fit in the mesh bags.

I'm also toying with heading immediately downstream to some known tire locations. I typically bring a shovel to help with that, maybe a 2X4 for general prying, and a small hand saw for those cases where tree roots have grown around the tires. I usually have some scrap ropes for tugging on heavy stuff.

If you have a metal cutting torch, that could be useful on an old pipeline that has fallen into the river, but I wasn't really planning to go after that since the City could go after that later.

REVISED TO ADD: Bring some cool weather gear. Current forecast is 55 with a good chance of showers. This is Arkansas, plenty of time for that forecast to change completely, BUT, if it is that cool, some ACC participation may become more important since overall participation will likely be lower, and I know some of us have the proper gear to still get wet and go after trash under those less than ideal conditions. (and I was soooo hoping to wrestle tire aligators in deeper water - but maybe not this time...)

[DeBo]

Just got an update from the organizers:

POSTPONEMENT

Due to a cold and rainy weather forecast, the float/cleanup has been postponed one week, until October 13, at the same time. Thank you for your interest and efforts. Please inform others that you know that are planning to participate. Feel free to call me if you have any questions. Sam Cooke at 870-307-8922

[Deuce]

Yipee! That means I can go. If anyone wants to roll with me I'll have plenty of room. I can carry another canoe if necessary (or probably a couple of yaks with some creative strapology).

[maggiepowell]

Jason and I can help out. We will both have our kayaks. My car doesn't work for more than 2 boats.. so if anyone has room for us, we can consolidate. We both live in LR but can meet up most anywhere.

Maggie and Jason

[Brad555]

Thats great....
It is a very informative post and i am really impressed.Thanx for sharing this.