"This little river owes us nothing..."

To quote a wise friend... "This little river owes us nothing..." As I sit here in front of my computer I think to myself how precisely true this simplest of statements is. I couldn't make a more accurate remark to summarize exactly how I feel about our little river and the 2009 Fall/Winter Season. Our little river has provided me great reprieve from life. It has provided me a means of escape. She has managed to once again keep me captivated in her raw beauty and the beauty of her offerings. This little river does indeed owe us nothing.

This morning we once again decided to push our luck and forced what was most likely our last shot at the home waters. While I lay in bed last night listening to the wind howl across the ponds behind the house I wondered if this would indeed be our last outing. I wondered if we would arrive to to a river completely iced over and void of life. I wondered if we would finally feel the true wrath of winter. And for a brief moment I wondered if we were in fact doing the right thing.
As in almost all aspects of life it is inherently easy to error on the side of caution and play things on the safe side. We have neglected to operate in this fashion in the past and have experienced some truly memorable outings as a result. If for nothing more than the enjoyment of the road trip I shook off those thoughts and fell fast a sleep.

The 6 am meeting at Norlands came early and we found ourselves loading up the Tercel deafened by the crashing waves coming off the Southern Huron Beaches. We glanced blindly at each other and as if words were not needed we visually agreed on the madness we were about to embark on. It is only when I step outside of those moments that I can appreciate the humour and stupidity that they must exude to those that are not afflicted with this passion. After all it is December 29th at 6am in the morning and we are going fishing under Squall Advisories. Lake Huron is in a rage state and it's a balmy -5C according to the Weatherman. It makes complete sense to me.

The ride up is fairly uneventful. We experience typical intermittent lake effect snow and work our way past the squalls safely. About 3/4 of the way up we run into our first road closure of the season. We decide to work our way around this route and take the back way into the upper sections of the river. In no hurry we take our time and arrive under full daylight. Now having the ability to easily check the river conditions we do and peer over the side of the bridge to witness a river once again under winters grasp. Shelf ice had reformed and the slush was flowing relatively strong. This dampened our spirits considerably and we decided to head into town for a quick coffee and weigh our options.
We decided the epic hike back into the shire was out of the question and any attempt at fishing would be best done from the upper river access points. So after a shot of Bowmore we gear up and head for the water.
The river was beautiful under the fresh blanket of snow and the surrounding forest was the same. I got different satisfaction from today's outing. I didn't feel the need to force the issue. I dealt with it early on and decided to accept this day as a means to an end. Today would officially mark the end and demise of the 09 Ontario Fall/Winter Season for me. I decided to accept it and not go kicking and screaming.
We could have pushed her hard and I have no doubt we would have found success but at what cost. We pushed the envelope our last two outings with great reward and I didn't feel a need to force it today as much as I felt a need to say good bye to a wonderful friend. " This little river owes us nothing... "
And on that note we said our good byes and casually made our way back home.
I will miss our little river.