2008 Overnight Trip

Location: Vermilion River starting from Kickapoo State Park in Illinios
Distance: Saturday: 19 miles, Sunday: 14 miles
Date: 10-4-08 to 10-5-08
Gauge: 2.9

We finally got in the trip we wanted to take a year ago on the Vermillion River. Unfortunately not as many people were able to go this year, three instead of eight. For everyone who was invited and didn’t make it; you missed a great trip, but we may do it again because it was such an awesome trip. Hopefully the weather will cooperate again.

We got a bit of a late start but made it to our starting point at Kickapoo State Park just west of Danville, IL while it was still light. There were more campers there than we expected for this time of year, but the tent camping area was totally separated from the RV area – yahoo, no slamming screen doors.

Unfortunately the Governor of Illinois in all his wisdom has decided that closing this park and several others is the way to make up for a budget shortfall. That’s a shame, it is a really nice park. We were kicking ourselves for not visiting sooner. Hopefully some way will be found to keep it open.

As we were pulling in to our spot we noticed the young couple next to us was having trouble with their tent. We had already decided to only use one tent and save time so we had ours up in about three minutes. They came over and asked if we could help them with theirs, as they were U of I students and had rented it from the university. After trying to get it together for a few minutes we decided they were missing a part. I offered them mine, but while I was gone to get it they found the other piece that and got it together.

Just before we left for an after-dark ride on the mountain bike trail a couple of raccoons got into a noisy scuffle at the edge of the woods. The guy next door came over to ask what the noise was, and if we thought they were vicious or dangerous. We told him they weren’t, but not to keep any food in their tent so they would not try to get to it.

Before hitting the trail we headed down toward the river to check out the water level at the put-in. It looked fairly low, like we might be walking quite a bit but it was hard to tell looking with our headlights. We had heard live music coming from that direction earlier in the evening so we stopped by to check that out for a few minutes as it was at the building right next to the put-in. Just three guys playing guitars & singing blues & bluegrass with about 50 people in lawn chairs listening, it was a really nice setting.

We headed back up the hill toward the bike trail. When we came upon a point on the trail where a tree had fallen and blocked the way we had to scout out a way around, a little tricky in the dark even with the lights - we couldn't tell exactly where the trail went on the other side. After a while the trail broke out of the woods and into a meadow. It kept getting smaller until we decided we were probably on a game trail instead of the bike trail, so we backtracked and found where we had missed a turn. We followed that for a short way until it apparently disappeared into another meadow. Since we really didn’t want to wander around all night we decide to go back the way we had come. After yet another wrong turn onto a trail that branched in and a few consultations with the GPS (good thinking bringing that along, James) we found the original trail. Riding at night was fun, but it definitely pays to have a headlight mounted on your helmet instead of on your bike.

While we were getting ready to sleep the guy next door asked James about the raccoons again, and asked if he thought they had any diseases. Trying to be as helpful as possible to someone who evidently had not spent much time outdoors James replied that he was pretty sure they did, so they should probably stay away from them. Some time later I heard our neighbors talking about the raccoons again; he said something about them trying to sneak up on their food, then it sounded like he threw something at them…pretty funny stuff.

In the morning when we got up James noticed they had moved their tent away from the woods…we decided they must have thought the extra 20 or so feet of open space would dissuade the raccoons from attacking.

After breakfast we went to the put-in, it was nice having it two minutes away. My parents arrived soon after so Dad could go with us and Mom could drive shuttle; that’s one really nice thing about going in that area. We packed up and got onto the water around 8:30. Fortunately it wasn’t as low as it had appeared the night before, we just had to get our feet a bit wet to get going. I think we only hit one spot all day where we had to walk for maybe 100 feet. It may have been a bit different if we had had canoes with us like last year, but they probably could have made it through most of the low spots.

Paddling through the park was spectacular. In a couple of weeks when the trees have turned it will probably be even better, but it was still gorgeous. We had a few riffles and trees to go around but there were also high shale bluffs and rock formations to see that really made it a great place to start a trip. At one point I noticed movement in the water under a branch that was partially submerged but I couldn’t tell what it was. As we got closer an animal jumped out of the water and ran up the bank – an otter. I was pretty excited as that was the first time I had ever seen one. About a half mile or so later James was coasting along when I saw a couple of heads pop out of the water about 20’ ahead of him. I asked him what they were, and he had not seen them – he was looking at his GPS. When I got up to the spot where they had been I past, climbed out of the water & rushed up over the top of the bank. That was pretty amazing to see three otters in one day.

The rest of the way through the park and down to the halfway point was a mix of paddling along farmland and some more shale bluffs that were probably 300’ high. We passed several old railroad bridges and several abandoned bridge piers. One set of piers was solid brick. There were also a lot of bricks in the water. It doesn’t seem like they should have been around that long, but we wondered if they were leftovers from construction; it didn’t look like any piers had been demolished.

We followed a red-tailed hawk downstream for a while, until it dropped out of a tree into the water and caught a fish for lunch. Then it sat in a tree and ate while we passed by.

Just before the halfway point for the day where we knew we would have to portage around a low-head dam we started to see warning signs to leave the river because of the dam. Several people have been killed in the past by going over the dam and getting caught in the current at the base. There is an access at Ellsworth Park which is a short paddle upstream on another fork of the river. Overall that would be about nine miles from where we put in and would make a really nice day trip.

We paddled on down toward the dam, keeping our eyes peeled so we didn’t get caught off guard by it. It turns out there is a lower section at river left where water flows continually, but we wanted to take out river right anyway because the topo map showed a really steep bank on the left. There are also abandoned bridge piers there, so it’s easy to tell it's time to get out. The water was about 6-8 inches below the dam on the right so we could also see it sticking up. We got out and found a portage route which went right behind the bridge pier. It involved handing the boats down a fairly steep bank, but was a lot shorter than walking along the bank until it dropped down again, that looked to be at least a quarter of a mile. I had the bottom end duty for the first boat, so while James and Dad went back for the next one I looked around. There was a fish ladder right at the base of the pier that we could have just walked down had we noticed it was there. This would only work if the water level is below about 3.5, because it was 2.9 on Saturday. If water was going over the dam you definitely would not want to try that route.

We decided that was a good place for lunch, so we took a break for a while. There was a pretty nice maybe Class II riffle below the dam, as the river makes a sharp right, then a sharp left. There was also a sweeper on the outside of the left bend that we really wanted to stay out of, and it looked a bit rocky in a couple of places so we decided on a route & put the boats back in. The nice thing about sharp turns is the eddies that sometimes form on the inside edge. We were able to go through the rougher part, then eddy out on the inside to stay out of the strainer.

The next few miles were mostly along farm ground, with not a lot to see. We were amazed at the number of tires in the river; in a few places they seemed to be everywhere, buried in the bottom.
We didn’t see a whole lot of wildlife after that. It was just a nice leisurely paddle weaving with the channel to stay in enough water, and maneuvering around trees here and there. As we got closer to our ending point for the day at Forest Glen nature preserve we talked a bit about how the river is at the far end of the park, and it’s a pretty good walk from the main road so not many people go down there. Of course when we arrived there was a family of six on the sandbar.

We had talked to the ranger about camping in the meadow up on the bank, but after we looked around we decided to camp on the sandbar since there was a large pile of wood washed up by the river that we could use for fire wood, and we wouldn’t have to dig a fire put. And we figured the sand would be softer than the ground up on top as well.

While we set up camp the family of six left, but a teenage couple and a mother and young son arrived…so much for no one being around. We had planned to hike through the park a bit, but didn’t want to leave our gear unattended so we hung out on the sandbar, got a fire going and did some more reading.

There were a lot of deer tracks on the sandbar, so we weren’t surprised when three does and two yearling deer crossed the river downstream about 50 yards. They looked a little surprised to see us. When it was almost dark another one crossed the sandbar quite a bit closer, but I couldn’t get my light on it to see if it was a buck or another doe.

The sky after dark was amazing; very clear and you could see a ton of stars. Between that and the quiet it really spoils you for camping in any kind of campground. We also heard a couple of groups of coyotes howling, and an owl. After sitting outside for a while we started to get pretty cold, so we decided to turn in.

During the night I got really cold, so I put my fleece top back on. When I heard a blue jay I figured it was probably morning, but when I opened my eyes it was dark. It turned out I had gotten far enough down into my sleeping bag that it was over my head, and I had also pulled my hat down over my nose…it was really cold.

Fortunately we had embers left from the night before so it was easy to get the fire going and start warming up. Unfortunately there was a really heavy dew, so everything we had hung up to dry the night before was soaked. We rigged up a drying rack next to the fire & hung our clothes up while we worked on breakfast.

After a while everything except the tent was relatively dry so we packed up and headed out. We didn’t make it onto the water until almost 10, but we only had 14 miles to go, so we figured we could still make our estimated finish time of 2:30.
The first portion of this leg meandered through some more high bluffs, with some shale and sandstone areas. We noticed a couple of large birds flying toward us, and when they got close we could tell they were bald eagles, one of them still had some of it’s adolescent coloring on the bottom of its wings. We had been talking about the bald eagles we saw last year along the Wabash and weren’t sure if we would see any this year or not. Those were a real bonus after seeing the otters the day before.

As the terrain along the river flattened out we encountered more wide areas of slow moving water. We also went through several bends with a lot of trees down in them that we had to dodge around; Dad said we were dancing with trees. It kept the paddling interesting, that’s for sure.

Not as much water here as he thought...or maybe just more rocks

After that we didn’t see much in the way of landmarks; the Eugene covered bridge probably being the most interesting.

We hit a couple of shallow spots in the last half mile or so before the Wabash, but managed to slide through without walking. The Vermilion joins with the Wabash on the outside of a bend, so there is quite a sandbar to get through, but there was just enough water to make it.

Once on the Wabash we only had about a mile to go. We didn’t have much chance to see the bottom, it is either much deeper or the water just isn't as clear. There was one area where our paddles hit bottom, but that was only for a very short distance. The wind was a factor on the first three-quarters of a mile or so, blowing pretty steady right in our faces. Once we turned east it wasn’t bad, that ran for another quarter mile or so then we just had another short leg upwind to the takeout.

The ramp is nice, although steep, and the DNR had enough sense to point it downstream so you can swing around behind it to take out. We arrived right at 2:30, pretty much on schedule.

Over all this was a great trip, with really nice camping locations both nights, perfect weather and plenty of water. Hopefully the park won't close and we can do it again.








More pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jnichols0516/OvernightPaddleOct2008#5254548275333483426

Friends of White River Cleanup - More Photos

Getting organized

Almost ready to hit the water, gotta have that photo op first.

James loading up

Unfortunately this is WHY we need to do this...and this is only one dumpster.

September Paddle & Friends of White River Cleanup

We helped out with the Friends of the White River cleanup on Saturday 9/13. We weren't sure exactly what we were supposed to do, but Kevin Hardie - guy in charge - said we were the safety boaters. Since we brought kayaks that seemed as good as anything...not a lot of carrying capacity.

Due to an iffy weather forecast several people decided not to go at the last minute, but we had six canoes, two kayaks and two jet-drive boats on the section from Hazel Landing to Sandy Point south of 82nd Street.

The level of paddling experience among those in the canoes varied from zero to veteran so we really didn't worry about people tipping over too much unless they reached too far out to pick something up, but the "yellow bananas" from Adventure Works Events that they were paddling have proven not to be the most stable of boats - at least when loaded with three people during an adventure race - so we kept a pretty good eye on people for the first 15 minutes or so to see how they were doing, but they were fine. Must be something about adventure racers and being in a hurry that doesn't go well with those boats.

Everyone did a really thorough job in the first third of the segment, unfortunately that took about two-thirds of the time we had allowed for the cleanup.

Interesting items we found were about one-third of a canoe, a steering wheel, a construction cone and a conveyor-belt screen. We also saw what looked like a couple of appliances but they looked like it would take an excavator to get them out so we didn't bother with them.

Further down, just below 96th Street we found a huge mess of beer cans and bottles, broken plastic chairs, coolers and milk crates. James and I used straps to fasten a couple of milk crates to our boats and make it a little easier to carry trash.

One of the guys in a jet boat also hauled a grill and a small table from the sandbar behind BGI...someone is going to be really disappointed when they show up for their next sandbar party. I saw a few tires and other junk in the jet boats too, but didn't have any part of picking them up. We headed back up to he put-in fairly soon after we got back so we didn't see everything that was picked up.

An article in Sunday's paper said they had not yet totaled the amount of trash picked up, but overall there were several counties involved and I think 1000 volunteers showed up. They were expecting around 2000 but the weather kept a lot away.

In the end it was a nice paddle. The weather at the beginning was a little gray, but it turned out really nice for the day. We got to meet and paddle with some new people that we'll hopefully see on the river again, and we made a bit of a positive difference for a resource we use fairly often and hopefully don't take for granted.

August Trip - 23 Consecutive Monthly Trips - One to Go

Location: Fall Creek – S.R. 13 to Florida Road Park
Distance: +/-4 miles
Date: 8-27-08
Gauge: 1.6 @ Fortville
Paddle Time: 1.5 hr
Paddlers: Doug (Pelican Break), James (Necky Looksha), Mark (Breeze)
Weather: 82 & partly cloudy

I'm just now posting this because it was part of the Indianapolis Sprint ADventure Race on September 6 & I didn't want to put it up on the off chance that someone might see it.

James told us ahead of time there would be three or four portages, so I brought our smallest boat in case we ended up shoving them through trees or something. Having a total brain fade James removed his Dagger RPM (10’) from his trailer in order to bring his Necky…an 18’ boat. Just looking to add to the level of difficulty, I guess.

In spite of a lack of rain for the last couple of weeks the water level wasn’t bad. There was one gravel bar with only about 3” of water that we had to walk over for 50’ or so, but it was a nice day to do that.

The first place we had to cross a log we decided we didn’t really want to chance running into nettles by carrying around so we pushed them through, not too difficult. There were a few other places we had to slide over logs, but no major obstacles until just past S.R. 238. We had encountered this on our way upstream on a previous paddle, and James had crossed it a couple of weeks before, but the water was a little higher then. Keeping to the no-nettles policy we decided we could walk between the logs to get to the second one. I stayed to the right where the water was only a couple of feet deep, but the bank was steep. James decided to try the middle where it was a little deeper, but the bottom was level. Mark positioned himself behind us where he could watch us both fall in.

I had just crossed the first log & was getting my footing on the far side when James took one more step and instantly went from thigh-deep to more than waist deep. I decided if it was that deep I would just sit on the rear deck of my boat and float over. James backed out of the deep spot and managed to get himself on the rear deck of his boat, but was a bit off-center and almost went over. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off the boat, and I was really wishing I had my video camera. He got the bow up on the log & was making pretty good progress over it when he decided it was better to stand on the log. He did make it off of the boat and onto the log without falling in. I was able to slide over with a little push from him, but Mark ended up getting out as well to get the Breeze over. After that he got the chance to practice his newly-acquired boat entry skills while balanced on a log in about 5’ of water and came through with flying colors.

We expected another log carryover just around the bend, but a portion of it had evidently broken off in the interim because the way was clear. The rest of the way down to the park was also clear and just a matter of paddling through the slower water at the head of the lake.

I think this could be a real challenge if the water was a couple of feet higher. You could probably still carry boats over the logs closer to the bank or up higher in the nettles, but if it was moving very fast there would be the possibility of getting swept into one of these obstacles before you were able to stop & prepare for it. Not a good thing. The adventure racers will mostly be doing it in the dark in September, so if it doesn’t rain in the next couple of weeks, or if it rains a lot between now and then they will have a really challenging paddle section.
We have talked about paddling down from Pendleton, but that could be a long trip if there are as many trees down upstream as there are in this section...something like our trip last December on the upper part of Eagle Creek.

So, one more trip in September and we will have done 24 monthly trips, with a few others thrown in for variety. We plan to work on 25-36 with an overnight trip on the Vermillion River from Danville, IL to near Cayuga, IN. Stay tuned.

Races for the To-Do List

So James made it through the MR340 this summer (340 miles on the Missouri River) and we are planning to do it next summer.

We would also like to do this race in the Adirondacks , and this race around Manhattan in the future.

But this one...we think we can live without. Kudos to those who can make it through something like that.

July Trip #3

Location: White River – River Road Park to Hazel Landing Park
Distance: +/-2 miles
Date: 7/31/08
Gauge: 1.8
Paddle Time: 37 minutes
Paddlers: Doug (Dagger RPM), James (Necky Looksha), Paula (Breeze), Dave (Loon)
Weather: 72 & cloudy, 92% humidity

Left around 6:20 AM, saw a deer, took a little video by tucking my small digital video camera into the straps on my PFD. Pretty cool, but a little more water would have made it more interesting.
A quick trip to get in our July paddle. It was the first time we have gone early in the morning, I was hoping for a nice sunrise but no luck, it was just overcast.

July Trip #2

Location: White River – 146th Street to Hazel Landing Park
Distance: +/-7 miles
Date: 7/23/08
Gauge: 1.8
Paddle Time: 3 hours
Paddlers: Doug & Julie (Zirconia tandem) Tucker (Dancer), Austin (Pelican Burst), Miguel (Blackwater), Vanessa (Loon)
Weather: 80 & sunny

An evening trip with a stop for a snack. This was a nice paddle with the sun starting to go down. There is a good-sized island around 131st Street so we stopped there for a break and a snack. This was my first trip to both the access at 146th Street and at Hazel Landing.
Apparently the body shop owner at 146th doesn’t mind people using his drive, there were about five other boats there taking out when we arrived. It’s a bit rough getting down under the bridge, and I should have checked before going down there since I couldn’t turn around with the boats there, but overall it’s not a bad place to put in. Access at Hazel Landing Park is nice, too. There is a loop drive where you can drop off boats and then go park. There are steps to the water, but they were a bit slimy with mud. Just upstream of the steps there is a small gravel bar on river right that looks like it would be an easier takeout.

Boating in Indiana Gets a Boost

Here is a link to an article about improving paddling access and information in northern Indiana: http://www.post-trib.com/news/1097639,canoe.article

Boat Insurance

I learned something new today about boats and insurance that I thought I would post in case anyone ever found this blog. Sorry if you already know this. A couple of weeks ago I saw a letter to Canoe & Kayak magazine that talked about someone’s kayak being stolen while they were shuttling on foot. When the person asked their (State Farm) agent about how to file a claim they were told it was not covered under their homeowners and that additional coverage is needed.

Today we were talking with our (State Farm) agent so I asked about it and got basically the same answer; our boats are not covered by homeowners insurance off the premises. Even auto insurance only covers damage to a vehicle if a boat were to do something like come loose from my trailer and damage another vehicle. The boat is not covered.

July Trip #1
Location: Eagle Creek – Turkey Foot Park to Lions Park
Distance: +/-2 miles
Date: 7/10/08
Gauge: 1.8
Paddle Time: 2.0 hours
Paddlers: Doug & Julie (Zirconia tandem) Tucker (Dancer), Mercedes (SOT), Austin (Pelican Burst), Dan
Weather: 80 & sunny

OK, this was a bad idea. Last time James and I did this in the small boats it was OK, and I thought the level was about the same, but evidently it wasn’t. We did a lot of dragging, scooting and hauling boats over rocks and low spots. At least the water was cool. There are also a couple of new trees down, one that is really large just north of the park that will be a big obstacle in higher water.I told Dan I now have a policy of staying off this section if the water is less than 2.5…it’s just too much work.

June Paddle
Location: Eagle Creek - Lions Park to Lafayette Road
Distance: +/-5 miles
Date: 6/18/08
Gauge: NA
Time: 2 hours
Paddlers: James (Necky Looksha), Doug (Perception Dancer), Michael (Breeze), Ryan
Weather: 70 & sunny

Starting out at the bridge at Lions Park it was pretty muddy due to recent rains. There were several people fly fishing near the bridge, and as I came out last she asked one of the others if we were building boats back there. Fortunately we were able to wind our way through them without interrupting them too much.
Near the Zionsville Road bridge we came upon a group of five or so teenagers sitting on a rock. They thought it was a bit odd that we suddenly appeared on the creek & wanted to know if kayaking was more fun than canoeing. Of course we said yes.
Not too much eventful on this trip, apart from finding a volleyball about a third of the way down that we then took turns either throwing to land near someone & splash them or trying to bat with our paddles. Michael managed to get caught sideways between two logs while messing around with the ball & was hung up for a few minutes. He also provided the most entertainment of the day when he was goofing around & flipped while James took his picture. It’s not a great photo, but you definitely get the idea that he’s going over.
The good news was we didn’t have to get out & carry over any trees or other obstacles, the creek was pretty cleaned out.
The takeout was a real muddy mess, nasty black stuff from being submerged for several days. It might have been easier to take out a little further down where there are usually people fishing, but that adds about 50 yards to carrying the boats out so we decided to brave the mud.
The weather was beautiful, just a light breeze and the temperature was great.

May Paddle

Location: White River – Indianapolis Art Center to 38th Street
Distance: +/-5 miles
Date: 5/22/08
Gauge: 5.0 @ IMA
Paddle Time: 1.5 hours
Paddlers: James (Dagger Crossfire), Doug (Perception Dancer), Dan S. (LL ) Paula (C.D. Breeze), Luke L. (Necky Looksha), Andy S. (LL Zirconia)
Weather: 70 & sunny

The put-in at the Indianapolis Art Center at Broad Ripple is really nice, but parking is fairly limited. James had to pull the truck into a spot adjacent with the trailer angled behind Andy’s car to make it work. Our original idea to start in Williams Creek off of 75th Street didn’t work out due to a lack of water in the creek. The river was not especially high, but not low enough that we dragged anywhere. Most of the time the current moved pretty well; there were a couple of stretches of flat water, but the river made up for it with a few spots where we could surf some small holes. Good practice for guys with no idea what they are doing.
This was a nice leisurely paddle, with beautiful weather.

One interesting spot is right at the International School. We couldn't figure out what was causing it, but there are eddies going all directions there, in places the water is almost flowing upstream. We were all making crazy turns trying to keep going the right direction.

We took out under the 38th Street bridge, and used the parking off of the loop exist from 38th Street westbound to White River Parkway East Drive. Unfortunately you can only get there headed westbound on 38th Street, but it’s still a decent place to park. There is a pretty steep carry up over the embankment under the bridge, but taking out there eliminates half a mile or so of flatwater paddling down to either 30th Street or the Lake Indy boat ramp in Riverside Park.
This was a nice paddle that would still be decent even if the water were a foot or so lower. Another good one for after work.

Location: Sugar Creek – Crawfordsville to Deer’s Mill Bridge
Distance: +/-15 miles
Date: 5/17/08
Gauge: 2.9
Paddle Time: 5 hours
Paddlers: Church youth group
Weather: 65 & sunny

We had to delay this trip from two weeks previous due to the forecast for rain. Of course it didn’t rain that day, but this day got really gray & chilly right before we put in & sprinkled a little. Fortunately an hour or so into the trip it got sunny and was really nice the rest of the day.

We had six private boaters with kayaks so we dropped off at the put-in and waited while everyone else shuttled. One of our renters drove the truck & trailer to the takeout so we basically did the trip for free.

The put-in is at river left, and I was a little worried about the put-in since there is a good-sized rock just below on the same side of the river that was a bit of an obstacle at this level, but we instructed everyone to paddle upstream, and head toward the eddy just downstream on river left. We ended up with five kayaks and six canoes, and everyone made it into the eddy & stopped, so after the last boat was in we headed downstream as a group, more or less.

I ended up with sweep duty, which didn’t leave much time for playing in the holes we encountered. The water level was perfect for keeping things moving most of the way, and also leaving some holes to play in in the rock gardens here and there.

After a few miles the only boat in sight contained a couple of high school boys who spent more time talking than paddling, so we were pretty far behind the group. They managed to get quite a bit of water into their boat after a rock garden so they pulled over on a sandbar to empty it. Unfortunately they missed the lower area of the bank that I pointed out to them & ended up on a pretty steep section. Being he-man high-schoolers they of course picked up one end of the boat to dump the water out instead of just rolling it. That worked to get most of the water out so they pulled it up on the bank to get the rest out. Of course that meant seal-launching off of a 3’ high bank, so I got out my video camera in order to capture the capsize I was sure was coming up. They didn’t disappoint, as soon as the front of the boat hit the water they started over, and ended up in the water.

Just so we could get going I had them bring the boat down where I was waiting for them and the bank was lower so I could show them how to roll it over to get the water out, then they could get started downstream a little easier. I did tell them thanks for the youtube footage for the earlier spill.

When we caught up to the rest of the group they were on a small sandbar river left. Apparently a couple of boats had capsized in the rock garden there. Tucker had gone out in it a couple of times surfing and evidently the third time was the charm & he went over. He couldn’t quite accomplish a roll so he had to we exit. Fortunately a couple of the other kayakers were able to chase down his paddle and boat. Looks like a paddle leash would be a good idea for a birthday present.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. I thought we were going to have a problem in one fairly narrow and fast section when two boys were headed for a large branch sticking into the water. I told them to watch out for it, and that’s exactly what they did; they watched it while they floated right into it. They managed to tip the boat enough that the gunwale went under a portion of it that was sticking straight down. When they got the boat leveled out they were caught on the branch. I couldn’t get over to them because the current was so fast, but they managed to get it free without capsizing.

We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, just a few herons and squirrels. There is a lot of nice scenery, especially the waterfall near the Yount’s Mills bridge, but the scenery on the lower section through Turkey Run is definitely nicer. I thought this run was more fun for playing in a small whitewater boat.

April Paddle

Location: Eagle Creek – Turkey Foot Park to Lions Park
Distance: +/-2 miles
Date: 4/30/08
Gauge: 1.9
Paddle Time: 1 hour
Paddlers: James, Doug
Weather: 65 & sunny

Big Fun in Small Boats
We decided to "borrow" our kids' whitewater boats for this trip on Eagle Creek since the water was pretty low. Really too low, but we didn't have a lot of options or time to find someplace else since it was the last day of the month.

The first thing we noticed is that they are finally working on Turkey Foot Park. A footbridge is partially installed across the creek from the end of the road north. Apparently there will be a trail in the future, too. It will be interesting to see how that affects our ability to park near there and put the boats in. Hopefully if nothing else there will at least be a parking area at the bridge.

After launching we headed downstream threading our way through the low spots. Some areas looked a lot different than usual with minimal water flowing. A couple of spots that are usually pretty fun in our big boats and would have been a lot more fun in the small boats.

Unfortunately we had to live with the low water and get in a short fun paddle. That will be a good excuse to do it again when it's warmer and there is more water. We did see a couple of deer and some good-sized fish near the golf course.

March Trip on Fall Creek
Location: Fall Creek 79th to Shadeland Ave./Fall Creek Park
Distance: +/-5.75 miles
Date: 3/27/08
Gauge: 5.3 (Millersville)
Paddle Time: 2 hours
Paddlers: James (Looksha), Doug (Breeze)
Weather: 45 & sunny

This was a really nice early spring paddle. When we put in at 79th Street the water was up a couple of feet from the last time we did this run so it was really easy to slide right in. We had been a little concerned about trees being down because the water had been pretty high earlier in the week but there was only one tree we had to drag around. We made a short side trip up Indian Creek but stopped about a quarter mile up because of a tree across the creek.
At one time we had eight herons in the air ahead of us because we kept pushing pairs of them downstream. That was really a sight.
The small drop at the Shadeland and 465 bridges was a lot of fun. The water was high enough to cover all the rocks, and there was a small standing wave at one point. We both got quite a bit of water in our boats but it didn’t matter much since we were at the end. There is a really nice takeout opportunity at the park just downstream; the accessible ramp makes a really nice ramp to get a boat out. We definitely want to do this again at the same water level with the smaller boats in warm weather. It would be fun to go up & play in the “waves”.

February Paddle on Eagle Creek

Location: Eagle Creek - Ford Road to Lafayette Road
Distance: +/-3
Date: 2-25-08
Gauge: 2.2
Paddle Time: 1 hour
Paddlers: James Nichols (Breeze), Doug Mark (Zirconia)
Weather: 36 degrees, cloudy, calm

Another really nice winter paddle. It was really cloudy and gray, but the temperature was around 35 so it wasn't too cold. We hit the water about 5:00 at the Ford Road bridge. The weather was supposed to get nasty on Tuesday so we needed to get this month's trip in before that or the end of the month.
The water was amazingly clear. We could see the bottom unless the water got over about four feet deep. That was surprising since it never seems to be that clear in the summer.

The last time we did this section most of it was in the dark so it was nice to see what we had missed. One spot where we had to carry around a tree last time was different; the giant tree that had been blocking the creek was gone.

There were some really cool ice formations on tree branches that had been in the water, but the water had gone down & left ice between the small tips of the branches. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera with us so we weren't able to get pictures.

We took out just before the reservior. Parking is easy on Lafayette Road and it saves a long flat water paddle to the marina in the park.

Ice Cubes

Location: White River – 116th Street to 82nd Street
Distance +/-X
Date: 1/30/08
Gauge: 3.1 (Nora)
Paddle Time: 1.5 hours
Paddlers: James Nichols (Current Designs Breeze), Doug Mark (Liquidlogic Zirconia)
Weather: 20 degrees & calm

In spite of the low temperature this was one of the nicest trips we have done. The day before it had been cloudy, rainy and the wind was 60+ MPH. Fortunately for us it was clear and calm and the river was at a nice level.

Unfortunately we didn't get on the water until close to 6PM, so the sun was already starting down. We knew we would be finishing in the dark, but figured there would be enough ambient light from being in the city that we would be able to see fairly well.

As we started out from the 116th Street boat ramp we were running through a lot of small floating ice chunks. Most of them were not very big but every once in a while one of us would hit one that would deflect our boat a little.

Overall this trip was pretty uneventful. We saw a really nice sunset, and there was enough light for most of the trip we didn't have to worry about hitting anything. There were a few low-hanging branches that we had to dodge. I hit a rock ust past the 96th Street bridge, but fortunately it was fairly small. Due to the temperature we were being very careful not to go in the water...that would have been bad.

Just before the takeout was really dark and we were paddling along talking when a group of geese took off from the water very near us. They were really loud and really startled us; we started talking about how it would be pretty bad to make it down the river and then tip over from being scared by geese.

I don't know if you can see it in this photo, but there is a whole lot of ice around the drip ring on my paddle in the last photo. They don't work so great when they have 1/4" or so of ice covering them.

Location: Eagle Creek – SR 32 (U.S. 421 & S.R. 32) to Turkeyfoot Park
Date: 12-30-07
Gauge: 3.1
Paddle Time: 4 hours
Paddlers: Doug Mark (Current Designs Breeze), James Nichols (Necky Looksha) , Tucker Mark (Perception Dancer)
Weather: Cloudy & 31 degrees

Our December trip, that makes a trip at least once a month in ’07. This was a new stretch of Eagle Creek for us. The put-in is very easy, we went in on the east side of the bridg. You could enter either upstream or downstream of the bridge, with an easy walk down to the water. One thing about parking; we had planned to park in the large gravel lot on the NW side of the intersection, but there were some fairly new "No Parking - You Will Be Towed" signs around so we ended up on the county road to the east. It's about a 1/4 mile walk, but better than being towed.

After about a quarter mile the creek runs through Wolf Run Golf Club. Since this is a very exclusive club I’m sure we would not be welcome during warmer weather. Fortunately no one was out golfing or working. Since it was Tucker’s first outing in his new boat I told him to stay ahead of or near us so we could keep an eye on him. The first mile or so went fine, we went through several small rapids with no trouble. Tucker was about 75 feet behind James and me when I heard a splash & turned around to see that he had tipped over. He says he doesn’t know why, we were in flat water, but over he went. He almost made it back up, which I thought was pretty good since he doesn’t know how to roll yet, but he didn’t quite make it so he popped the skirt & got out. The good new is he can wet exit OK, the bad news is he found out when the air temperature was 31 and the water was really cold.

I had brought extra clothes so he got changed & back in the boat. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get all the water out so he was still pretty cold. We stopped at County Road 100 South and waited at the bridge so Julie could come & pick him up, he was just too cold & wet to go on.

Between there and CR 200 S we must have had to carry over or around logs a half a dozen times…it was getting annoying. At one point James got out on the bank where it looked soft, but not excessively so…looks can be deceiving. He sunk in up to his knees, it was really boggy there. We finally got past all that I had a nice run down to the park. Even with the water at 3 we still had several low spots, but overall this was a nice mix of flat water & riffles to make things interesting.

We did see a hawk, a deer and a couple of herons as well. This run didn’t have as many houses along it as the other parts of the creek do, probably to starting in a more rural area and the fact that the creek bottom is fairly wide and flat in most places. In warmer weather we would probably start from CR 100 S to avoid the golf course. Access to the creek is easy there and you can walk down right next to the bridge.