Rice Creek to the Indian Mounds

Saturday March 18
Saturday Jason and I launched the kayaks at Rice Creek in Stockton and headed out to the Indian Mounds. We got in the water at about 10:00 and it must have been low tide because the water was very low. This old guy who lives around there came out and was watching us launch the boats and he said that this was he lowest he had seen the creek in four years.
Anyway we got underway and went down Rice Creek, around Larry Island, across Tensaw River, around Fisher Island, down Bayou Jessamine Creek and landed at the Indian Mounds.
We ran into Jason friend Rick with the Monroeville boyscout troop about an hour and a half into the trip so we stopped and ate lunch with them. Then we hit the mounds, There is a nice sandy beach to land on and a walking trail around and up on to the mounds. You are not allowed to dig for artifacts but if you can find a fallen tree you can see shells and pottery that were pulled up at the roots.
"Humans have lived in and around the Delta dating back to at least 1500 BC. Deep in the Delta are the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds, atop which leaders of a Mississippian Period Indian culture lived around 700 years ago. These prehistoric societies by the 15th century were replaced by new tribes such as the Alabamous, Mobilians, and Taensa.The Bottle Creek Indian Mounds were listed with the National Register of Historic Places 1974 2 December."
Anywho on the way back we ran into our friends Brandon and Melissa fishing out of their canoe at the mouth of Rice Creek. They weren't catching much so we headed up the creek and Jason fished a little with his new rod. It is about 3 feet long and perfect for kayaking. Course he didn't catch anything either.
When we got back to the car the GPS said 11.2 miles so I think we paddled about 9.5 miles and walked about 1.5 miles. I made up for any benefit that the exercise might have provided me by having fried chicken for lunch.

Trussville 2007

Friday and Saturday March 16-17
This weekend I had a tournament in Trussville, Al. I went up Friday night with several of my black belts. We had a school owners meeting Friday night and tournament all day Saturday.
My competition was first thing in the morning. Ms. Mitchell said that the moves that I did in my form looked good. Unfortunatly I left out 18 moves. I vote we change the form to my version. It was a lot easier. This is par for the course for me, I usually mess up the first time I compete with a new form.In sparring Tammy Bauer won the first match and then I beat Bryn Culpepper for third.
Luckily my students did better than I did. I took 22 students to the tournament and they all did well, most of them placed.

The mighty Chewbacca on Little River

For our President's day holiday we decided to get out on the water. This was Chewy's first Kayak trip. We went to Little River north of Tensaw and put in at the bridge. We saw a deer carcas, TV, car seat, piles of refuse...and that was just at the put in. I don't know why people think that creeks are their one personal trash cans.
The Little River is about 30 feet wide and 1 to 5 feet deep here with clear water and white sand bars inside the curves. The good news is that it is too shallow for boats, so the river and sand bars were relatively free of beer bottles, cigarettte buts etc. The current was moderatly swift so we headed upstream first then when I got tired turned and floated back down.
I didn't see many animals just a few good sized fish and a bird. Chewy had a good time. He drove Jason crazy shifting his weight from one side of the boat to the other as he looked around. He loves any outdoor activity. This was Chewy's first kayak ride but I hope it won't be his last.

Limrock Blowing Cave and Stephen's Gap

February 2-5
For our first trip of 2007, Jason and I went caving in North Alabama. We stayed at Goosepond colony with Joey Stuckey, Opie and his wife Kelsie. After getting in late on Friday Opie and I had a sleepless night. He thought he had a 0 degree bag but it turned out to be a 40 degree bag and I thought that sleeping on an army cot was a good idea(it was not). When we woke up the next morning it was 19 degrees and the pond was partially frozen over. I thought it was 7:40 so Jason and I woke everyone up but it turned out that my watch was wrong and it was really 6:40. Oops. So once we figured out what time it was and got underway we met Joey's friend Hatch who would be our guide for Limrock. This was Opie and Kelsie's first cave and our first time caving in several years. It took a while for us to get all our gear adjusted and I never did get my knee pads on good. But once we got underway we had a good time. There was a good amount of water in the cave and we eventually gave up on keeping our feet dry. We signed the register, enjoyed two waterfalls, saw a few rock formations and generally crawled, climbed and stooped the afternoon away.
After making some sandwhiches back at the truck we headed down the road to Stephen's Gap. Even though I had been there before I was still impressed by the beauty of the spot. I especially liked looking up from inside at the two tunnels diverging and the waterfall pouring in. Other than Hatch who does not do vertical caves yet we all managed to rappel dwn through the keyhole. After the first approx. 30 feet it opens up and becomes a free rappel. That was definitly the scariest thing I have done this year.
It was getting late so Hatch headed home to tuck the kids in and we headed back to camp. We enjoyed sausage dogs cooked over the campfire. Jason and Kelsie played with their cameras and got some good pics.
The next day Jason was not feeling well as he had developed bronchitis so we started easing back south. On the way we drove through Little River Canyon and did some sightseeing and took more pictures. I am deffinetly psyched for more caving!