Throw Back Thursday - May 28/2015

Here is a Throw Back that goes even further back.

 

The lower Red Deer River is well known for its fossils in the Drumheller region. There is a world class Museum showing representations of finds local to that area in the town.

The upper Red Deer river has its own share of surprises. When you pull your raft to shore after running some rapids take a moment and look around. There are breath-taking views of the river valley framing the mountains to the west. And if you take the time to look closer there is whole new view of what life used to be like long before man.

We find history preserved among the rocks and cliffs on the shore. There are many fossils in the various strata of the rocks we traverse as we raft down the river. In some sections we see fossilized leaves exposed in the embankment by the erosion of the river. A section of shale can reveal many layers of leaves throughout it.

Another layer reveals small conical shells that are easily crushed with the fingers. They measure about 1 to 2 cms in length and are densely clustered together.

Several pieces of petrified wood and different types of corals are scattered along the shores.

There is another dimension to a wild, exciting day paddling the river. When you take a breather from the action, look around for the hidden surprises.

Throw Back Thursday - May 21

The river has changed quite a bit in the last 3 years. Before that it had been the same for the previous 35 years at the least. A flood or high stream flow can rearrange the river valley floor in a short amount of time.

It takes the river a while to establish a carved out channel. And every time there is high water it restarts the process of creating a channel. While rafting on the river during high water you can hear the loose rocks rolling underneath you. They are being pushed downstream by the current . The noise carries through the water and through the bottom of the raft. There is a constant cracking and banging going on underneath you as the current carries the rocks with it.

When water levels receed  many rocks are left in a position where they can move again. Either by the next high water, ice flows or just by the gradual settling of the riverbed over time. The flatter, smoother rocks are usually orientated leaning downstream. This position offers the least resistance to the flowing water.

The rocks stay in this position until the next large volume of water comes again. This stirs the rocks up, getting them rolling again and the process repeats.

The very large volumes of water can fill the valley floor. Any unstable rocks on the floor can give way to the fast current and a new path starts.

The following pictures show the valley floor from a slightly different position and altitude. The picture on the right is the river before our recent highest water. Once the high water passed we ended up with the river on the left.

 Some rapids and features are gone but as you can see new rapids have formed.

The river is always changing and sometimes those changes are amazingly large.

Throw Back Thursday - May 14/2015

It is finally raining outside today. It has been a long time since we have had any precipitation here in Central Alberta. There is hope that it is also raining or snowing in the mountains.
While digging through some old pictures I found some to share. These are of the second camp we had which we used for about 10 years.

The camp was next to the river on the flood plain. It was a beautiful park-like area of about three acres with many trees and no undergrowth. For many years cows had used this area for grazing and cleaned away the scrub brush.

Here we set up our camp of a donut hut, some teepee's, an equipment storage area and a camp kitchen. There was room for a hot tub that gave a wonderful view of the night sky. Many people would take a turn in it during the evening.

I usually got to be last after setting up our contraption of a home made heat exchanger, propane tiger torch and gas water pump. It was a marvel it worked, and it worked well. Using just river water we had to change it after every use.

There was a fire pit in the middle of the donut hut. Guests talked about their day rafting while sitting around the fire. It seems the water rose and the waves got bigger with the retelling of the days adventures.

On one occasion the river rose overnight and flooded our campsite. It's nice to have a camp on the edge of the river but there is a risk that at any time the water might rise and flood you out. After the water receded we had to go hunting for the kitchen, pots, pans and the utensils which had gotten washed away. We found most of it downstream wrapped around the trees and left on the high ground. Being at the campsite would have been a frightening experience when that rushing water hit.

After a full day people went off to their teepee's for the night. The teepee's were not always dry and you had to share it with a few spiders and other bugs. People didn't expect to have to rough it that much.

The whole experience worked its magic on people and they had a good weekend. Over the years fewer and fewer people requested the overnight trips. People seemed to only have time for a day trip with maybe a motel stay if they got too tired out by the days activities. As the overnight trips became less popular the number of cell phones increased.  There is probably a correlation there.

Now, people appreciate the rafting Center in Sundre with its indoor change room and washrooms. Conveniently located in Sundre on Highway 22 there is no more of people getting lost driving in the backwoods on the gravel roads. No risks of flash floods or marauding bears.

It is nice to be able to offer a top notch service rather than making due at the old campsite with shacks, tarps, outhouses and tents.
Still, I miss it.

Donut Hut

Teepee's in the park