Sunday, October 14, 2012

Current River Trip, October 7th - October 12th 2012

Keith Finn, Jeff Haven and Michael Lange headed out of Columbus on October 6th for an intrepid trip down the familiar confines of the Current River.   For Michael, it would be his first trip down the Current.  Jeff was taking his "slow" boat, the Big Red Pig.  I was taking my new Cobra Fish & Dive, a sit on top kayak.  First camping trip in the new boat, and my first multi day kayak trip in a long time - the first since I found out about the injuries to my collarbone joint that had mandated a switch to canoeing a decade ago.  I was also using some old stuff, my 12 year old Eureka backpack tent, and my 20 year old Coleman PeaK One backpack stove.  Both worked just fine for the entire week!



The river was also very low, the lowest we had paddled it.  And the weather was very cool, unseasonably so for early October.  

Michael and I had wanted to put in at the uppermost navigable point of the Current, just below Montauk State Park.  The guys at Aker's talked us out of this, saying the river was very low up there.   Even from Cedar Grove on down was scrappy until you passed Welch Spring.    We decided to go ahead and put in at Akers on Sunday, and paddle down to Powder Mill with a estimated trip end of Friday afternoon.  

This was the wise choice.  The river was lower than I had ever paddled it, and we were on the lookout for shoal water until the take out.  I ended up having to get out of my boat and pull over a shoal on the last day, within sight of the takeout!  That has never happened before.  Also, for the first time we saw no power boats - didn't miss them either!  

While the weather was cool, it was sunny for the first 4 days.  The sun was warm enough for short sleeves most of the day.  If a wind came up, I would put on my Frogtoggs anorak, and that kept me comfortable.  I think Michael was chilly for most of the trip!  

The trip in time of year is always special, and it is the colors of the river that make it so.  The warm, golden tan of the gravel bars, the multiple shades of green on the hills, with the autumny colors breaking out...  The clear / green / turquoise / blue gradients that shade the river are the hardest to describe, and the pictures do not do them justice.   The sky is often the deep blue we don't get to see much in the east, except on those cold, dry winter days.  And the cliffs of the Ozarks, the varied shades of greys, browns and whites with the spattering of lichen!   A feast for the eyes!



I have run the Current so many years now, it is difficult to break the trip down day by day.  We no longer worry about finding a good campsite, or how much progress we are making. 

Favorite campsites are the gravel bar below Pulltite Spring (nice spot, and you can walk to the hot shower building at the Pulltite Campground)



Another favorite is where Sinking Creek joins the Current River.  There is a National Forest Service Campground a short walk away, which gives you access to a pit toilet.  There is nice fishing as well.  





And my favorite, Ain't Bee Bluff.  I thought this was the actual Bee Bluff on our first trip, and a few years later found out it wasn't.  Thus, Ain't Bee Bluff.  




This is where I caught my fish of the trip, a small Rock Bass, in Missouri these are called Goggle Eye.



Thursday morning the clouds came in and did not leave.  That day it was chilly all day - we even stopped at the Two Rivers campground in the afternoon to get a warm shower!


Thursday camp was on a gravel bar that is usually being occupied by Sucker Spearers (seriously, people take out big Jon Boats at night with huge light systems to spear suckers on the bottom of the deep river pools!).  I speculate the cold weather and threat of rain Thursday night kept the Sucker Spearers off the river.   I was careful to set my tent up away from the tire tracks in the gravel!



We did get rain Thursday night, right after we had cleaned up the dishes and were sippin our Wild Turkey Liquor.  A series of thunder storms rolled in for hours, with heavy rain but not much wind.  My old tent kept the rain out just fine!    

My load was carefully calculated for my boat. A small tent, minimal food, a one burner backpack stove and one pot.  I also had my creature comforts, the Big Grizzly take down cot, and my Kermit chair.  
My old tent
inside my tent, with my old Big Grizzly cot, and my old, very big, very warm Big Pine sleeping bag
dinner cooking on my old stove
Jeff in his Kermit Chair
We had a short paddle out to our take out on Friday.  


The MO-106 Bridge - we will take out just after the bridge on the left
trip is done


loading up
 When loading up, I found a note from the guys at Aker's that my trailer had a flat tire!  They fixed it!  These are really great people!   Aker's Ferry Canoe Livery

we get Walt's Pizza in Marion, IL.  The pepperoni and onion was Very Good, reminded me of TJ's back in Lima
We visited the Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest as a detour on the way back to Columbus.

Here is a photo album of the river trip.  Current River 2012

Here is a photo album of the visit to Garden of the Gods. Garden Of The Gods October 2012

Thursday, October 4, 2012

October 2012 Current River Canoe Trip Pre-trip report


So far just me, Jeff and Michael on the current river trip. 

Fishing maybe?


We can take my car and trailer, the trailer is open to the elements so waterproof bags or containers would be a good idea.  I have extra NRS Bill's Bags if they are needed.

Since there are only 3 of us, and guys, fishing may be in order.  Also, we could run the upper part of the river from Baptist camp put-in on down.  This would require a short portage at Cedar Grove over a low water bridge, but the portage is short and easy and the 3 of us can probably carry each loaded boat in turn.

Jeff is an excellent teacher of fishing!  

Here is a website about fishing the Current River - Fishing-the-Current-River

Here are photo albums I have from previous trips - 2008   2011   Can't Remember

Here is link to river map and trip descriptions.  current river canoe map

We will be parked at Akers Ferry, and get a shuttle up to the put in of our choice.
  • * Rebel Crawdad, deep diving
  • * Spinnerbaits, 3/8 ounce to 1/8 ounce
  • * Marabou Jigs (olive, White, and Black), 1/32 ounce to 1/8 ounce
  • * 3 inch green tube baits, texas rigged
  • * Rooster Tail Spinner 1/24 ounce through 1/8 ounce (also works for trout)
  • * Rebel Pop-r
  • * Small Jitterbugs
  • * 5" Zoom Curly Tail Worms (Green Pumpkin), Texas Rigged
  • * Nightcrawlers
  • * Minnows and Crayfish* (they work well, but you'll have to catch them yourself using a minnow trap)
Current Conditions from the folks at Akers - current river canoe conditions

Levels, October 3
Montauk looks too low

this is a fine level


Food for Current River week.  Think Jeff!  Must be compact!
  1. Lunch - mainly jerky.  What for carbs?  Tortillas, maybe Naan?  Naan better than tortys, IMHO.
  2. Supper - can chili?  No, hamburger-rice packs!
  3. Breakfast - protein bars worked before.
  4. Drink - hawaiian punch packets, I have lots.
  5. some hot chocolate
  6. Irish cream liquor
  7. M&M's or Hersheys?
Had idea last night about supper for trip.  Way long ago, I went on a week long trip and tried an experiment.  Using Success Rice and dried hamburger, I made prepacked meals of hamburger, rice and various dried or freeze dried veg added to the rice and hamburger. I will prepare six ziploc bags of the mixture, adding hamburger, rice, dried tomato, onion, mushroom and Fox Point seasoning to each bag.  This mixture will just have to cook in hot  water for about 10 minutes to be ready.  I have a small backpack stove, but not sure if it still works.  The last time I tried this I used a Sterno Stove.   


drying peppers and tomatoes for canoe trip dinner

drying cooked hamburger for canoe trip dinners


getting the litttle stove ready for the trip
Dehydrator bounty going on the canoe trip.  Apples, tomatoes, plums, beef jerky
dried dinner - Success Rice, dried cooked hamburger, dried tomatoes, onions, celery, parsley, and various spices
2012-10-04 Equipment List

Cobra Kayak, with seat back and thigh straps
Werner Kayak paddle
Red canoe paddle
short canoe paddle
throw bag
iodine
long bungee cords
life jacket
sun hat
rain hat

in red extra long drybag
  • cot
in yellow man-o-rubber drybag
  • river clothes
  • meds jar
  • cold weather clothes bag
  • warm hat
  • gloves
in yellow drybag
  • sleeping bag
  • Big Agnes
  • sheet sack 
  • pillow
in extra long red drybag
  • tarp and poles
  • kermit chair
  • fold up table
in small blue drybag
  • stove
  • pot
  • bowl
  • fuel bottle
  • lighter & matches
  • spoon
  • cup
in med red food drybag
  • jerky
  • dinner mix
  • protein bars
  • dried tomatoes
  • dried apples
  • dried plums
  • roasted peas
  • soup cubes
  • can cheese
  • drink mix
  • hot chocolate
  • booze
  • M&M's
in med red drybag- tent
  • eureka purple tent
  • floor savers
  • stakes
  • mallet
Personal stuff
  • headlamp
  • camera
  • phone
  • books
  • wallet
  • on water snack kit
  • batteries
  • first aid kit
  • TP & shovel
First test pack went OK, but the big NRS Bill's Bag not fitting on boat as well as I would like.  

So, going to leave behind the really big oversize thermarest, and take the Big Grizzly cot, Big Agnes air mattress and sheet sack. Also will use the Man-O-Rubber  drybag for clothes.  That one is absolutely bombproof.    Kermit chair, tent pole tarp system and small stove table fit in one extra long drybag. 

 Stove, fuel, cup, pan and bowl fit in a small blue drybag.  Tent goes in one medium red drybag.   Food is going in one medium red drybag, and can fit under the hatch.  Blue stove bag can fit under deck hatch as well.   

Second test pack went better.  





Sunday, September 30, 2012

Full Moon ride, September 29th 2012

The Friends of Madison County had a series of full moon rides this year from the London trailhead.  Link - 2012-FullMoonRide


I finally remembered to go!  That the ride was on a Saturday made things easier, and Jennifer went with me.  Toni Hartley went as well, and we were joined by Jeff Haven in London.

Everything came together for the ride - is was Saturday, the weather was clear, the moon was rising early, the weather chilly but tolerable.  

Mike Michael greeted us when we pulled in (a plug for Mike's business, The London Coffee Peddler) - london coffee peddler   

Mike is a COP and AYH member from a long time back.  The ride is a social event, just show up and go.  Mike will ride sweep each way to ensure everyone who started also finished.   The 20 mile ride (10 each way) takes a break at The Purple Money pizza and ice creak shop in South Charleston.   


The ride started promptly at 7pm, but I would guess the last person did not leave the parking lot until 7:20pm.  

The trail from London to SC is flat and straight, with just few stretches shaded by trees.  This is perfect for a night ride!  We started out just as the sun was setting, and had a beautiful sunset to guide us - the painted sky stayed with us for about 7 miles, then we finished the ride into South Charleston in full darkness.  The rising moon had cast my shadow ahead of me as I rode into the town.  

We spent about 45 minutes in The Purple Monkey, have a light dinner (except for Jeff, he had a deluxe calzone about the same size as his head!).

Jennifer and Keith at The Purple Monkey.  I was actually having a good time!
The ride back to London was - magical.  Jeff was just far enough ahead of me so that his red tailight just in view.  Tony and Jennifer were just far enough behind for their white light to be visible in my mirror.

I ghosted along in moonlight, quick and silent.  I am not poet enough to give the feeling justice, but that is one of the most enriching bike rides I have ever done.  

All too soon, I was back in London.  I glided back to my car, and began loading up. We were all grateful for the car heater on the ride back to Columbus.   

I hope to go on the last ride of the year on October 29th!.    

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Kelley's Island by the Numbers


A 4 day, 3 night stay on Kelley's Island.

The Numbers.

31.00 per night for the campsite, 93.00
8.00 for the reservation fee (OH uses a system similar to Ticketmaster for reservations) - by the way, the system sucks, IMHO.  Not worth 8 cents, much less 8 dollars.

Getting there:
One ferry line is available.  According to local lore, the current owner of the ferry (in Marblehead) to Kelley's Island bought the other ferry from Catawba to Kelley's, and then closed it.  And then tripled the prices to Kelley's Island, and starting charging for parking for the pedestrians and bicyclists. 

I have no idea if this is true.

However, it costs!  Ferry Rates rates

The schedule for rates are very deceptive.  First of all, it is listed for one way travel. So, double everything.

For Keith, Jennifer, Daisey, my car, and a trailer full of bikes, camping gear, boats - all the funhog stuff, was 108.00 dollars.  

Yep, 108.00 dollars!

Car - round trip, 30.00.
13 foot trailer, round trip, 40.00
2 adults, round trip, 38.00 (wait, they aren't included IN the car?  Nope.)
Dog - free!

Here was the real kicker - had our bikes been on a bike rack on the car, NOT in the trailer, it would have cost another 16.00 dollars to transport the bikes.  

Say we decided to save some bucks, and take just the bikes and camping gear.  94.00 dollars is what I come up with. 

Parking - 40.00 (10.00 per day), maybe double that since the trailer and car would take up 2 spaces.  
2 Adults - 38.00
2 bikes - 16.00 
bike trailers - not sure, I bet they would charge something!

Back to numbers - 

101.00 dollars for 4 days, 3 nights of camping
108.00 dollars to get there by ferry
40.00 dollars for gas (my car got about 28 mpg towing the trailer with 2 boats on top).
13.00 at the only store on the island for dinner/breakfast supplies for our extra day.
70.00 for the visit to Cheesehaven after we left the island (mostly my stuff!)

Was it worth it?  No.

The state park is nice, and if you get one of the very limited shoreside campsites, it would be uber-nice.  Reserve those 6-9 months in advance! We were restricted to the Pets Only section of the campground, a nice but very ordinary state park campground that happen to be within walking distance of Lake Erie.  We were also right next to the Group Campground, which hosted a group of semi-obnoxious Boy Scouts from Akron.  Also, the Pets only restroom had no showers, you had to go to one of the other campground areas for a shower.  A petty complaint, but still...

Biking Kelley's Island is nice - we rode bikes around the entire place on Saturday - Jennifer towing Daisy in the Chariot.  The roads are good, traffic is very light, and you ride along the lake almost the entire time.  But, not worth what it cost to get there, given there is perhaps 15 miles of road to ride.  

It is not a dog friendly place.  No one had a problem, but the state park has some pretty firm rules about dogs, and don't mess with them.  None of the restaurants on the waterfront wanted to deal with a dog on their patio.  We ate all our meals in the campground.

By the way, do not visit the place in the summer season, unless you are an extreme extrovert. 

The only reason I can think of to come back is the Poker Paddle.  kayak_poker_paddle

The Poker Paddle took place while we were there - had I been feeling better, I may have participated.  I ran into several COP boaters while I was there, including Walt Taylor and Curt & Debbie Goetz.   The weather was very good this year, and the paddlers were allowed to circumnavigate the island.  Over 100 paddlers participated this year! 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Was there a 3rd choice?


Was There A 3rd Choice?
By Keith Finn
Jennifer (the keeper of my heart) is a leader of a Girl Scout
troop. The scout troop decided one day that caving sounded
like something they ought to try. I am an occasional caver,
so Jennifer asked if I could take the troop caving. Ay yi yi!
I managed to deflect my role to that of assistant cave guide,
since I was able to convince Jennifer that Dave Seslar would
be a much better choice to lead the expedition. Dave is a
much better choice for cave guide, but he chose a cave
where much of the system has the same cross-section as
my torso. We were going to Jarvie Rourke cave in Kentucky.
For reasons I never have been able to understand, I cannot
find my way around Jarvie Rourke with any reliability. I
don’t get lost in the classic sense; I just don’t know where
I am! I can always find my way back; I just can’t follow the
cave map to a goal.
At the cave entrance we split into 2 groups. I had 1 adult
and 4 GS; Dave had 2 adults and 4 GS. The scouts had to
choose the leader they wanted to cave with: Column A - Go
with Dave and get stuck but not lost (Dave is 6’2” and 140
lbs - he can fit through a 7.5” gap) Column B - Go with Keith
and get lost but not stuck (Keith is 5’10” and 330 lbs - he
MAKES his own gaps!) After some hemming and hawing, they
asked if there was a 3rd choice! Whadda bunch of babies!
Anyway, off we went with our victims, er...scouts. Dave’s
group took the high road, and I took the low road. We
tromped along a stream passage for a while, clambered
over some rimstone dams, straddle walked a crevice in the
floor, then settled down for some crawling. I had chosen a
destination on the map, and we had 200 feet or so of crawling
to reach it. It wasn’t bad, hands and knees in single file,
but after a while it seemed like we had crawled longer
than we should have. When we came to a wide spot, I would
have everone examine the map, agree that we seemed on
course (consensus is good when trying to explain things to
a search party). After two more consensus building sessions,
I decided that once again, I was lost. I think I was in
a passage named “Endless Crawl”, and it was aptly named. I
decided to backtrack, climb a level and look for Eagle Pit.
After backtracking, climbing and wandering around (in which
the scouts had a great time investigating diverse nooks
and crannies), I ran into Dave and his group. Much to my
chagrin, he told me I was nowhere near Eagle Pit - I was in
the Registration Room. But my group didn’t feel so bad
about being lost after the horror tales of where Dave made
his group go! Once I was oriented, we made a quick exit (I
can always find my way out) and waited for the others to
catch up. All in all, the scouts found it a worthwhile excursion.
They even let me take them caving again - as long as it
wasn’t back to Jarvie Rourke!

Too much Shrimp!


TOO MUCH SHRIMP!!!!  (the Great Shrimp Massacre of ’99)

Just being on a trip can alter your mind.  Being a trip leader can put your brain in an altered state, incapable of performing simple math. For Example; Dave Seslar & I have been running a flatwater paddling trip to the southeastern US for years, and these trips last 9 days(objective).  One of our favorite places to visit is Cumberland Island National Seashore, and to get to Cumberland Island, you have to go thru St Marys GA.  St Marys is one of my favorite places to visit, for one reason – shrimp.  St Marys is an active shrimp port, so you get FRESH shrimp.  You even get you choice of shrimp -–the classic Gulf Shrimp, or the local favorite Rock Shrimp.   There I was in March of 99, day 7 of 9, a bit addled, and charged with finding enough shrimp for 10 people.  It had been a good trip so far, we had paddled the Okefenokee for 3 days, snorkeled & paddled the freshwater springs of N Florida for 3 days, and now we had a real treat – an overnight on Cumberland Island.  A big shrimp boil sounded like just the thing to finish off the trip.  We had by consensus figured ½ pound of shrimp per person would be adequate (the fools!), so I was dispatched to find the shrimp.  I went to the dock for FRESH SHRIMP, and found a boat just pulling in.
After talking to the shrimp broker, I found out they had 2 pound bags of shrimp for 8.00 per bag.  (when the shrimp are caught, they are immediately beheaded and flash frozen in brine).  Now my either my brain or my desires betrayed me.  I purchased 5 bags of shrimp (10 pounds!!!!) for the paltry price of 40.00.  I packed my tasty arthropods in an icy cooler, and hurried to catch the ferry to the island.  When questioned by others, I said I had 5 one pound bags of shrimp.  My brain had betrayed me – it (the brain) fooled me into buying TOO MUCH SHRIMP!!!  (And lying about it). 
That evening, Greg Karoly and I were rinsing the shrimp before the boilage.  Greg seemed to think there was an awful lot of shrimp – it was then I realized I had actually bought TOO MUCH SHRIMP!!!
Despite Heroic efforts, we could not eat all that shrimp (even I was perhaps feeling that just maybe I had erred and gotten TOO MUCH SHRIMP!!!).  There is a happy ending.  We had saved the cold boiled shrimp, and while waiting for the ferry the next day – we found 2 backpackers who had missed the previous nights ferry and only had an apple left for the both of them.  They were more than happy to kill off the last of the shrimp.

My wettest TOSRV


My wettest TOSRV – by Keith Finn

TOSRV Sunday was really wet – I was up to my armpits in rushing water, holding on to a tree branch and trying not to get flushed downstream.  Thank God I wasn’t riding a bike that day.

HAHA!  You thought I managed to ride my bike into a creek, didn’t you.  And only an idiot could accomplish that!  Well, you are wrong. I was in Rocky Fork Creek on purpose!

We were holding a Kayaking class on Rocky Fork Creek (20 miles west of Chillicothe) the following weekend, so 3 idiots (dedicated service oriented volunteers) decided to clear out the fallen trees so as to spare our students the trauma of drowning while trapped under a tree.  Dave Seslar, Mike Stocarrdo and Keith Finn bravely set forth into a gusty torrential rain to drive down to the Rocky Fork.  We went thru Chillicothe and saw some early riders, and comments were of the ‘drowned rat’ and ‘utterly wretched wretches’ variety as we saw the TOSRV riders.  Prophetic words indeed!

Armed solely with clippers and a bow saw, armored in the peculiar attitude of (male) boaters (after all, it wasn’t like there was ICE in the creek), we put in at the Browning Road bridge.  The creek was ‘runnable’, but not high.  We spent a dreary 2 hours cutting smaller branches in knee-deep water, clipping thorny vines and otherwise tidying up the place.  All the while the rain poured down, pretty much without notice by our 3 heros. 

We got the gorge portion of Rocky Fork at about 1:00 pm.  Now we had an idea of just how much rain was falling.  Water was literally shooting out of the cracks of the high stone walls of the gorge.  The creek has risen over 2 feet in this area.  The kicker here is that the gorge is where we really needed to clear out some trees. 

Mike and Dave were not heavy enough to stand on the bottom and cut limbs – anything over knee deep water would flush them downstream.  Largeness is something I have plenty of, so I was often chest deep in the gorge, sawing branches while trying to attain hydrodynamic stability.  You can simulate this at home.  Turn the thermostat down to 50 degrees, and your tap water needs to be 45-50 degrees.  Now squat down in your toilet and let it flush on you for several hours, remembering to fall down every 20 minutes or so.  Oh yeah, while all this going on, saw on some moving object. 
  

Important safety tip! – I found a patch of quicksand in the gorge.  If you are going to fall into quicksand, have some good friends around to haul you out.  

We finally staggered (can boats stagger?) out of the gorge at around 5 pm.  This is a long time to be immersed in cold, moving water.  We were pruney, smelly, chilled, and exhausted.  By the time we ran shuttle, got changed (warm clothes!!!) and loaded boats, it was around 7 pm when we approched Columbus.  As we passed some of the last TOSRV stragglers, we thought ‘drowned rat’ and ‘poor wretches’. 

Doc says yer gonna die..


Doc says yer gonna die..

Like to paddle remote rivers?  On warm, sunny spring days? Do you like pristine cobblestone beaches?
If you do, watch where you sit. That is the moral of this story.

The Glady Fork of the Cheat is a fast, clean, easy whitewater run in northern WV.
It is remote, and rarely run. The price you pay for paddling the beautiful Glady Fork is trees. 
They fall across the river in the most inconvenient places, and you have to carry your boat around these trees.
Glady Fork ducky  Photo of Lynda Joyce and by John Duke taken 04/10/04 @ 8.0 @ gladwin

I had just portaged my canoe around a tree. I looked back to see if people were ready, and I saw them huddled in a circle looking down.

When I dropped my canoe, they were heading my way. Dave told me that Sharon had clipped a snake with her boat, then almost sat on the poor thing when she fell out of the boat.

The consensus was "some kind of water snake". Being a friend of the snakes, I went to look it over. 
I found it a few feet from shore. It had an indistinct brown body, but the girth was large given the length of the snake.

It also had a large triangular head and a patch of bright copper colored scales on the head.

Indisputably a Copperhead, one of the more common poisonous snakes in our area. 

When I mentioned this, thoughtful glances were exchanged. 
Sharon looked at me and asked "what would have happened if I had sat on it?".
Remembering the punch line from an old, tired joke, I looked her in the eye and replied "Doc says yer gonna die...".

Keith Finn

Monday, April 9, 2012

Paddle the Little Beaver!

Walt Taylor was running his "Pagan Paddle" on Easter weekend, and for once I felt like going.  Walt, Jeff and myself teamed up in Walt's truck for the weekend, and had a great time!



The valley of Little Beaver is characterized by steep walls, high rock cliffs and numerous gentle rapids • Geologically, the valley of Little Beaver is extremely unique, being the only stream valley in the United States yet described, in which evidence of all four major glaciations is found
The flora of the park contains several interesting and unusual species, some of which are more commonly found in northern regions • Canada yew, yellow and black birch, hemlock and mountain laurel can be found in the deep stream valley • The stream banks are lined with delicate wildflowers including jewelweed, hepatica, violets and spring beauties
Many types of wildlife find the park's varying habitats inviting • Red fox, skunk, raccoon and white-tailed deer are commonly seen while the elusive wild turkey is making a comeback in the area • Recently, sightings of black bear have become more frequent


We headed out at about 1pm on Friday, with the Cabela's store in Wheeling WV the 1st destination.  Jeff set a time limit of one hour in the store, and that worked.  I was very suprised to find a pair of size 14 EEEE gore tex boots in the Bargain Cave - I have been needing to get a good pair of boots to wear while riding the scooter, lightweight running shoes will not do!




Next stop was go get the campsites at Beaver Creek State Park, and setup camp.  The primo campites for overlooks are 23, 24 and 25.
Beaver Creek State Park

Walt was somewhat dismayed at the number of campers, but we did find nice sites at the end of the loop that overlooked the valley.  23 was occupied, but 24 and 25 were ours.


Jeff, Walt and I went to Hoge's Restaurant for dinner, at Walt's suggestion.  They had Really good food - I would revisit anytime.




People trickled in on Friday night - Michael Lange, Tim, Mike and Kitty - and it got quite chilly, water bottles had a film of ice in the morning.  I had brought the warm bag, and warm it was!  Walt had to resort to using 2 sleeping bags.


Dan and Amy Pearse showed up Saturday morning, and Bill Miller.  Things were warming up by 10am, and that is when we left for the put-in.





The creek was well below normal levels for this time of year, but still a nice paddle.  
American Whitewater link for the lower Little Beaver


We did the lower Little Beaver on Saturday, from the park put-in to the Ohio River - about 15 miles.  


I had not realized that the Little Beaver had been extensively canalized.  The 73-mile Sandy and Beaver Canal was built in the mid-1800s and contained 90 locks and 30 dams 


Wikipedia entry for Sandy and Beaver Canal
 The creek was scrappy at the put-in, but soon settled down to deeper river sections with short, shallow riffles between.  


Many locks on the river, more than I had expected.   This is a great paddle for history and scenery!  The story of Gretchen's Lock whas sad and poignant. 



There were 2 rapids on the lower section of the Little Beaver that may cause some concern at higher water levels.  One is at the confluence of the Little Beaver and the North Fork Little Beaver. 


 The other rapid is near Frederickstown, about 3/4 of the way to the Ohio River.


We also saw 2 bald eagles on Saturday!


The take-out just above the Ohio River is very nice. there is a park with facilities and a picnic shelter. 

Sunday, Walt wanted to paddle the shorter section of the Little Beaver that have us take out at the same landing we used for the put-in on Saturday.   We saw a mink while waiting for the shuttle to return!

American Whitewater - Upper portion of Little Beaver Creek


    The morning was warmer than saturday, but clouds moved in while we shuttle was running, and a cool wind came up.  We were concerned about the water level, but it really was a fine trip.  I walked about 30ft of the first riffle below the put-in, and had to do a couple of other short walks later in the day - no real issue at all.  Just below the put-in we passed a sycamore tree that was a Great Blue heron rookery - very cool!
LOOK! - A Heron Rookery!


  Walt seemed startled!
This section of the river was different from the lower.  There were more deep sections divided by short riffles, with steeper creek sides and a lot of exposed shale cliffs..  There were also many hemlock groves.  We saw fewer of the big fish we saw in the lower section.  






I had time to try to figure what the bigger fish we were seeing just might be.

Here are my conclusions:

they were Redhorse Suckers - Ohio has 7 species, and 4 of them fit the location and size of fish

Golden Redhorse

Silver Redhorse

Black Readhorse

River Redhorse

or possibly large Creek Chubs

White Sucker is a possibility

as is the Northern Hogsucker