Good call REI.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate, and it will be a good day to get in a paddling trip.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
REI Closing on Black Friday
Yeah, it's mostly about marketing, but to me it still points to a company being more true to their mission.
Good call REI.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate, and it will be a good day to get in a paddling trip.
Good call REI.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate, and it will be a good day to get in a paddling trip.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Wabash Weekend - Lockport to Lafayette
The original plan was to leave from the Oakdale Dam on the Tippecanoe River & go to the Wabash, ending in Lafayette, but due to difficulty finding a place to stop overnight I decided to find another location. I considered Deer Creek in Carroll County as it looks like a good place to take a trip at some point, but with the lack of rain recently the water was too low
for paddling.
I looked at the ramps at Shamrock Park and Fort Quiatenon Park before deciding on the ending point; the ramp at Shamrock is not that great. There is adequate parking but the ramp itself is sand & gravel, and pretty rough. The ramp at Fort Quiatenon is concrete in good condition with easy access and parking, but the weekend of the trip was the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, so getting out there would have been a nightmare.
The French Post Park boat ramp is very nice concrete, and out of the
main channel flow, so it makes for an easy put-in. The park is part of
the Carroll County Parks Department, and primitive camping is available.
The water level was low enough that we had to keep an eye out for
sandbars and rocky areas as we made our way downstream, but we didn’t
encounter any significant obstacles. We did see something new at the CR
700 W bridge: a tree trunk balanced on the top of the bridge pier. The
odds that the tree would stay in place as the flood waters that put it
there receded have to be really slim.
This section of the river mainly has a gravel bottom, and with several small islands and sandbars along the way we were able to find places for breaks whenever someone needed it. All of our stops had many freshwater mussel shells, some larger than 4” across.
Thanks to the help of a 20-MPH plus tailwind most of the day we were able to cover 15 miles in about five hours.Wise Island is owned by the NICHES Land Trust (www.nicheslandtrust.org). Their description of the island is: “This is a 2 acre island in the middle of the Wabash River near Americus in the northeast section of Tippecanoe County. This property hasn’t been used as a campsite in over twenty years… It has potential as a stopover site for canoeing down the Wabash River or for a small birding expedition.”
We checked out access to the island by paddling down both sides of it; I went around the secondary channel side while Dave & Austin went along the main channel. The best access was at the west end, as the banks were steep on both sides, especially the river side. We found several level spots on the west end, and picked one somewhat out of the wind. A handy silver maple had branches that were perfectly spaced to use for our dining fly and wind break. At first it looked like the center part of the island was too overgrown to walk through easily, but we eventually found a trail into the central section that led to a couple more places that could be used for camping.
The remainder of our trip on the second day was uneventful, and the river fairly mundane. After the confluence with the Tippecanoe River (Prophetstown State Park is river right) the river widens out even more, and has less current. The bottom is also more sand than gravel, but there were still a few islands and sandbars to provide stopping points. We did encounter a surprisingly low water level about a mile from the end; Dave suddenly ran aground in the middle of the river with no riffles or other indicators of low water. Fortunately he didn’t have to get out, but I have found that you do have to pay attention on the Wabash wherever you are, or spots like this can catch you out without warning.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Paddling.net is one of my favorite sites for paddling info. They have a periodic boat giveaway, photos, and some very good writers.
This article about strainers caught my eye because not too long after I started paddling regularly my son and I were in a tandem kayak on Eagle Creek and got caught by a strainer right after a sharp bend. It was November, so the water was very cold, and weren't far from the takeout, but wrestling a swamped boat out of the water in cold temperatures isn't fun.
We were fortunate that we just dumped the boat and floated on through the branches, but strainers can be very dangerous and are something to be on the lookout for, especially on smaller streams where you may not be able to see very far ahead.
This article about strainers caught my eye because not too long after I started paddling regularly my son and I were in a tandem kayak on Eagle Creek and got caught by a strainer right after a sharp bend. It was November, so the water was very cold, and weren't far from the takeout, but wrestling a swamped boat out of the water in cold temperatures isn't fun.
We were fortunate that we just dumped the boat and floated on through the branches, but strainers can be very dangerous and are something to be on the lookout for, especially on smaller streams where you may not be able to see very far ahead.
A New Adventure of Sorts
I'm now blogging for WildIndiana magazine, check it out at www.wildindiana.com or www.facebook.com/wildindiana.
Posts on those sites will probably be shorter than what shows up here...I can ramble on as long as I want on this site.
Posts on those sites will probably be shorter than what shows up here...I can ramble on as long as I want on this site.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
A Group Expedition
Our church small group decided to spend a day at Eagle Creek, and spend part of the time paddling so we offered to supply boats for as many of our group of 23 as we could. Over the years we have acquired several boats; two tandem kayaks, two whitewater kayaks, a rec single kayak and a couple of canoes. We are also currently storing a canoe for some friends, so we loaded six boats on the trailer, and one on the truck and headed south. Sort of the Clampett's go boating...
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Sort of like the Clampett's going paddling... |
One of the other families has two single kayaks that they brought along, to make nine personal boats total. Another family borrowed a bunch of life jackets, so I think we would have had enough for everyone to have two, if that had been necessary.
When we pulled up to the gate and I told the lady I had seven boats she thought I was kidding. We decided to use the "personal craft" launch at the marina for convenience, and since it was a nice day the parking lot was really crowded.
It's a short carry from the access drive to the launch, so we parked near the walkway and unloaded, which went smoothly (lots of help).
Fortunately they let you park in the grass along the road to the marina, or I might have had an extremely long walk back from an unknown parking lot somewhere. While I was parking a guy started asking me about the trailer; where I got it, how many boats could I get on it, etc., so everyone was wondering what had happened to me by the time I got back, and the younger natives were getting restless.
Note to self: With a group this large, making a list of who is going to be in what boat is very helpful. Actually taking that list with you to the lake is even more helpful, because when you have that many people standing around waiting it's a little stressful trying to remember the arrangements you worked out two days before.
We finally got it all figured out, and a couple of people headed to the marina to rent boats for those that ended up without a seat. Eagle Creek Outfitters has a nice selection of rental boats available; SUP's, SOT and sit-in kayaks - both single and tandem - canoes, paddle boats, sail boats and small pontoons.
After we all met up on the lake we had quite the flotilla: four canoes, seven kayaks and a paddle boat.
We all paddled around the north end of the lake for a while, and everyone had a great time. The paddle boat was a nice platform for some of the kids to take a rest from paddling, or to switch between boats if they wanted.
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Everyone was smiling at the end, that's a good sign |
Monday, July 27, 2015
A Non-Indiana Adventure
Location: Benton Harbor, MI/ Paw Paw River
Well, like a lot of blogs done just for fun, it looks like I've neglected this one for a while. I didn't realize how long until I looked at the dates. I have been paddling some, but not near as much as I was, and not anyplace different from the trip reports I already posted, so I haven't been adding anything.
However, that has changed, as I recently got an unexpected chance to go paddling in Michigan. Since it was an unexpected part of a trip completely unrelated to paddling, I'll include the back story:
We traveled to Benton Harbor, MI the week of July 12 to work with Harbor Habitat for Humanity. The first couple of days we worked on existing homes that are being rehabbed for eligible families. Wednesday we had one crew working on landscaping and cleanup around the Crystal Estates neighborhood that is all Habitat homes, built in 2008. The crew I was with worked on a new storage shed at the Habitat ReStore. We worked with Bruce and Nick, who are part of Harbor's "Thursday Crew" a group of retired individuals who get together every Thursday - surprise! - to work on various projects. The Thursday Crew had mostly finished the shed, but we were tasked with building a dormer on the roof. When we broke for lunch we asked Nick and Bruce to join us, and they accepted.
At lunch Bruce was sitting and talking with one of our crew, and he said "Bruce has kayaks". I had noticed a truck in the parking lot with kayak saddles mounted on the roof, but I didn't know who it belonged to. Of course finding out that Bruce was the owner meant we had more to talk about at lunch. Then he slid a business card over to me with a background image of two people in a tandem kayak, and said "I built that boat". Suddenly things were even more interesting, as I have a book on building stripper canoes, but haven't yet attempted to build anything. We talked a bit about trips and boats the rest of lunch, then went back to work for the afternoon.
Thursday morning we showed up to work, and with our group of six, and the Thursday Crew of about 10 it seemed like there were a lot more people around than Wednesday. Before we started working I jokingly said to Bruce that there were a lot of people around, so we should just go get his boats and go kayaking. He replied by asking what I was doing in the afternoon. Since we finished each day at 3, and all we had planned was dinner, I told him not much, and we made tentative plans to go paddling.
We were able to get everything arranged, and Bruce picked me up at the church for the short drive to the Paw Paw River. It flows southward to Benton Harbor, and empties into the St. Joe River near Lake Michigan.
Bruce brought his 16' boat, and a 15.5' Current Designs boat - whose model name I can't remember - for me to paddle. He even loaned me water shoes, what a great host!
We paddled upstream from a ramp at Riverview Drive and Grant Avenue. It's not on the aerial photos that are currently used by Google Earth, but it's there. The ramp was constructed as part of a development project that included a golf course, hotel, marina, and residential development.
Most of this trip was through the golf course, but it's well above the water in most places, so it didn't feel like we were in the middle of the action. And even though the Paw Paw has a decent current, it wasn't difficult to paddle upstream. We went about 1.75 miles upstream before it started to rain a little, and since the weather had been showing a storm on the lake before we left we decided to play it safe and head back. Once we got back to the ramp it wasn't raining, so we decided to go on downstream and have a look around.
Bruce had mentioned that the water level was high, and as we approached a railroad bridge downstream of the ramp it looked like we would have to duck to get under it. Since there was a moving train on it at the time it was a little intimidating to have that much moving bulk a few feet above our heads, but we made it under and went on. It is only a few hundred yards to where the Paw Paw empties into a channel that flows into the St. Joe, so we paddled east up the channel just to see what we could see.
There are several buildings along Main Street that back onto the channel, and most of them had boats tied up at slips. Bruce noted that it had been a while since there had been boats in that area, so maybe it was a sign of some economic improvement. One building in particular was interesting, it is an older brick building with the back being mostly industrial-looking glass. To the east side of the building is a large garage door that leads to a boathouse incorporated into the building - a pretty cool amenity, I think.
After poking around the marina at the new hotel for a few minutes and admiring some really large boats we decided it was getting dark enough that we should head back. After another duck under the bridge (this time without a train) we were back at the ramp. We got the boats loaded and ourselves in the truck just in time to miss the real rain starting to come down, so we were damp but not soaked.
Anr item of note is that there is a kayak livery right at the ramp. Instead of shuttling you just rent & return to the ramp. If I had known that sooner I might have been out earlier in the week, but then I would have missed the chance to paddle with someone local who was able to tell me about the area we were paddling through.
If you're in the St. Joe/Benton Harbor and looking for an easy paddle this is a nice one. And, you could also easily head downstream into the lake from the ramp. Bruce says the channel can be a bit rough with powerboats going in an out, even though it's a no-wake zone, but that it's not a bad way to get out into the lake.
Maybe next time...
Well, like a lot of blogs done just for fun, it looks like I've neglected this one for a while. I didn't realize how long until I looked at the dates. I have been paddling some, but not near as much as I was, and not anyplace different from the trip reports I already posted, so I haven't been adding anything.
However, that has changed, as I recently got an unexpected chance to go paddling in Michigan. Since it was an unexpected part of a trip completely unrelated to paddling, I'll include the back story:
We traveled to Benton Harbor, MI the week of July 12 to work with Harbor Habitat for Humanity. The first couple of days we worked on existing homes that are being rehabbed for eligible families. Wednesday we had one crew working on landscaping and cleanup around the Crystal Estates neighborhood that is all Habitat homes, built in 2008. The crew I was with worked on a new storage shed at the Habitat ReStore. We worked with Bruce and Nick, who are part of Harbor's "Thursday Crew" a group of retired individuals who get together every Thursday - surprise! - to work on various projects. The Thursday Crew had mostly finished the shed, but we were tasked with building a dormer on the roof. When we broke for lunch we asked Nick and Bruce to join us, and they accepted.
At lunch Bruce was sitting and talking with one of our crew, and he said "Bruce has kayaks". I had noticed a truck in the parking lot with kayak saddles mounted on the roof, but I didn't know who it belonged to. Of course finding out that Bruce was the owner meant we had more to talk about at lunch. Then he slid a business card over to me with a background image of two people in a tandem kayak, and said "I built that boat". Suddenly things were even more interesting, as I have a book on building stripper canoes, but haven't yet attempted to build anything. We talked a bit about trips and boats the rest of lunch, then went back to work for the afternoon.
Thursday morning we showed up to work, and with our group of six, and the Thursday Crew of about 10 it seemed like there were a lot more people around than Wednesday. Before we started working I jokingly said to Bruce that there were a lot of people around, so we should just go get his boats and go kayaking. He replied by asking what I was doing in the afternoon. Since we finished each day at 3, and all we had planned was dinner, I told him not much, and we made tentative plans to go paddling.
We were able to get everything arranged, and Bruce picked me up at the church for the short drive to the Paw Paw River. It flows southward to Benton Harbor, and empties into the St. Joe River near Lake Michigan.
Bruce brought his 16' boat, and a 15.5' Current Designs boat - whose model name I can't remember - for me to paddle. He even loaned me water shoes, what a great host!
We paddled upstream from a ramp at Riverview Drive and Grant Avenue. It's not on the aerial photos that are currently used by Google Earth, but it's there. The ramp was constructed as part of a development project that included a golf course, hotel, marina, and residential development.
Most of this trip was through the golf course, but it's well above the water in most places, so it didn't feel like we were in the middle of the action. And even though the Paw Paw has a decent current, it wasn't difficult to paddle upstream. We went about 1.75 miles upstream before it started to rain a little, and since the weather had been showing a storm on the lake before we left we decided to play it safe and head back. Once we got back to the ramp it wasn't raining, so we decided to go on downstream and have a look around.
Bruce had mentioned that the water level was high, and as we approached a railroad bridge downstream of the ramp it looked like we would have to duck to get under it. Since there was a moving train on it at the time it was a little intimidating to have that much moving bulk a few feet above our heads, but we made it under and went on. It is only a few hundred yards to where the Paw Paw empties into a channel that flows into the St. Joe, so we paddled east up the channel just to see what we could see.
There are several buildings along Main Street that back onto the channel, and most of them had boats tied up at slips. Bruce noted that it had been a while since there had been boats in that area, so maybe it was a sign of some economic improvement. One building in particular was interesting, it is an older brick building with the back being mostly industrial-looking glass. To the east side of the building is a large garage door that leads to a boathouse incorporated into the building - a pretty cool amenity, I think.
After poking around the marina at the new hotel for a few minutes and admiring some really large boats we decided it was getting dark enough that we should head back. After another duck under the bridge (this time without a train) we were back at the ramp. We got the boats loaded and ourselves in the truck just in time to miss the real rain starting to come down, so we were damp but not soaked.
Anr item of note is that there is a kayak livery right at the ramp. Instead of shuttling you just rent & return to the ramp. If I had known that sooner I might have been out earlier in the week, but then I would have missed the chance to paddle with someone local who was able to tell me about the area we were paddling through.
If you're in the St. Joe/Benton Harbor and looking for an easy paddle this is a nice one. And, you could also easily head downstream into the lake from the ramp. Bruce says the channel can be a bit rough with powerboats going in an out, even though it's a no-wake zone, but that it's not a bad way to get out into the lake.
Maybe next time...
Monday, November 2, 2009
August Paddle
Eagle Creek Reservoir
James had acquired a new kevlar canoe that needed to be in the water so we took it out on a really nice August evening. We also got Mark and Paula to come along, and Paula had her first outing in the Looksha.
The Looksha doesn't have the initial stability of the Breeze that she is used to paddling so she was a little uncomfortable for the first bit. The canoe is also pretty narrow, but after getting the
feel of it we decided it paddles like a dream. With both of us paddling with kayak paddles we could really make it fly.
There is a size limit for paddling this boat, though, as the back seat is fixed in place due to the way the back of the boat tapers, and it's pretty narrow. But it's really fast, if I hadn't mentioned that.
We just went out and paddled around, but it was a really nice evening just about sunset. Unfortunately the Lafayette Road bridge was still not finished so we had to thread our way around construction debris and a silt boom, but once on the lake it was really nice.
James had acquired a new kevlar canoe that needed to be in the water so we took it out on a really nice August evening. We also got Mark and Paula to come along, and Paula had her first outing in the Looksha.
The Looksha doesn't have the initial stability of the Breeze that she is used to paddling so she was a little uncomfortable for the first bit. The canoe is also pretty narrow, but after getting the
feel of it we decided it paddles like a dream. With both of us paddling with kayak paddles we could really make it fly.There is a size limit for paddling this boat, though, as the back seat is fixed in place due to the way the back of the boat tapers, and it's pretty narrow. But it's really fast, if I hadn't mentioned that.
We just went out and paddled around, but it was a really nice evening just about sunset. Unfortunately the Lafayette Road bridge was still not finished so we had to thread our way around construction debris and a silt boom, but once on the lake it was really nice.
Monday, July 13, 2009
July Paddle Trip and Training
We started this trip from Wabash, Indiana on the Wabash River, intending to paddle to Attica, Indiana. Our plan was to paddle through the night- or as long as we felt like it - as training for the Missouri River 340 coming up the first week of August.
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:
25 miles down
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.
-
Thursday, July 9, 2009
June Trip
White River - Indianapolis Art Center to Rocky Ripple
We paddled as part of the River School that Friends of White River puts on to teach people about water quality and other characteristics of the river. James was the skipper of one of the rafts that the kids were in, and I was one of the safety boaters. Here is an article that was in the Star afterward:
White River group gains friends by leading float trips
Most of the two dozen Arlington Community High School students had never been in a boat before, and some were nervous. "I heard boats are tippy," said senior Montice Smith, 18.
Canoes are, but inflatable rafts aren't, and the students' trip Friday down the White River from Broad Ripple to Rocky Ripple proceeded with nerves that soon gave way to the sights along the waterway.
Their guide, Kevin Hardie, executive director of Friends of the White River, has taken newbies down the White for two decades but has stepped up his efforts as part of the group's attempts to build alliances by exposing people to the river.
"The river sells itself," Hardie says, "and positive uses drive out negative uses. People who see the river up close tend to advocate for it." Winning over high school students is a long-term play,
but some of Hardie's recent trekkers already are in leadership positions. Last weekend, they included Max Anderson, the Indianapolis Museum of Art's CEO; Bob Whitt, White River State Park's executive director; Indianapolis Downtown Inc.'s Tamara Zahn; and Frank Basile, the retired real estate executive and philanthropist.
Basile has lived in Indianapolis since the 1970s but had been on the river just once, briefly. Last Saturday he and the others floated from Broad Ripple to the art museum. "It looked like a wild oasis in the middle of the city," he enthused. "We recently went down the Zambesi River
(in central Africa), and except for the fact there were no hippopotamuses in the White, it reminded me of it. It was exhilarating."
The White, long abused, is cleaner than it has been in 100 years, say experts. But its future is uncertain, with much of the undeveloped banks north of Indianapolis overflowing with commercial potential. Basile said that because of his river trip, not only is he thinking of buying a
kayak, he'd be more likely to oppose development along the river. "It's a remarkable body of water going through our city," Basile said, "and we need to protect it."
The Arlington students paddled down the river wide-eyed. An enormous, gawky blue heron swooped low over the water about 30 yards from Steven Kaba's raft. Kaba had never seen a blue heron before. "That's one crazy-looking bird," he said.
At one point Kaba, 17, paddled past a combined sewer overflow, a pipe that, with Indianapolis' antiquated sewer system, delivers raw sewage directly into the river following a rain. This surprised him. "People dumping stuff right into the water? How could that be?" he said.
"That's a real legitimate response," said Hardie. The city is in the early stages of a $3.5 billion plan that, in 20 years, will remedy the situation.
The trip ended happily for Kaba. He saw a great horned owl. He learned how to steer the boat, sitting in the back, or stern, and using his paddle like a rudder. "The whole trip was cool," he said. "I'd do it again."
We paddled as part of the River School that Friends of White River puts on to teach people about water quality and other characteristics of the river. James was the skipper of one of the rafts that the kids were in, and I was one of the safety boaters. Here is an article that was in the Star afterward:
White River group gains friends by leading float trips
Most of the two dozen Arlington Community High School students had never been in a boat before, and some were nervous. "I heard boats are tippy," said senior Montice Smith, 18.
Canoes are, but inflatable rafts aren't, and the students' trip Friday down the White River from Broad Ripple to Rocky Ripple proceeded with nerves that soon gave way to the sights along the waterway.
Their guide, Kevin Hardie, executive director of Friends of the White River, has taken newbies down the White for two decades but has stepped up his efforts as part of the group's attempts to build alliances by exposing people to the river.
"The river sells itself," Hardie says, "and positive uses drive out negative uses. People who see the river up close tend to advocate for it." Winning over high school students is a long-term play,
but some of Hardie's recent trekkers already are in leadership positions. Last weekend, they included Max Anderson, the Indianapolis Museum of Art's CEO; Bob Whitt, White River State Park's executive director; Indianapolis Downtown Inc.'s Tamara Zahn; and Frank Basile, the retired real estate executive and philanthropist.
Basile has lived in Indianapolis since the 1970s but had been on the river just once, briefly. Last Saturday he and the others floated from Broad Ripple to the art museum. "It looked like a wild oasis in the middle of the city," he enthused. "We recently went down the Zambesi River
(in central Africa), and except for the fact there were no hippopotamuses in the White, it reminded me of it. It was exhilarating."
The White, long abused, is cleaner than it has been in 100 years, say experts. But its future is uncertain, with much of the undeveloped banks north of Indianapolis overflowing with commercial potential. Basile said that because of his river trip, not only is he thinking of buying a
kayak, he'd be more likely to oppose development along the river. "It's a remarkable body of water going through our city," Basile said, "and we need to protect it."
The Arlington students paddled down the river wide-eyed. An enormous, gawky blue heron swooped low over the water about 30 yards from Steven Kaba's raft. Kaba had never seen a blue heron before. "That's one crazy-looking bird," he said.
At one point Kaba, 17, paddled past a combined sewer overflow, a pipe that, with Indianapolis' antiquated sewer system, delivers raw sewage directly into the river following a rain. This surprised him. "People dumping stuff right into the water? How could that be?" he said.
"That's a real legitimate response," said Hardie. The city is in the early stages of a $3.5 billion plan that, in 20 years, will remedy the situation.
The trip ended happily for Kaba. He saw a great horned owl. He learned how to steer the boat, sitting in the back, or stern, and using his paddle like a rudder. "The whole trip was cool," he said. "I'd do it again."
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
May Paddle Trip
Location: Eagle Creek - Lions Park to 96th Street
This is monthly trip #33 in a row, and it was a lot of fun. We got a good group of people together to paddle one of our favorite stretches of water. We all had things to do later in the day so we met at 7:00, it was worth it as you can see in this photo.
It was a
day for a couple of new people to join us (welcome to Michael and Cristal), and it was also Paula's birthday.
The creek was at a really nice level, with only one spot we really had to squeeze through at the old railroad bridge. This has been getting tighter all the time with trees stacked up against the piers, one of these days it may close off completely, or we may have to do some chainsaw work.
Cristal managed to turn over her boat, but was the only swimmer of the day.
This is monthly trip #33 in a row, and it was a lot of fun. We got a good group of people together to paddle one of our favorite stretches of water. We all had things to do later in the day so we met at 7:00, it was worth it as you can see in this photo.
It was a
day for a couple of new people to join us (welcome to Michael and Cristal), and it was also Paula's birthday.The creek was at a really nice level, with only one spot we really had to squeeze through at the old railroad bridge. This has been getting tighter all the time with trees stacked up against the piers, one of these days it may close off completely, or we may have to do some chainsaw work.
Cristal managed to turn over her boat, but was the only swimmer of the day.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
April Trip
Eagle Creek - Holiday Road bridge to Lions Park
This was not our original destination but it turned out to be a really nice trip. We originally planned to do our usual short-duration run from Turkeyfoot Park to Lions Park, but when we pulled in to unload the boats there were about 10 no parking signs along the road. Apparently now that it is a real park the people who live around it don't want it to be used by anyone who has to drive to it so the Town has obliged them by making it impossible to park there.
Fortunately the Holiday Road bridge has been restored with a new deck and paint (an orange that will really get it noticed) and there is space alongside the road to park. There are no trespassing signs on the property adjacent to the road, so hopefully that won't be a problem in the future, but we were at least able to get on the water there.
We didn't have any obstacles on the trip, it was just a nice paddle down to Lion's Park. The water level was really nice and kept us floating through the places we sometimes have to walk at low levels.
This makes 32 months in a row...we're sneaking up on three years of monthly paddle trips.
This was not our original destination but it turned out to be a really nice trip. We originally planned to do our usual short-duration run from Turkeyfoot Park to Lions Park, but when we pulled in to unload the boats there were about 10 no parking signs along the road. Apparently now that it is a real park the people who live around it don't want it to be used by anyone who has to drive to it so the Town has obliged them by making it impossible to park there.
Fortunately the Holiday Road bridge has been restored with a new deck and paint (an orange that will really get it noticed) and there is space alongside the road to park. There are no trespassing signs on the property adjacent to the road, so hopefully that won't be a problem in the future, but we were at least able to get on the water there.
We didn't have any obstacles on the trip, it was just a nice paddle down to Lion's Park. The water level was really nice and kept us floating through the places we sometimes have to walk at low levels.
This makes 32 months in a row...we're sneaking up on three years of monthly paddle trips.
Monday, April 13, 2009
March Trip
The location of this trip is top secret due to its designation as the site as part of the next Planet Adventure Sprint Adventure Race on April 18.
So I'll just say we drove a while, paddled a shorter while, hiked a little for an outstanding view, paddled some more and drove home.
After the race I can add a few details and a photo from trip #31.
July 8...almost forgot to update this. I don't have any more photos but I can now say that we were at Starve Hollow State Recreation Area near Brownstown. It looks like a pretty small property overall, but the lake was nice to paddle around, and the campground appeared to be really nice.
We have now paddled 31 months in a row, hopefully we can keep this up.
So I'll just say we drove a while, paddled a shorter while, hiked a little for an outstanding view, paddled some more and drove home.
After the race I can add a few details and a photo from trip #31.
July 8...almost forgot to update this. I don't have any more photos but I can now say that we were at Starve Hollow State Recreation Area near Brownstown. It looks like a pretty small property overall, but the lake was nice to paddle around, and the campground appeared to be really nice.
We have now paddled 31 months in a row, hopefully we can keep this up.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
December Trip
Eagle Creek Reservior
We wanted to start paddling a canoe together since we're planning & training for the MR340 in August, so we went to the reservoir. The temperature was in the low 20's but we still had a group of five people in four boats.
We paddled from the upper end down to the north end of the rowing course & back. There were a lot of geese and ducks flying around due to most of the other waterways around the city being frozen.
We wanted to start paddling a canoe together since we're planning & training for the MR340 in August, so we went to the reservoir. The temperature was in the low 20's but we still had a group of five people in four boats.
We paddled from the upper end down to the north end of the rowing course & back. There were a lot of geese and ducks flying around due to most of the other waterways around the city being frozen.
November Trip
White River
River Road Park to Hazel Landing Park
We made a short trip with the kids to get them out. The temperature was in the 40's but we found some ice in some backwater areas and had fun playing icebreaker.
River Road Park to Hazel Landing Park
We made a short trip with the kids to get them out. The temperature was in the 40's but we found some ice in some backwater areas and had fun playing icebreaker.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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.
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