Cannon Sub-24

 Spring has sprung and I couldn't be happier, with that, I was itching to get out and do some camping, riding, paddling or whatever. Coincidentally I was sitting on three new pack-rafts that were begging to be broken-in. Thor, friend and IVC (Imperial Venture Corps) member in good standing had just purchased a raft as well, and put together a route leaving from his house that would encompass all three of the activities mentioned above.

country roads...Y wasn't real happy about cars driving by so fast but he held his line and did just fine 

closing in on camp

Cold start.....everything was covered in frost. Didn't sleep too well either, on account of giving my light weight, warmer sleeping bag to Super Y...that's Ok, I think that's what dads are supposed to do anyway, right ?

  To clarify........Alpacka raft was closing out 2016 models cheaper than I've ever seen offered....I bought three, mostly so I could plan trips in which every member of my family would make use of them. Thor also bought one on the discount.  As I was packing, (and nearly finished) Thursday night for a Friday afternoon departure, my middle son Super Y announced that his plans for a sleep over were cancelled and he would be joining us on our excursion. Great!....fortunately I had Friday off of work and spent most of the day getting his bike ready and all the gear for two of us. The thing about an overnight-er is.....it takes just as long to pack and requires the same amount of gear as a much longer trip...minus multi day supply of food. If nothing else it's a good way to learn to pack efficiently.

Starting to warm up

wait for me

  Upon meeting Friday afternoon, we set out for 10-12 miles of road riding to our camp on the Cannon River. Arriving well before dark we had time to set camp, get a fire going and really enjoy the evening chilling -out. The next morning, with our camp right on the river, we simply packed-up, aired-up, and paddled down stream towards our take-out in Northfield. We were on the water approximately two hours, cruising along with a nice current, some riffles to occasionally add excitement, and plenty of warm sunshine on our faces. At our exit , we were able to ride a little bit of single track on our way to lunch at a BBQ eatery. From there we only had 5-6 miles back to the start point, and made quick work of it.

One of several sets of riffles....fun 

Old mill...I think

I'd like to get back to this trail soon and check it out thoroughly 

  Thor's route with the addition of the fantastic lunch stop made for a really freakin' awesome sub-24 outing. I was especially impressed with SuperY for his ability to carry himself in a way befitting of a respectful, driven, and responsible young man in the company of adults...............looking forward to more outings like this................

almost home

until then, D Rider..................................out