I had the good fortune of catching three days of beautiful fall weather on the river in the Arena to Lone Rock area at the end of September.  Eagles, geese, sandhill cranes and kingfishers gave a good show and the autumn colors were brilliant.  Plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze on all three days.  I only ran into a few people on the river, although the booming from the backwaters on Saturday of the waterfowl opener made me acutely aware that others were out and about.  A few hardy souls were sand bar camping and a couple of boats were out testing their luck.

Low flow on the river is the real story and navigational challenges are part of the gig whether paddling or motor boating on the river right now.  Near record low flows for this time of year is the norm these days.  (Actually hit a new record low for October 8^th.)  On the flip side, it means plenty of sand bars for camping or just exploring.  I was very pleased to see almost no trash on the river.  A little bit of garbage was seen at the boat landings.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to paddle a few more times before freeze up.