Most of our trips we manage to pick streams that have enough water flowing in them that we can paddle along pretty well. This time we didn't do so well. Not being all that familiar with the Wabash we didn't know how the gauge levels in different areas related to the water being high enough to paddle, so we just loaded up and went. Plus there had been a lot of rain on July 4th, so
Unfortunately the low water level slowed the current to less than 1mph most of the way, so our expected average speed of 5 mph went out the window fairly quickly.
We did see a bald eagle about an hour into the trip, and followed it down the river for a bit, but most of the time we had to paddle steadily to keep moving forward.
Above Logansport we ran aground in the river at one point and decided we might as well stop for a break since we had to get out of the boat anyway. At least the water was fairly warm, so we stood in the river for a few minutes to rest.
After we got underway again we still continued to run over shallow rocky spots and began to worry about the boat. We didn't want to continue to scrape it on the rocks and risk putting a hole in the bottom.
After scraping through a few more shallow areas just before the city, including one that turned us around twice, we reached the public access at the upstream end of downtown. This was not a great place to stop as it was basically a concrete ramp in a neighborhood. I was about done in at this point and pretty much ready to call it quits. We finally decided to paddle on down through town and see if things got any better below the confluence with the Eel River.
But, right after we got back in we found a place where it looked like we could pull out and there might be a place to get a cup of coffee or something. Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case, but at least we now knew what was at the Little Turtle Watershed Park - that information turned out to be handy later.
Since we could hear water on rocks again below the park I scouted if from the bridge nearby and saw that we could make it through if we stayed far to river left. We still scraped a bit, but made it through relatively unscathed.
We had pretty good paddling for a half mile or so after that, and after the confluence the river widened out so it looked pretty good. By this time it was after 2AM, so we were getting a bit tired. Just before the bridge we almost hit a bicycle, it was barely under water. Just after the bridge we hit the last straw...a rock ledge that apparently had no end. As best we could tell the river was 100 yards or so wide, and 3" inches deep. We could see the backs of a lot of fish, mostly carp. What we could not see was where the water got deep again. After sitting in the middle of the river taking it all in for another 15 minutes or so we decided to paddle back upstream to the park and call it quits.
We left the canoe under a bridge and walked a few blocks to the BP...odd that the lady working didn't even give us a second glance when we walked in wearing PFD's and headlights, but by then it was about 3AM - she had probably seen stranger things.
The guy at the attached Arby's told us the dining room was closed, but that the drive-thru was open. When we asked if we could walk through he said no, and asked what we were driving. When we answered "a canoe" he decided he would take our order after all.
After we ate we went back to the park, unloaded the boat and brought it up the stairs to be near all of our gear. We laid stuff out as best we could to dry and laid down; odd that no police stopped by to see what we were doing sleeping in the park. We were going to tell them we weren't camping, just sitting and waiting for a ride.
Around 6 or so James walked back to Arby's to get breakfast...we didn't want to leave all of our gear spread out in the park with no one around. By that time we were starting to get some odd looks from walkers, but the parks people who came through didn't ask any questions. Around 7 we called Julie to ask for a ride home, so she headed out to get us.
Unfortunately we didn't make either our distance or time goals, but we didn't ruin the boat, either.
Below are James' blog posts:
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Training Paddle
Posted: 2009-07-05 16:35:24 UTC-04:00
Well its Sunday around 4:30 and Doug and I are just about ready to put in for a 100 mile training paddle on the Wabash. The trip is dual purpose, we're training for our August adventure in the MR 340 race in Missouri as well as scouting for the Wabash 100 race planned for 2010.
So far so good! -
Mile 7.7 Wabash
Posted: 2009-07-05 18:23:55 UTC-04:00
Ok, so with lots of help from a 0.9 mph current, we're slowly plodding along down the wabash. At least its a beautiful day, not too hot but also clearing up for a good night of paddling.
A river runs through it....
Posted: 2009-07-05 19:21:50 UTC-04:00
12.3 into the trip, still slow current like paddling flat water. So far only about 5 fishermen is all for wildlife.
Posted: 2009-07-05 20:54:16 UTC-04:00
The current has picked up a bit, not a lot but at least we feel like we're moving faster. The sun is setting and its cooling off a little.
I'm not sure I'm really up for paddling all night.... Oh well, just keep moving, right?-
Posted: 2009-07-05 22:28:33 UTC-04:00
And the bugs are crazy! There are millions on them everywhere. Good thing the moon is nice and bright, we don't have to use headlamps to attract even more....25 miles down
Standing in the river....
Posted: 2009-07-05 23:20:44 UTC-04:00
Since there's no water, we're standing in about 8 inches of water, trying to decide where to drag the boat. We're taking a few minutes as a break in the meantime....-
Good night moon!
Posted: 2009-07-05 23:49:37 UTC-04:00
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Up close with nature
Posted: 2009-07-06 01:03:03 UTC-04:00
Since there's no water to paddle, we decided to do a little fishing.
Of course its not terribly fair to the fish given the water level. Shallows
Posted: 2009-07-06 03:21:25 UTC-04:00
Well the shallows got us. We fought our way through Logansport only to run aground again just past the Wabash/Eel confluence. We were just starting to gain som optimism as the water level surged briefly, but quickly found ourselves looking at about 250 meters of limestone shelf 3 inches under water.
We contemplated things for a bit, sitting there in the middle of a river that was 100 meters across and 3 inches deep. After more discussion, we turned around and paddled back to Logansport, portaging across more limestone to get to a take out.
Walking around Logansport Indiana at 2:30 am makes for an interesting adventure in itself. We found a combined BP/Arby's and convinced the drive through guy to serve us in the closed dining room. I guess he took pity on a couple of guys wearing pfd's and looking like they lived under a bridge.... Well actually for the moment we did live under a bridge, where we left the canoe.
Regardless we have several hours to wait for our ride, so we're hanging out on some sort of limestone steps at the Little Turtle Waterway.
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