Robertsville State Park to the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area

Saturday, February 9th turned out to be not too cold.  When I saw that the forecast predicted clear skies and temperatures in the upper 50s, I knew we had to take advantage of this fleeting opportunity.  Although I knew the water would still be chilly from the sub-freezing temperatures we had been experiencing, I figured that if we wore proper clothing, stayed in the sun out in the center of the river, and didn't get wet, we'd keep warm enough.  I thought we'd float the 11 miles from Robertsville State Park to the Pacific Palisades Conservation Area first because I had kayaked it once before, it was very close to home, and I was still uncertain how our new raft would hold up out on the Meramec River.  

While it's no Colorado River, the Meramec has it's fair share of obstacles.  Chutes, gravel bars, downed trees, submerged logs, boulders and more are common sights all along the river.  The Meramec is prone to sudden, violent flooding, which fills its waters with all sorts of fresh debris just below the surface.  One spot might be clear one weekend, but filled with snags after the latest flood.  Although it had solid reviews, and looked and felt tough to me, I had no idea whether or not it would hold up if it rammed into a log or rock, or got stuck on the gravel.  And though it felt stable out on the lake, I didn't know how hard it would be to flip.

It's unfortunate, but people die in the Meramec River every single year.  I wanted to take our first trip as safely as possible, while still having fun with my 5 year old daughter, Lilly, of course.

The Meramec was much deeper and wider at the Robertsville State Park boatramp, than where I usually fish.  The tip of the gravel bar that I frequent is very shallow on the left bank with a sudden, very narrow, deep channel far to the right.  Here, the banks of the river made something like a bowl.  The river was at a normal height, but it was deeper than I had expected and I could see the current chugging along out in the center.  It was a little intimidating at first.

But as soon as we got out in the water it was smooth sailing.  Because the water was deep, there were no obstacles out in the middle, although the steep banks were littered with them.  As I could see far downstream, and there were few obstacles, I quickly relaxed and we started enjoying ourselves.

While most of the river was deep and wide and clear, there were a few chutes and shallow stretches.  None of them were that bad.  As long as we kept to the inside of the curve we avoided most of the trouble.  There was one bend that was a little too fast for my abilities, and we ended up stuck on top of a huge log in the middle of a rapid, but after calming down, and a bit of wiggling, we slid off and were on our way.  After that I made a point of looking farther downstream for the ripples in the water that mark barely submerged logs and rocks.  While going through the next few bends I found this to be supremely helpful.  Rafts in general are very sluggish and difficult to maneuver, especially in a fast current.  But as long as I spotted the obstacles and paddled very hard to position myself exactly where we needed to be way ahead of time, all of the bends were much easier to negotiate.

I had saved a map of our float on my phone, and had been keeping track of our progress.  Bend Bridge was one of the first major landmarks I had made note of, and marked the halfway point of our River Adventure.  We had driven across that rickety old, one-lane, wooden bridge many times and I had been looking forward to finally seeing the underside of it.  It was also encouraging to see that we were making good time.  The current had really been pushing us along!

We soon floated past the Catawissa Conservation Area.  We pulled into one of the small highwater creeks on the right bank that shoot out from the river to feed the lakes so we could get out of the current and feed ourselves.  The banks of the creek were so steep that we were in shadows at nearly noon.  It was dreadfully cold being out of the sun, so we ate as quickly as possible and paddled back into the current where we gladly soaked up the sun again like so many turtles sprawled out on a log.

Next we passed under the aging railroad bridge that cuts through the heart of Catawissa, and marks the lower boundary of the Conservation Area.  It was another landmark I had noted, and was looking forward to seeing.  All the beams and boards, in perfect symmetry and angles to one another, were very pretty.

Several twists and turns and rapids later, the Meramec River meandered very close to Pacific, our hometown.  We heard cars as we approached and passed under the highway F bridge.  The river then hugged the edge of town, though we could never see it because of the steep 30 foot left bank.  We were glad to see those familiar bluffs that marked the outskirts of town and signified we had nearly reached the end of our voyage.



There was no shortage of beautiful, often worn-smooth riverbluffs on this float.  They seemed to dive straight into the water into unknown depths, unlike the pebbly beaches which tapered off into the stream.  I have to admit that I'm a sucker for riverbluffs.  There's just something unequally beautiful and majestic about an enormous stone pallet, chiseled by the gentle lap of the stream.

Although I know she enjoyed the trip, when I later asked her what her favorite part was, my daughter told me "Seeing Mommy and Lincoln at the boat ramp."  And although I thoroughly enjoyed it myself, I have to admit that I agree with her.  I love the outdoors, and sharing it with my daughter was fantastic, but this was the first time I had the burden of piloting the boat and ensuring the safety of others.  This new oarlock rowing was still cumbersome and new to me and it was a bit exhausting.

The trip was fantastic though.  We saw some stunningly beautiful landscapes.  Steep cliffs falling straight into the rushing current.  Trees growing straight out, hanging on for dear life.  Bald eagles watching over their nest.  Gorgeous orange and white gravel beaches that seemed to stretch on forever.  There was also a dash of adventure with the occasional gushing river bend!

I was glad that we went when we went, even as early as it was in the year, and as cold as it was still, because I know from experience that this portion of the Meramec River is obnoxiously popular come warmer weather.  When I would fish in this area in the spring and summer I would have to fish either before the sun came up, or after the sun went down.  After about 9 AM endless streams of canoes, and kayaks, and rafts, and tubes, and swimmers, and partiers, and drinkers, and awful, stinky, reckless motorboat after motorboat would clog the river till nearly sun down.  But this early in the year, we only saw one other motorboat, and fewer than 5 fishermen throughout the 11 miles we floated.  I sincerely enjoyed the miles and hours that went by, just me and my daughter floating along, her asking question after question, with not a soul to be seen or heard.

This float was also a very successful test of our new raft.  We had ran aground on gravel bars.  We had scraped over rocks.  We had slammed into, and gotten stuck on top of great logs while shooting gushing bends.  Not one of the air chambers had popped, or was leaking in the slightest.  And when I flipped it over to check the bottom, to my surprise, there wasn't even the slightest scratch.  And in all that bumping and crashing, the raft never once came close to tipping.

This had been an incredible trip, and our raft had turned out to be an incredible purchase.  We couldn't wait to use it again!