At the very end of that month, Saturday, March 30th, the forecast changed quickly. Suddenly, just before the weekend, they were saying we were going to have warm enough weather to float again! I hadn't originally planned to float this area, but because the break in the cold weather was so sudden, I had little time to prepare. From all of the reviews I had read, downstream from the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area wasn't much worth floating. Many people complained about how "trashy" and "industrialized" this stretch of the river was. Regardless, we didn't have enough time to prepare for any of the other trips, and I had experience hiking much of the first quarter of this float. So we ran to Wal Mart the night before, got the food and drinks we'd need, whipped up a quick map for my phone, and packed for the 13 miles from the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area to Route 66 State Park.
While I hadn't planned on floating this area because of the poor reviews, I was actually glad we could work it in. The trip would start in the area where I had spent years fishing and hiking. I would finally get to explore many of the places that I could see, but never reach from the shore.
The weather in the days before had been very cold and snowy, and the morning started off very cool, foggy, and dreary. Looking downstream from the boatramp at the Palisades Conservation Area, it reminded me of something from one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Right at the boatramp the river is usually deep and the current fast. However, it was around 4 feet above normal from all the melting snow, so the river was wider and the current faster than even normal. The river is generally so wide by this far downstream that it really wasn't a problem for it to be up though. It was actually kind of nice because as long as we stayed in the middle we'd be certain to not hit any submerged obstacles. It would also make paddling easy because the river would be ushering us downstream quickly.
Right across the river from where I spend most of my time fishing is a long highwater lake. When the river was very low, and the gravel bar extended far into the river, I could see its opening. But I could never see up into it. And there was no way to get to it. We paddled up into it and explored. It goes quite a ways back!
You can walk along the right shoreline almost the entire length of the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area. I've probably hiked and fished every inch of it. But at the lowermost righthand corner of the boundary of the Conservation area, the river splits around a small island and the shoreline stops. Even if you cut through the woods there's a long lake that curves all the way back to where you started, so you can't hike any further. I've had great success fishing from the very last tip of shoreline, within a stone's throw of the island. But the current is so fast right where it splits that I'd never DARE swim to it.
When we got to the island we took the righthand current around it until we reached a beach on the very backside tip. We parked the boat and hiked up the hill. The island is tiny, but it's very, very steep and at least 40 feet high, depending on how high the river is. It's uninhabited, except for birds and probably little mammals. It was fascinating exploring it. I took a picture from the top of the island, where the river splits around it, looking upstream along what is normally a sandy shoreline. The current right there is incredible!
Looking up that lake that hooks around back through the Palisades Conservation Area. I've hiked and fished this area for years now so I was very surprised that for a moment I wasn't sure which way to go! It's hard to describe, but because the river split around the island and then flowed into this lake, the water was flowing literally four directions at once, kind of like an H or an 8. Usually you can just follow the current, but the current was flowing 4 different directions. It took me a minute to get my bearings and head back into the Meramec. I wish we would have had time to go up into it to explore. I've seen a few half-sunken barges while hiking the lake's shoreline.
Just like the other floats there were plenty of beautiful river bluffs on this trip. If the river would have been lower, and it wouldn't have just been me and my daughter, I would have loved to have swam here, or at least fish!
So this is the part of the river that most people were complaining about. For a few miles there are just cars and trash and broken down bridges and junk scattered here and there. It's really disappointing. But at least the majority of the float wasn't that way.
While looking over the river on googlemaps I noticed what I thought might be another island a little bit before the Allenton Access. I figured we'd try to take the left path around the island instead of sticking to the main channel, just to see what it was like. When we got to it, the water was high enough to navigate it, but it was really narrow. As it turned out, just beyond our view a tree had fallen and was blocking the entire waterway! And the current was going so fast, I had to make a decision really quick, whether or not to try to get up the shore and drag it over, or try to ramp it. The shore really wasn't an option because the bank was still pretty steep and I knew it would be slick as ice. So we headed for the lowest part of the tree and I started paddling as hard as I could. We slid right over it without a problem! From now on we'll be sticking to the main current of the river!
In all the 69 miles of the Meramec River that we've floated to this point, I have not yet seen a more beautiful spot than this. Looking at the river on googlemaps I knew this would be a pretty spectacular spot. I could see that the river snaked one way, and then snapped back the other sharply. The river just slams right into this bluff and makes a hard left turn. It's almost like the water sings as it rushes past the smooth stone wall. There's a gorgeous gravel beach over to the left and the bluff just goes up and up. There was a bald eagle nest just before the bluff too. I bet it makes a great place to perch and look for fish from that high up.
By this time we had arrived at about the halfway point, the Allenton Access, and it was time for lunch. We pulled up onto the boatramp and set up table on one of those huge boulders they have at most of the Conservation Areas here in Missouri. It was nice to have a clean, wide open, dry place to eat lunch. After lunch, she ran around stretching her legs, as I packed up. We then pushed off to finish our adventure.
Between the Allenton Access and our goal, Route 66 State Park, there really weren't many landmarks to judge how far we had left to go. Just lots of deep valleys and very steep, high banks, punctuated by the occasional beach. The river basically just made one big, long bend to the right, and then one to the left. The Highway 109 Bridge was about the only marker to tell us we were getting there. After that I was just paddling and paddling and paddling thinking "Holy cow! Are we there yet? Where's the boat ramp?" It's hard to tell how far you've got to go when there's not much to go by.
Other than how dreary the weather was, this was a fantastic trip! We saw more eagles, taller bluffs, got to explore lakes and islands, and almost got tangled up in a tree blocking our path! Lilly was a very brave, and adventurous girl. We had made it all 13 miles from the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area to Route 66 State Park.
I can't say I agree with most of the poor reviews I read about this section of the Meramec. There definitely are areas that have a lot of junk. But the majority of the river is clean. And so far, this stretch has had some of the most beautiful places I've seen on the river.
No comments:
Post a Comment