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The Great Hatchie Canoe Expedition -
Day 7: High Water
Author: Monica Clutch
Date: March 16, 2008
Location: northeast of Covington, TN
Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
Previous entries in the blog
Our Hatchie Expedition gained some media notice today. We were joined by reporter Tom Charlier and photographer Matthew Craig of the Commercial Appeal, Memphis’s daily newspaper, which has a circulation across the Mid-South. I was thrilled that the newspaper had agreed to write a story about our Hatchie Expedition, since the more attention we can bring to river systems, the better.
As canoe trips go, this could not have been a better day. The sun was shining from the outset, and early mild temperatures soon rose into the mid-70s. Even our equipment seemed to be cooperating; I pulled the trailer out from behind my mother’s house without sinking in the mud, all the tires remained inflated, and the canoes rode securely on the trailer all the way to my destination, the Delta Heritage Visitor’s Center in Brownsville, Tennessee, where I met my traveling companions for the day: Mike Martin and the two newspapermen.
Tom Charlier and Matthew Craig joined us on the river. Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
After introductions, we proceeded to the Highway 70 bridge southwest of Brownsville for our planned 20-mile float to the Highway 54 bridge, near the small town of Turnpike. As we put in our two canoes, our newspaper companions noted a number of small cabins along the river. In fact, the small “village” on stilts (fishing/hunting lodges consisting of one to two small rooms) constituted the largest number of dwellings we saw on our journey that day.
Sportsmen's lodges along the Hatchie. Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
Recent rains resulted in the river overflowing its banks and, unfortunately, new accumulations of trash, including all sorts of plastic debris: bottles and jugs, bags, bait containers, coolers, and literally dozens of basketballs along with the occasional soccer ball or kickball. I could have picked up at least 50 basketballs had I been collecting them along our journey.
Buoyant plastic garbage has the tendency to build up in rafts of woody debris that enters the Hatchie when the waters rise. It is an unsightly and potentially toxic reminder of why it is so important to make sure your trash ends up in an appropriate disposal facility. Even if you believe you don’t litter, consider what happens to the plastic bag that blows out of the back of a pickup truck or that bait container inadvertently left on the bank of the river. Simple negligence in leaving items unsecured can result in trash in the Hatchie or other rivers. This slow-to-decompose material finds its way into the ocean where it can remain for hundreds of years.
Mike Martin at the helm. Photo © Monica Clutch/TNC
Tom and Matt proved to be capable canoeists. We made good time as we paddled past stately stands of hardwoods and basking turtles. Most of the sandbars were covered by water, but we were able to point out some valley plugs and other sediment-related issues. With sediment being the primary threat to the Hatchie River, I felt it was important to explain what the Hatchie needs in terms of tributary restoration to protect and preserve it for perpetuity. Mike Martin was a valuable source of information relating to the importance of timber in the floodplain, and I greatly valued his input. As I have attempted to explain throughout the course of this ongoing blog, timber can tell a great deal about the health and overall conditions of a forest — from soil moisture content and composition to likely animal species to be found nearby.
At the end of the day, we loaded the two canoes into the back of the truck and bid the newspapermen farewell. I sincerely appreciated Tom and Matt’s willingness to spend a long, rigorous day on the river in order to raise awareness about the Hatchie River. The river is a valuable part of not only our West Tennessee economy and heritage, but also that of the lower Mississippi River Valley. We conservationists talk a great deal about interconnectivity or “linkage” of systems. Trash, sediment, run-off, flood control, hyper-nutrification, river transportation, agriculture, recreation, drinking water — all of these things are connected within rivers and their tributary streams. We all live downstream, and the water that first enters the headwaters of a watershed like the Hatchie River is inevitably connected to all the effects that river system encounters along the way.
On to Day 8...
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