Mile 761.5 - Exit Behind Dean Island RBD 761.5
Exit Behind Dean Island RBD 761.5
An unusually long back channel can be accessed here for the adventuresome canoeist or kayaker if the river is high and you are ready for an extended run on old river channels. You will have to paddle twice the distance (16 miles) than you would on the main channel (8 miles), and in much slower water. Is it worth it? Are you prepared for a difficult (and potentially hazardous) portage? Do you want to see wildlife and trees? If yes then it’s probably worth it. But be forewarned: you will probably have to portage over a giant log jam which has accumulated at a low bridge six miles downstream! Using the Caruthersville Gauge: Below 20 No flow. 25 slow flow. 30 gentle flow. 35 good flow. 40 strong flow, bridge submerged.
After leaving the Second Chickasaw Bluff at Richardson go right bank descending, if necessary with a strong ferry crossing. The main channel of the river gets concentrated and explodes fast and furious past the 2nd Chickasaw Bluff in a powerful downstream tongue. Stay RBD until the Island 35 Back Channel opens up and then dive in going due north. If you see good flow going in, there will be good flow throughout. The channel enters swiftly through a couple of tight bends crowded by tall hardwoods (a mixture of willows, cottonwoods, sycamores and silver maples) and then relaxes as it curves northwestward into a series of long open channels with scattered views back into more forests and isolated fields and grassy hunting plots in between. Watch for turtles and snakes on sunny days, and birds of prey. Eventually the Arkansas levee comes in from the right, as the channel becomes westerly. Curiously, there are many dead big cottonwoods standing RBD bone-white, dry and denuded of bark like ghostly druid giants along the channel and seen over bank by the levee (but only the big trees, the young trees and vegetation are all looking strong & healthy). What caused the demise of these green giants is a question to ponder as you paddle along the endless lengths of back channel.
After a couple of slight jogs south, west, northwest, and then south again, the channel slides into and under a low narrow concrete and steel rebar truss bridge that will most likely be blocked by a giant raft of driftwood. Beware of strong currents pulling you under the raft. Make landing on one side or the other and scout the possibilities. At flood stage you can simply paddle around the occlusion on the island side LBD. At less than flood stage there might be a small chute open, but maybe not. If you can’t find any water connection, find your best portage route and start hauling your gear and then your canoe or kayak! I’ve done this in a big 24 foot long wooden voyageur canoe fully loaded to bear with two others and the entire portage required one hour of hoisting, toting, balancing up and down a few logs, and up and over the rail of the bridge onto the roadway. We had to lower our canoe down the other side by ropes, and then drop our gear into position one piece at a time. The river that day was at 31.3 Caruthersville Gauge (CuG) and 25.7 Memphis Gauge (MG). There was a 6 foot difference between water level and road level, and 8 foot between water and the top of the concrete railing. Some fishermen told us that there were small channels open in the days previous, which might have got us a little closer, but a portage would still have been necessary. The roadway was covered in mud and driftwood from a above flood stage rise the month before, which certainly would have made passage easier, but potentially very dangerous. As always, in weird situations like these, stop and scout. When the water drops ten feet, as it did in the weeks following, it would have been interesting to see if the driftwood eventually floated out or not... it might have remained piled up regardless of water level (which is what some fishermen seemed to indicate to us). According to the locals we met, there has been a raft of driftwood piled here for five years or more.
Continuing downstream the channel dives south a mile, then southwestward several miles. Along the way you will pass endless deep forest scenes, some fields, some cut forests, some wetlands (NRCS Conservation Easement - Private Property), a private dock, power line crossing, some fishermen’s jugs and trot lines. The Arkansas levee follows much of this back channel at a distance, sometimes visible through some fleeting openings in the forests. After ten miles of paddling and a driftwood portage, the channel comes to an elegant end when it does a little sashay to the right (south) and suddenly jumps into the enormous back channel of Dean’s Island.
From here you can paddle against the flow up and over the top of Dean Island. But this is only necessary if you need to reach the outer portion of Dean Island. If there is any flow you can save yourself the misery of a hard upstream paddle and continue downstream and enjoy the pleasures of the back channel. If there is flow, and you want my recommendation: sailor, turn your tail and go with the flow behind Dean Island. Keep reading below for continuation.
Memphis Gage
In this lower portion of the Tennessee Rivergator Trail we are now leaving the Caruthersville Gage and switching to the Memphis Gage which we’ll denote as “MG”
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lmrfc/?n=lmrfc-mississippiandohioriverforecast
Low Water = -5 to 15 MG
Medium Water = 15 to 25 MG
High Water = 25 to 34 MG
Flood Stage = 34 MG and above
MG = Memphis Gage
Warning: above 34 MG paddlers are advised to stay off the river. Limited access. Most landings and approach roads will be underwater. Most islands will be gone. No easy camping. All sandbars will be covered. Fast waters with many hazards. All islands and landings will be surrounded by flooded forests full of snags, strainers, sawyers and all other dangerous conditions associated with floodwater moving through trees. Docks, wharves, dikes and any other man-made objects will create strong whirlpools, violent boils, and fast eddies. Towboats will create large waves. The Rivergator will not describe the river and its islands at any levels above flood stage.
Note: The Lower Mississippi and Ohio River Forecast is a fascinating document and will reveal many qualities of the river to the careful reader and interpreter of this gage. You can also jump from this page following its links to many associated NOAA pages full of useful information about the various Lower Mississippi River Gauges, as well as historical records, flood records, low water occurrences, observed precipitation throughout the valley, snowpack, ground saturation, rain forecasts, and other meteorologic and hydrologic aspects leading to current river conditions and accurate predictions. You can also follow links to the same for readings and predictions from the Ohio River Valley, the Middle Miss, Upper Miss and Missouri River Valleys, which all of course confluence and combine to form the big waters of the Lower Mississippi River.
Dikes and Water Levels
In the Memphis area you can use the following scale to gage water flowing over dikes, although some dikes vary in height. Also some have been “notched” in recent years as result there will be a middle notch that you can paddle through at much lower levels of water, some places down to 0 Memphis Gauge.
Using the Memphis Gauge:
1-10 - water flowing through notches only
10MG - rocks still exposed on all dikes
10-11 dikes starting to go under, some flow through breaks & low spots
13 dikes completely under, but little flow
15-20MG good flow and lots of boils & turbulence
20MG strong flow, turbulence, no dikes exposed anywhere
30MG river bank full
34MG Flood Stage.