Last Friday we hit the North Fork. George and Ben and I put in at the bridge off Deep Ford Rd. and went down to the bridge at Hwy 16. I went swimming, too, not on purpose... and it was cold, my friends. Trying to scooch in off the bank, ooops, put the nose right on in and filled up the boat in nothing flat. While it got into the upper 70s and stayed sunny all day, that morning dunk gave me seriously cold feet for the first 1/2 hour or so. Great stretch even so; I'd never been on any of the North Fork before. And any day you see an otter is a good day.
I saw one this morning, too. This time Henry and I went out on the South Fork. We put in at Sheet's Bridge and floated down to the Wagner Access at the New River State Park. The otter was near the bank of the little island just past where Dog Creek dumps in at the old mill -- that's where the Wild & Scenic designation of the South Fork kicks in, by the way. I sneeked up on the little guy and was probably no more than a paddle length away from him. Once he spied me he of course went nose down, back paws up, and under the water in a flash.
Henry had less good luck... his boat seems to have developed a slow leak, and, about 2/3 of the way through his paddle snapped in two. Seriously. It just broke apart at the seam. Henry's toys must have taken a bigger beating than we realized during last year's Expedition.
Check out the pictures I just posted to the right.
I saw one this morning, too. This time Henry and I went out on the South Fork. We put in at Sheet's Bridge and floated down to the Wagner Access at the New River State Park. The otter was near the bank of the little island just past where Dog Creek dumps in at the old mill -- that's where the Wild & Scenic designation of the South Fork kicks in, by the way. I sneeked up on the little guy and was probably no more than a paddle length away from him. Once he spied me he of course went nose down, back paws up, and under the water in a flash.
Henry had less good luck... his boat seems to have developed a slow leak, and, about 2/3 of the way through his paddle snapped in two. Seriously. It just broke apart at the seam. Henry's toys must have taken a bigger beating than we realized during last year's Expedition.
Check out the pictures I just posted to the right.