Les Mann is a mountain man stuck in an office world.
He has a bushy mustache and could grow a beard within a week. He also likes to chop wood, plant trees and build things - all good mountain man qualities.
Mann also has his own canoe and built his own carrier for it on his pickup. It consists of an ingenious system of wood, rubber straps, ropes and foam.
We have loaded and unloaded that canoe several times recently, and I don't think it has turned out that we have used the same straps, foam and rubber in the same place twice.
The first time we canoed on Sept. 19, we went on the North Fork River just above the dam on First Street. I brought along my dog, Daunte.
We set sail and almost immediately Daunte wanted to jump out. In fact, he did jump out to chase something. I thought it would be OK to let him run along the bank while we canoed.
That worked for 10 minutes, but soon the dog was back in the water. He looked as though he was getting exhausted, trying to dog paddle upstream while we canoed.
Mann was good enough to let us pull the canoe over to the bank so I could get Daunte back into it. He didn't ride much better once back in and was always going from side to side, leaning over the canoe to check out everything.
The North Fork itself has a lot of water. Both Mann and I were impressed with the current. We had to work to keep going upstream.
There also were a lot of beautiful sites along the way - various grasses and wildflowers, trees of all types and lots of curves in the river.
I had heard there was a lot of junk along the river. While there were a few abandoned cars, most of them had been there so long, they looked as though they belonged with the scenery.
North of Benjamin Avenue, the North Fork snakes around the edge of the Norfolk Country Club. This is truly a beautiful area, with trees so thick over much of the river that it is difficult to see much of the sky.
When we were traveling upstream, we encountered some women who were teeing off from the golf course's second hole. We could hear them talking, but it didn't appear they heard or saw us.
I wanted to yell out "Fore" as they were teeing off but kept that impulse under wraps.
There were a few tricky spots in the river, getting around fallen trees and spots where the current appeared to be stronger.
Just a few hundred yards short of the dam, our canoe tipped over. Daunte was leaning - as he had done 50 times earlier. But this time he jumped and we flipped over into the cold water.
The water was up to our waists or a little higher. I remember thinking, "Did this really happen?" as we quickly gathered our stuff and threw it on the bank. Eventually, we found it all.
The hardest part was lifting the submerged canoe out of the water and dumping out the water. After that, we decided to just go downstream back to where we started.
It was a lot easier and more enjoyable going downstream. All in all, we probably spent about 2 1/2 hours on the river, canoeing upstream about 1 1/2 miles and then floating back down. We were both impressed with the amount of water and beauty of the North Fork.
* * *
Our next trip was Oct. 3. We decided we like canoeing downstream better.
Mike Jones, who is production manager at the Daily News, was kind enough to drive Mann's pickup to a spot near Hadar on the North Fork so we could just float down and take it easy.
We decided this trip, we would leave Daunte at home. Mann and I have both gone canoeing several times, but it was only the second time either of us had ever been upset in one. We both blamed the dog.
Canoeing downstream was great fun. It was a beautiful, warm day with a strong wind out of the south that kept us from going too fast. In many spots, the trees were starting to change so we had a lot of beautiful scenery to share along with cows and wildlife.
I brought my transistor radio so we got updates of the Colorado Rockies' opening playoff game against Philadelphia.
I have canoed on the Elkhorn, Platte and Niobrara rivers and at Dead Timber, the state recreation area between West Point and Scribner.
The North Fork is most like the Elkhorn River, with the flood control channel portion of it most like the Platte River. In both the flood control channel and on the Platte River, a person has to get out of the canoe every 100 yards or so and lift it off a sandbar. Both water flows are shallow.
All in all, we both thought the North Fork was more enjoyable than canoeing the flood control. We also were impressed with the amount of water in the North Fork. There was more than enough water to canoe it all the way from Norfolk to Hadar.
Neither of us thought the river smelled. We were impressed with the wildlife - spotting a deer, two beavers, a heron, some kind of jumping fish and a variety of trees that included cottonwood, locus, maple, mulberry, elm and others.
At some point, we'd both like to go beyond five miles upstream on the North Fork to see where the river truly does begin.
Both of us thought this type of recreation could be successful if there was an outfitter willing to make the investment.
* * *
Coming tomorrow: A look at river walks in other cities across the United States.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, October 18, 2007
Article comment by:
Lynn A. Blennert-Kohles
Jerry Guenther and Les Mann, this series of articles of your canoeing experience and exploring of the North Fork of the Elkhorn River is priceless, in MY opinion, regardless of Marine Corps combat correspondent Katie Mathison's esteemed opinon...Katie, I for one thank you for the work that you are doing for our country, but I sure take issue with your comments about Jerry's writing abilities...Jerry you just keep 'em coming, k?
I, for one, for my own curiosity's sake as well as to "heal myself" from these past few years' cancer-fighting experiences, have been walking this same portion of this river! And if you're looking for a "Daunte replacement", then CALL ME UP! I'd most assuredly LOVE to see where this river goes north of Hadar, too! hahaha...
~ Lynn ~
Posted: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Article comment by:
Katie Mathison
Dear Mr. Guenther,
I am a former resident of Norfolk so i like to every once in awhile look at the online version of your paper. I am also a combat correspondent (journalist) in the Marine Corps. As a journalist, I was shocked to see this story on the front of your web page, let alone the news section. I hope it is not on the front of your hard-copy paper. Also, it was dificult to tell who was speaking. On top of that if you are going to do a personality feature...
(Les Mann is a mountain man stuck in an office world.
He has a bushy mustache and could grow a beard within a week. He also likes to chop wood, plant trees and build things - all good mountain man qualities.)it should not be on a member of your staff. There are so many people in your town who have an interesting story to tell. Why not focus on them. If I am wrong about anything let me know,thank you very much for your time.
