Arkansas River, July 14-15, 2007
By: Janice and Rich Lind
Pictured left to right: Russ Icke, Joshua Begg, Hoyt Hillman, Rich Lind, Janice Lind,
Vince Marshall, Zack Meyers, Michelle Meyers, Humberto Jimenez, Shirley Hess, Not pictured:
Jerry Estep, Mike Estep, Chris Collins
On Saturday, July 14, 2007, the following floaters met at the Mulvane bridge at approximately 10:00 a.m.: Humberto Jimenez, Russ Icke, Hoyt Hillman, Zack Meyers, Michelle Meyers, Joshua Begg, Jerry Estep, Mike Estep, Shirley Hess, Vince Marshall, Chris Collins, Rich Lind and Janice Lind. Since the group consisted of day-floaters and overnighters, the shuttle took awhile so we launched a little after noon. We floated for an hour (3 miles) and had lunch on a sand bar at the goat ranch. On our afternoon float, we sighted a bald eagle. At 4:00 p.m. we reached the Belle Plaine K-55 Bridge which was the take-out spot for the day-floaters (10.65 miles). The overnight floaters (Jerry, Mike, Shirley, Vince, Chris, Rich and Janice) continued an hour down the river to a sand bar and set up camp (12.07 miles). All but the largest sandbars where the river bends were covered, so choices were few but we found one that was adequate. It was a hot afternoon and the water was inviting, so we spent time in the river learning rope rescue techniques, thanks to Chris’ coaching. After supper, we watched the stars appear, saw a bat and fought off mosquitoes for awhile before climbing into our tents.
We decided Saturday evening that we’d like to get an early start Sunday, so we rose early on Sunday morning and were on the river at 6:50 a.m. It was a beautiful morning and we saw deer on the riverbank. Since most of us were white-water novices, we had a little excitement when we traveled through the old Oxford mill dam. Chris talked us through it and no one overturned. We took a small break on a sand bar, arriving at Oxford Park at 10:00 a.m. (21.15 miles). After loading the boats, we drove to Mulvane to get Mike and Jerry’s car, then ate lunch together at the Pizza Hut at Rock Road and K-15.
The Derby Gage was between 3.9 and 3.8 ft for the duration of the trip. The normal July “scrape the rocks” level is about 2.2 ft.
WichitaPaddler.com - Home Page
© 2007 Chris Collins, All Rights Reserved