“Spend as much time as possible on mountains, in small boats, or otherwise out in the weather; if you never get wet, cold, exhausted or scared, you won’t properly appreciate being dry, warm, rested and safe.” ~ Peter Jay

"I’m an adventuring river rat at heart. Put me on a floating piece of driftwood and I’m happy." ~ Christina Glauner

"There’s folly and foolhardiness on one side and daring and calculation on the other." ~ C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Brule Creek

Despite the event being cancelled, John and I decided to go down and paddle the Missouri River from Mulberry Bend to Bolton's Bend anyway. From multiple forecasts we thought there would be a window of opportunity, but more on that later.
I was camping at Union Grove Rec. Area. While I was waiting for a friend from Lincoln, NE to join me, I decided check to see if nearby Brule Creek was paddlable.

View brule creek in a larger map
It was a little difficult to get to the creek. I had to haul my boat along a hiking trail with semi-dense foliage for, maybe, a couple hundred feet. I then had scramble down a somewhat steep bank, dragging the boat behind me.
I did get some good shots while I was down on the creek though.
And the point where I turned around...
On may back, on one of the ripples, I had to get out and walk my boat upstream. In doing so, I noticed a strange rock. It seemed to have legs and a tail! Here is a picture of the mystifying Brule Creek turtle:
The trip only totaled 1.5 miles. Riding downstream was lots of fun, but it was a struggle to get upstream. Low water was the factor. If the water was much higher, it may have been more difficult to launch a boat in the creek though. This trip could be better by finding another point to access the creek and shuttling a vehicle.

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