Well, we are rolling on the river or rolling on the river or something like that Marty Richards
is rolling down the river I believe is is
that what it is you you left a good job in the city
There's a lot of truth to that absolutely John Fogarty was right in fact
it's his birthday today How about that
I went from working in Milwaukee to a chainsaw in the pine river in the pine river?
So what's going on in the Pine River?
So the pine, you know, glad you asked, uh, the pine last week, Memorial Day weekend was huge.
Um, I talked with the folks at 13 pines, RC kayak rental and, uh, outfitters and they said that is the biggest weekend they've had now in the last two years.
So that is great news for the area for, for a lot of reasons, but, um,
You know, that that kind of excites me.
I know that people understand the conditions and they know, hey, this is where we can go.
So that's why I thank you.
And and now, you know, the branding iron in Lyme Ridge, Lisa, but now fearing and and those folks for helping us get the word out on the current conditions so that people can understand, you know, is it a go or no go and where should I go?
And there are definitely some spots that you probably want to avoid still, even though work is ongoing.
So
What Jen and the company at 13 Pines RC have been working on and how the conditions look for this weekend, Rockbridge.
So one of the more popular spots is that starting out in Rockbridge and then you can go all the way down to County SR Landing.
And that area is open and navigable.
There are a couple of spots.
There's one spot right out of Rockbridge where with current water levels, people kind of have to work to get over ALOG that's submerged.
We'll be able to get that out of there as water levels go down It's not huge, but just understand you're gonna have to shuffle over that one a little bit But but not a huge obstacle then also You know pretty much all the way down to SR County SR landing is pretty solid.
There's one place where You do have to navigate through the obstacle, but hey if it was straight
and you just went straight and narrow in a way we wanted to be born.
That would be boring.
So we get to challenge our navigation abilities in a kayak.
And you do, I've had outs out of towners.
Their first question is, are there rapids?
And I said, you know what?
The beauty of the pine is there are really no rapids except the very last shot there at Milpon Park.
So you can avoid that if you don't want it.
But you do need to be able to steer a kayak.
That is the challenge.
And we do have it.
So the
you can navigate all the way from Rock Bridge down to County OSR right now, but you do need to be able to navigate a kayak.
And then that real issue is from SR to Bowens Mill.
Now there's been some trees tipped over in the water.
Our crew was out there working on it this week.
So Derek Warner, the crew chief, and it's kind of nice.
He has an apprentice now that helped him this week.
He had Mark Thomas out on the river.
Oh, an intern.
We'll say apprentice.
OK.
And he was out on the river with him.
And they got some good work done.
There is a big blackage.
They were able to clean.
And there's a passage through that one.
But there is a little more to go.
So we're still going to discourage folks.
I'd really encourage you do not go county SR.
to Bowens Mill unless you're really an adventure explorer and you know how to portage in areas that are really tough to portage.
I'd probably avoid it.
For most groups it's going to be an unenjoyable experience.
So County SR to Bowens Mill we're going to say don't go that.
Don't take that route at this point, but then Bones Mill to Mill Pond Park Again with the current water levels as as water levels are kind of going down a little bit We haven't had a lot of rain in the last few weeks That's quite navigable because there is a big tree at North Park
and you're able to get under that at this time.
If not, if for whatever reason, you know, water level changes and you get there, it's like, man, I'm not going to make it under there.
You can portage to the left side.
So, and it's an easy out.
There's no bank.
It's level with the water.
So you're able to get through that.
But that's really the rivers in pretty darn good shape.
The water level is good.
It's very enjoyable.
It's not a float.
It is a paddle.
You do need to steer.
And then looking forward this weekend,
the weather looks fantastic so I you know I was just looking at the forecast and it's 80s sunny no rain called for so that's that's pretty good weather for a kayak trip the thing I've learned down in past years doing kayaking the pine is it if it gets too hot it's unenjoyable and really 80s is great because it's just sunny 80s that's pretty comfortable stuff
probably put a little vanilla on I would imagine there might be a few gnats so uh
yes uh to visitors to the area this might be a little bit of a surprise you might be anticipating mosquitoes uh that's not our issue this time of year this time of year it's gnats and the issue with
Nats is that mosquito repellent does not work.
But if you can find a spray and actually, I know Walmart does sell this locally.
It's a eucalyptus and lemon oil.
If you just look it up, it'll come up.
It works really well.
If you apply it, it's pleasant.
I actually Terry said I actually smell good for a different, you know, it's a big change.
And she was actually, you know, attracted to me a little bit.
But it, it's a spray you can
to put it on your hands, rub it on.
And it really did a good job at keeping gnats away from your face.
And, you know, they don't bite, they're just a nuisance.
And for some reason, think they have to fly into your mouth when you're talking.
For a guy like me, it's hard to stop talking.
So I was out one evening without it, it was miserable.
But if you, I'll tell you that spray, I wish you could remember the name of it.
But if you just do a real quick online search, specifically looking to repel gnats, it is a good
spray that's real healthy.
It's not hazardous, doesn't have deed in it.
It really will do a nice job of keeping the gnats away.
Brute and Aqua-Velva and the Hikerati.
A little bit of Old Spice.
A little bit of Old Spice keeps everybody away.
That's right.
It keeps
June
away, I'll tell you that.
It scares me that you see Old Spice becoming a thing again with the body wash.
Thanks, Marty.
We hope to see people on the river.
And again, we want to thank, we actually have a sponsor.
We want
to thank them
too.
Yeah, the branding iron up in Lime Ridge.
I'll tell you this little testimonial.
If you want a great fish fry, you know, I've got a couple stories of taking visitors there and not realizing how much
They were actually getting a nice fish filet that was pretty darn big.
And then sometimes Lisa will do specials where it's a no fry.
fish fry.
So she'll have a special shrimp scampi or something.
But that's a special, you know, for the night.
I would check, I'll tell you, they do a good job of letting you know on Facebook, I'd go to their Facebook page, social media or their website.
And you can give them a call.
But the branding iron up in Lime Ridge, sponsoring our shows now are the pine our shows are I kind of it's a podcast type thing where we just kind of banter back and forth.
Chachat.
Yeah, that's there we go.
The pine
chitchat.
Right.
There we
go.
The spin-off might be the early 80s of Ithaca
or something like that.
Oh, boy.
Well, you know.
the we're probably safe.
I think we're safe.
We're safe.
But yeah, I would really encourage folks to go up to the branding iron.
And a Friday night, fish fry there is awesome.
Or the you know, on any other night, their burgers, they raise their own beef.
And then also when they have they do it two nights a month, they have wood fired pizza night.
And those are outstanding as well.
Wonderful.
Thanks for coming
in, Marty.
You bet.
Thank you, Phil.
