During the last high water episode (why write “flood” when one can be more verbose) a chunk of carpet washed downstream and settled in a new position. That is, unfortunately, precisely under a root wad where large rainbow trout have been holding feeding positions. We’ve been waiting for the creek to drop enough that the removal can be done without involving personal risk. Today seems to be the day to run the recovery operation.
We have no idea who put the carpet into the creek or how far up the valley it has been before winding up in our section of the creek. Cassi Creek, like many other Appalachian creeks is too often a convenient dump site for any refuse people can’t burn. The sides of the road are heavily littered with beer cans and bottles, fast-food bags, wrappers, and cups. There seems to be little regard for the environment on the part of people who drive up and down the road throwing out their trash. They have equally little concern for the property owners who have to pick up the trash they leave for others.
If we had an agenda, locally, it would be to get our neighbors to band together for a weekend and clean up the creek and road. But since many of them contribute to the problem and are only renting living quarters along the road there is little hope for that.
This afternoon I put on my wading boots – size 13 with case-hardened machine screws turned into the soles for grip on mossy or muddy rock, crossed over the pine tree in the creek and hauled the carpet out of the creek. It was partially held in place by the intersection of two root balls, one a standing Hemlock, and the other the pine in the creek. After a suitable struggle, the carpet gave up and was lifted dripping from its lair. That lair is now available to trout once more.
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The carpet resists mightily. Anything of lesser strength than a 19 wt garden rake would have been too little rod. You can see the difficulty that fishing this small pocket. It’s going to be a real fly and leader eater. Downstream is to the left in the picture
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Dragging the carcass home. I’m on the East bank of the creek as it flows downstream, right to left. The pine in the middle of the creek bed is readily apparent, as is the highly rocky and moderately unstable nature of the creek banks after the last flood stripped away a lot of soil and vegetation. I’ll cross over to the west side of the creek about 15 feet upstream.
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Used hard and put away wet! The carpet is hanging over a standard issue 55 gallon burn barrel that probably held some toxic petro-chemical before completing its journey to our door. The carpet can hang out there, communing with nature until it is dry enough to put into the trash can.
Dinner tonight will be toasted cheese sandwiches. We bought a block of Velveeta just for this purpose. While it is not cheese as a European would know it, for all too many Americans it is “the cheese.” Truthfully, it does make an excellent toasted cheese sandwich as it melts and then solidifies.
For the first few years of my life, Velveeta, American processed, and Longhorn Colby were the only types of cheese I had the opportunity to eat. I’m fortunate that I don’t recall how bland those were. Cheeses are a wonderful aspect of food to explore and enjoy. We grocery shop at Earth Fare about once a month. Each trip offers the chance to buy a new cheese to enjoy with fruit, in salads, or just to add to a sandwich. Right now, we’re finishing up the last few ounces of a block of 6 year old Cabot Vermont Cheddar, sold as Old School Cheddar that has to be one of the most delicious cheeses I’ve ever tasted. Crumbly and buttery, it melts slowly into one’s tongue. It is reserved for dessert use with grapes and figs now. That is with the exception of the small bit that may find its way onto a slice of Apple-Cinnamon pie tonight.
If another block crosses our path, it won’t leave the premises.
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