After the heavy rains of last week, here are a couple of visuals of the Beech Fork and Rowan Creek in Bardstown, KY.

Beech Fork 6500cfs

Above is the Beech Fork at about 6500cfs. You are looking at the rubble dam which is completely washed out at this level.

Below are pictures of the large drop on Rowan Creek. This stream feeds into the Beech Fork near the rubble dam. These falls are about 3 miles upstream of the confluence with the Beech Fork. Rowan Creek almost had enough water in it to be runnable this day.

Rowan Creek

There is a second drop of about 3 feet, downstream of the falls. That spot may be a good park and play feature. It may have been good at this level or with just a little more water. Just needed a little more warmth as well.

Rowan Creek

Fore a look of the Rockcastle River at high water check out these pictures by Josh Carpenter. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21842231@N05

Tags: Water Levels | Beech Fork | Rowan Creek

Land and Water Conservation Fund grant applications available Dec. 15

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Governor’s Office for Local Development (GOLD) is now accepting applications for the 2008 Recreational Trails Program grant, and will accept applications for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants beginning December 15.

Applications are available online at www.gold.ky.gov. For additional program information, please contact Jodie McDonald by phone at 800-346-5606, ext. 222, or by email at jodie.mcdonald@ky.gov.

The deadline to submit a Recreational Trails application is February 1, 2008. The deadline to submit a Land and Water Conservation Fund application is March 1, 2008.

The Recreational Trails Program is funded through the Federal Highway Administration and may be used to acquire land for recreational trails and to develop and renovate trails for both motorized and non-motorized use. Recreational Trails funding is administered by GOLD.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides grant funds to protect important natural areas, to acquire land for outdoor recreation and to develop or renovate public outdoor recreation facilities such as campgrounds, picnic areas, sports and playfields, swimming facilities, boating facilities, fishing facilities, trails, natural area and passive parks. The LWCF is funded by the National Park Service and administered by GOLD.

Tags: Whitewater Park

Josh Carpenter and Spalding Hurst were at the Rockcastle this past weekend. The Rockcastle was running at 250cfs, still plenty of flow for the Narrows. They had only wished they could have taken another lap through them. The Rockcastle is sweet, but short.

Ben Ballard was also in the area, running the Rockcastle with another group. Ben reported that he is looking forward to taking his new kayak to some roll sessions.

Tags: Rockcastle River

Jay Thomas has just picked up a new creek boat for himself. A Bliss-Stick Huka. He picked this up from a guy in Atlanta this morning.

Perhaps this boat will make it's first trip on the Elkhorn this weekend. If the water level comes up, the Bardstown Boaters plan to be on the creek Saturday around 11 a.m. It all depends on wether the creek rises to 400cfs or higher.

Watch this gauge to follow the creek's water level.

And check in here if you would like to join the club on the water.

Tags: Gear

The Bardstown Whitewater Park should fit into this campaign very nicely.

Tags: Whitewater Park

Spalding Hurst recently hiked to Rowan Creek from the My Old Kentucky Home State Park and has this report on the falls of Rowan Creek.

Rowan Creek has a pretty good set of falls on it, right beside Poettershop Road. But it also has a access by way of the My Old Kentucky Home park. Their is a trail that spans the creek and ends near Pottershop Road where the Falls of Rowan Creek are. After checking this spot out on Sunday morning I think it has the potential to be a nice park and surf after some heavy rains. I was surprised at how much water was moving through the creek on this day. Probably about 50 cfs.

I did not take any pictures but attached is a picture from a few years ago when John Mathews, Jay Thomas and myself hiked the creek. The play spot would be on the lower drop, about a 4 foot drop. There is pretty good access from Pottershop road at this point, so hiking in like I did is not mandatory.

The next time we get some heavy rains and I can get to Bardstown I plan to really check this spot out.

Tags: Rowan Creek | Whitewater Park

Legislation was introduced in the House Thursday, October 25th, to authorize funding to rehabilitate and repair aging public dams in the United States. Rep. John Salazar (D-CO) introduced the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 which would provide $200 million over five years to repair state and locally owned dams. The legislation is nearly identical to legislation introduced in the 109th congress (H.R. 1105) that failed to pass before that congress adjourned last December.

ASCE's 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure gave dams a grade of D, and the Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimates that $10 billion is needed over the next 10 years to make repairs to the nation's most critical dams. Key Contacts are encouraged to contact your Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the legislation.

The bill text is available at http://thomas.loc.gov

Tags: Whitewater Park

Video by: Josh Carpenter

Tags: Russell Fork | TV

It was an epic trip for the Bardstown Boaters at the Russell Fork this weekend in October. Many Bardstown paddlers came together in Elkhorn City, Kentucky for the Russell Fork Rendezvous and a Saturday run on the upper section. The trip was held as a bachelor party for Spalding Hurst, so it was quite a mixture of folks who came out to paddle, some for the first time in while.

Johnny Mathews led a group in the raft. Tommie Hurst, David Etheridge, Ryan Hamilton & Toby Thompson topped off that crew.

Bill Thomas & Stan Hurst styled it in the clubs 2-man duckie. I think they both have more whitewater runs in their future.

Zach Nelson & John Thomas both paddled duckies as well. John was in some wily, crazy, little duck that wanted to stern squirt and flip all over the place, but he kept it control most of the time. Zach is now a inflatable kayak zen master.

Spalding Hurst and Josh Carpenter kayaked as probes, finding lines and setting up camera for the rest of the crew while Jay Thomas and Ben Ballard led the group in their creek boats.
Michael Greenwell, Jeremy Martin & Patrick Jefferies joined up for the festivies back at camp that night.

The weather could not have been any better for this weekend. The bigger release on the Pound and the sunshine made for a perfect day of whitewater at a Kentucky whitewater jewel. The Bardstown Boaters can't wait for the next member to get hitched so they can celebrate again!

Did you hear that Zach?


More Pictures

Tags: Russell Fork

Spalding Hurst and Chris Baxter had a last minute Elkhorn run, just beating the sun down. The level was a very fun 3800cfs. Surf city was beefy. S-Turn was actually a rapid. Free beer and a shuttle back were scored at the takeout. Good day.

Tags: Elkhorn Creek

Here is a video from a proposed whitewater park in Spokane, WA. It does good job of illustrating the benefits of bringing such a park to communities.


Friends of the Falls is a non-profit organization working to protect and improve access to the historic Spokane Falls and river gorge. Primary activities include leading implementation of projects identified in the community-based Strategic Master Plan developed for the area.

Tags: Whitewater Park

800cfs

Spalding Hurst was back at the Russell Fork on Saturday with the Viking Canoe Club for a another run on the upper section. There were about 20 people in the group. It was colder in the morning but it did warm up to high 60's by the afternoon.

It was a another great run down a Kentucky/Virginia classic. The Bardstown Boaters will be heading back to the Russell Fork in 2 weeks for the last release weekend and the Russell Fork Rendezvous. Be sure to join them for that one.

Pictures of the Trip • Video from the Trip

Tags: Russell Fork

Tags: Russell Fork

Spalding Hurst, Jay Thomas and Ben Ballard drove to Elkhorn City, Kentucky on Saturday to run the first release of the season on the Russell Fork River. The group put on at the Flanagan Dam on the Pound River, then connected up with the Russell Fork running the upper class II-III section. Some of the highlights of the run are 20 Stiches and Bartlick Bridge.

The group put on the river at 12:30pm, the run took about 3 1/2 hours. The group headed for home after the run and did not stay for the Sunday release.

Posted here are some pictures from the trip.

• Google Pictures • Russell Fork Info

Tags: Russell Fork

The Bourbon City Challenge 2007 was a success for the small team which brought the event to fruition, sponsors of the event, adventure racers, vendors and the community in which it was held.

The two-day event Sept. 8-9 drew in a total of about 70 competitors from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and even South Carolina to Bardstown. Each team or racer also brought along support staff doubling the number of those truly involved in the race. About 20 volunteers assisted with the event on race day and, with spectators, a total crowd of about 300 came out for the event Sept. 8 and 9.

A couple hundred dollars was raised for the Bardstown Boaters via the event, but more importantly, the Bourbon City Challenge shone a bright light on the group’s effort to rebuild the Beech Fork rubble dam into a safely navigable whitewater feature within the Bardstown city limits. Alongside Bardstown Boaters, the Bourbon City Challenge drew attention to Bardstown’s city center with its quaint and touristy feel, the Bardstown-Nelson County Airport and its newly available T-hangar facilities, Sympson Lake and the opportunities available for the lakeside property and Bardstown pertaining to outdoor and adventure recreation.

Not only was the event a success, but there were also a number of positives the event spurred on such as some simple improvements to the lakeside; a television show; further improvement to the trails along the lakeside property; inspiration to a conglomerate of non-profit groups to do even more outdoor projects within Nelson County; and numerous other positive spin-offs. You will hear more of these ideas in the near future as non-profits geared toward outdoor recreation team together and make central Kentucky, the Kentuckiana region and the entire southeast region of the United States a great place for outdoor recreation and adventure.

The Bourbon City Challenge 2007 was a success in its on rite and future developments spurred on by the congregation of groups, individuals, businesses and environmental activists which gathered at the Bourbon City Challenge is exciting. The Bourbon City Challenge is only the beginning.

Tags: Bourbon City Challenge | Adventure Race

BRIAN WALKER The Kentucky Standard

A May 2006 proposal to create a park near the Bardstown city dam that could draw in boaters from several states hasn’t happened yet, but the project isn’t dead in the water. Although no official action has been taken by city government, its engineers and the council are receptive to researching the mutual benefits retro-fitting the dam on Beech Fork River and nearby area could have for boaters and the water supply.

Bardstown City Engineer Larry Hamilton said at Tuesday’s Council meeting work on a proposal with the Army Corps of Engineers along with input from a group of designers and a professor from the University of Louisville show the project is still viable. Originally the Bardstown Boaters brought the idea to light at a tourism meeting as a way to improve the dam and create a “place to play” at the same time. Spalding Hurst, a member of the boating group, said he and others must travel great distances to do some aspects of their sport. The proposed site, if made a reality, would become a destination for boaters of all types, he said.

Hamilton said the original price tag to get the engineering work completed on the dam project was $10,000. Previous commitments from the Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist and Convention Commission and the Bardstown Boaters to each pick up a third of the tab left the city with roughly a $3,300 bill to fund the project. Hamilton told the council Tuesday the work with U of L will be less costly than a Colorado-based firm suggested early on in the discussion of the proposal. He said about $6,000 is all that will be used to fund the engineering and design plans.

“The boaters have raised even more money than they said they were going to,” Bardstown Mayor Dick Heaton said. “They have been very committed to this whole thing. We still have a promise from tourism for a third of the cost too.”

Hamilton said he wanted to make it clear the project wasn’t just a pet plan to benefit a few people. The gravel dam on Beech Fork River has eroded steadily during the decades since its construction. The ability to safely raise the level of the water in the area and provide more water is part of an overall review of the city’s system currently underway, he said.

Hamilton explained to the Council the low levels at Sympson Lake this summer due to a lack of rainfall has given the water department ample opportunity to investigate methods to improve pumping activities and increase the volume of water sent to the nearby treatment plant.

He said an intake screen has become partially obstructed with several tons of silt over the years. Hamilton suggested to the Council securing an engineer and contractor to create a concrete retaining wall tall enough around the intake area of the pumps to keep it free of debris. With more electrical capacity at the location through improvements in recent years, he said both intake pumps could work at once to give the city the ability to draw about 8.5 million gallons of water a day.

Currently one pump can bring in about three million and the other roughly six million gallons. With the partial blockage of the intake, neither is really functioning at full capacity, Hamilton said.

Tags: Whitewater Park

The Bardstown-Nelson County tourist board talked of ideas and promotions for the area including the Bardstown Whitewater Park on Tuesday September the 18th. Here is what the Kentucky Standard reported in the September 19th edition of the paper.

Proposed efforts to create a whitewater park for canoe and kayak enthusiasts near the Bardstown city dam. Although now new action has been taken by city government on the matter, the Bardstown Boaters group is still promoting the idea. Tourism chair Nicky Rapier said city officials have been receptive to the proposition as there is already a need to do some work on the spillway area.

Learn more about the Bardstown Whitewater Park

Tags: Whitewater Park

WOW, Gauley Fest was awsome! I think we need to have a club outing for the Fest! Thousands of other boaters, which makes a great environment for a get together. Me and Ben and Cave Larry from Vikings got together Fri. were lead down the Lower Gauley by Todd Garland and Brian Sandman. Todd was a great guide and made our first trip a very successful one. The water is big fast, the first rapid is Koontz Flume and when you get to the bottom and see what you just ran it really gets the adrenaline going especially since this was a step up for me. Ben did amazing on the Lower, for having paddled nothing harder than the CBF he did awsome and hit some good combat rolls. He did have one swim and that was at Pure Screaming Hell the last class IV on the section but other than that he was impressive.

Saturday we just relaxed, I hiked into Pillow Rock on the upper and that was as much fun as running the lower, saw lots of carnage and took some pics. The festival was lots of fun, great deals on gear and boats, kayak videos projected all over the fest and lots of good company and music.( Lots of cool Free stuff too) So I've already marked it on my calendar to go next year, you guys should to, definitely worth the trip.

Tags: Gauley Fest | Gear

More than $523,000 in grant money will be available to increase adventure tourism opportunities in eastern Kentucky.

The funding was announced in conjunction with results of a study showing that increased spending on adventure tourism in eastern Kentucky could bring in more than 130,000 new visitors a year, create more than 1,500 new jobs and have an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $100 million.

Download the study here: EKYAdventureTourismPlan.pdf

Community meetings have been set to discuss study and grants.

Topics will include a general overview of the study, implementation planning and grant information. For more information visit: http://www.kentuckytourism.com/krta

Tags: Whitewater Park

A group of us from the club will be going to the Russell Fork in Elkhorn City, KY on October 12th - 14th. The Russell Fork releases every Saturday and Sunday in October. It runs through the Breaks Interstate Park and consists of a variety of different runs ranging from class II-III to the huge class V whitewater of the Russell Fork Gorge. We'll be running the Pound Section and Upper Russell Fork. Some may also be interested in the Lower Russell Fork.

This is a trip for anyone. There is plenty of great whitewater, great hiking, great views and most likely beautiful fall weather.

• Discuss in the Forum

Tags: Russell Fork

See the show right now at www.kyrace.com

The Bulleit Bourbon City Challenge Adventure Race will also be televised. You can catch it on Saturday September 15th at 8pm on The CW Louisville. Click here to find the channel for your viewing area.

Lonely Goat Productions produced the show and inside of it airs a story about the Bardstown Boaters and our goal to bring a whitewater park to Bardstown.

Tags: Bourbon City Challenge | Adventure Race

I stumbled across this old film footage from the 70's about the group of soldiers from Bardstown who served in Vietnam. It's in another language but the first interview is Jerry Janes, Justin's father. It's also cool to see some old film of Bardstown.

Tags: Bardstown

Here the results for the Bulleit Bourbon City Challenge Adventure Race held on Sunday in Bardstown, KY. The Bardstown Boaters had 3 teams competing in the race. Our best finish was 4th place in the team division.

The race will be televised on The CW Louisville this Saturday at 8pm, check your local listings.

TEAM DIVISION

First Place:
Matt Hoyes, Jack Kindersparker, Mark Curtsinger (Bloomfield Middle School)

Second Place:
Jeff Johnson and Dennis Adkins (Fort Knox)

Third Place:
Thad Sears, Brad Hicks, Matt Mitchell, Brandon Sturgeon (UPS)

Fourth Place:
Spalding Hurst, Justin Janes (Bardstown Boaters)

INDIVIDUAL MALE DIVISION

First Place:
Ty Clements (Bethlehem Graduate)

Second Place:
Aaron Benson (Goose Creek Cycle, Louisville)

Third Place:
Rich Hardin (Boston, KY)

INDIVIDUAL FEMALE DIVISION

First Place:
Kimber Hampton (Boston Elementary Teacher)

Tags: Bourbon City Challenge | Adventure Race

Tags: TV

Tags: Membership

AW Gauley River Festival ~ September 21st - 23rd, 2007 ~ Summersville, WV

Welcome to Gauley Fest, the paddling world’s biggest party! Started in 1983 to celebrate the derailment of a hydro-electric project that would have disrupted whitewater flows on the Gauley, Gauley Fest has grown to become the largest river festival in the world, posting attendance numbers of over 5,000 people in 2002.

The event focuses on bringing people to the area to enjoy a weekend of outdoor activities while showcasing whitewater paddlesports and raising funds and membership for American Whitewater. The festival is a three-day event, with the main activities taking place on Saturday night. Expect the festival site to be bustling throughout the weekend with food, vendors, and activities for paddlesport and non-paddlesport enthusiasts of all ages.

The festival will feature live entertainment, a whitewater marketplace, beer, and a silent auction where you can pick up some awesome outdoor gear. The Gauley River Festival is a critical fundraiser for American Whitewater and is our largest fundraising event.

All proceeds from the festival support American Whitewater’s conservation and access work throughout the Southeast. Come out and join us for a weekend of great paddling, exciting competitions, live entertainment, and the infamous silent auction.

More Info • Discuss in the Forum

Tags: Gauley Fest

by Adam Behsudi
Asheville Citizen-Times

CANTON — Life is a bit quieter these days for Herbert “Cowboy” Coward, once the Hollywood villain who terrorized hapless Atlanta businessmen in the big-screen thriller “Deliverance.”

Most Saturdays, the man known for his chilling role in the 1972 movie can be found autographing pictures at a roadside flea market in Canton.

“It sort of gives you something to do on the weekend,” said Coward, a soft-spoken Haywood County native who now spends time taking his ailing wife to Asheville for doctor’s appointments or playing with Sam Starsky, an orphaned squirrel he rescued 11 years ago.

The 69-year-old’s latest foray into show business came with this year’s release of “Ghost Town: The Movie,” based on the drama played out by gunfighters at the Maggie Valley theme park.

The movie is playing at the Eagle Nest Theater in Maggie Valley.

In “Deliverance,” he’s the mountain man who stood by as actor Bill McKinney delivered the infamous “Squeal like a pig” line.

In 2005, Maxim Magazine named Coward and McKinney as the all-time top movie villains.

Coward began working at the theme park during its heyday in the 1960s.

It was during his gunfighting days that he worked for two months with a young Burt Reynolds, who later invited him to portray one of the evil hillbillies in “Deliverance.”

Life returned to normal for Coward. He retired from BASF after 28 years at the Enka plant. He said he had no intention of becoming a career actor.

It was Dean Teaster, the son of his fellow Ghost Town actor Robert Doyle Teaster, who tracked Coward down for the current Ghost Town movie. Dean Teaster wrote and produced the film.

“Cowboy … man, he can portray a pretty rough character,” Teaster said.

Coward has an autographing corner he set up among the dishes and other knick-knacks he and his wife try to sell.

“That’s the only pleasure I get … talking to people,” he said.

Tags: Deliverance

Charlotte Observer, April 2007, by JACK HORAN

Whitewater paddling in Western North Carolina would get a boost from a proposed run-of-the-river "whitewater park" on the Nantahala River with newly fashioned waves and rapids.

The nearly half-mile-long park would be built by Nantahala Outdoor Center and would be open to the public at no cost for playboating, training and competition. The project would rearrange a dangerous rapid filled with jagged rocks so it could be run safely.

President Sutton Bacon last week stressed the "whitewater park" wouldn't be of the same scale or purpose as the $35-million, U.S. National Whitewater Center just west of Charlotte, which opened last year.

The Charlotte park is the world's largest artificial re-circulating course with three-quarters of a mile of Class III-IV rapids that includes an Olympic-standard slalom-racing course. Rafters, canoeists and kayakers pay to paddle.

The Nantahala concept follows that of nearly 100 whitewater parks on rivers in the West and could cost about $5 million. NOC will seek economic development money. "We're at the beginning," said Bacon, who is also president of American Whitewater, a national advocacy group.

Two weeks ago, two area legislators asked the legislature to provide $50,000 for an environmental assessment "of the construction of a white-water paddle sports training and activity center."

Bacon said employee-owned NOC, which takes 130,000 customers annually in rafts down the Nantahala, has put in $25,000. The project would need an OK from the U.S. Forest Service, which regulates use of the river and which, along with NOC, owns land bordering the section.

Nantahala District ranger Mike Wilkins said the agency would require an environmental assessment that could lead to a special-use permit. "This project kind of fits what people do in the area," he said.

The dam-release river is the most popular whitewater river in the Southeast. At present, rafters and private boaters paddle a 7.5-mile stretch, finishing just below Nantahala Falls at the NOC complex.

Bob Hathcock, an NOC staffer who's managing the project, said new whitewater features for canoes and kayaks would begin just above NOC's footbridge with a designed wave. Boulders notched into place or held by grout would form the rapids.

Just below the footbridge would be a double-drop rapid with a wave, then a side channel with splash pools for wading and, in the river channel, a 4-5-foot-high wave for whitewater rodeos. In rodeos, kayakers perform cartwheels and spins, getting scored on their skills.

Farther downstream lies Wesser Falls, a Class IV rapid with jagged rocks left from a dynamiting decades ago. Hathcock said NOC would smooth out the cascade by removing the hazardous rocks and create a series of Class III, drop-and-pool rapids.

New footpaths would link the end of Wesser Falls to a new footbridge at Nantahala Falls so paddlers, carrying their kayaks, could make the run again.

Tags: Whitewater Park | Nantahala

Congratulations! You and your organization have won Honorable Mention in the National River Cleanup Week photo contest and will receive one pfd from Old Town Canoe, and a rod holder from Thule. Thank you for participating in National River Cleanup Week and submitting your photos to the contest. With your help American Rivers will now be able to display some of the great success the Cleanup has had around the country!

We support the outstanding job you've done keeping your river healthy, and providing people in your community the opportunity to educate themselves about the consequences oflitter and illegal dumping. We look forward to seeing you next year.

Have a great summer! American Rivers

Tags: Paddle Pickup

• Pictures

We made our annual club trip this year to the Hiawasse and the Ocoee. Everyone loved it. And why wouldn't we. Warm weather, refeshing mountain whitewater and a great representation of the club.

Most folks drove down on Friday to setup camp at River Rats. The Mathews group came down on Thursday night and ran the Ocoee on Friday. On Saturday we all went to the Hiawassee to get warmed up. Driving there Jay preceeded to make a sharp right into a field at the 1.3 mile mark of 314.

Jay is quite the literal direction taker. Maybe now he'll stop staying I am bad with directions. Joe got his first taste of the whitewater experiance running a sit on top down the river. Sara and Jennifer used the club duck and styled it. Johnny went old schoool in the Mohawk with Scooter. Amber ducked like a champ it and the rest of us kayaked, Jay, Toby, Josh, Michael and myself.

The run was pretty mellow as to be expected. Some nice ledges kept it interesting enough though. The heat tried to wear us down, but we pressed on to the Ocoee afterwards.

Michael guided the raft hitting every line with accuracy and precision... I mean every rock with accuracy and precision. Jay and Toby ran the 2 man duck and hit every hole with accuracy and precision and it sure looked fun. Josh and I kayaked and styled the shit out of it. I took my creek boat down the Ocoee for the first time. The Creek boat made the rapids much easier I thought.

You know what followed, sitting around the campfire talking about the action of the day, looking over the pictures from the trip, bragging about how hard we eaqch paddled then hitting the sleeping bag hard. Then on Sunday rolling out of town, thinking about the next trip.

Tags: Hiawassee | Ocoee

This Thursday in Louisville check out the premiere of the newest LVM DVD. The Viking Canoe Club are hosting the showing at the Nachbar. Visit the forum at the Viking Canoe Club for more information.

A big thanks to DJ Biddle and James Gunnoe for their help in making this possible. LVM #23 has not been released yet to the general public. In addition, we will be showing another great film following this LVM Premiere. This is short notice so please help us get the word out. See you there, Chris

Tags: LVM | Viking Canoe Club

When: August 10-12
Where: Benton, TN
Rivers: Ocoee & Hiwassee
Forum: Link

The Bardstown Boaters are making their club outting this year to Tennessee, the Ocoee and Hiawassee rivers.

The trip will be on August 10th-12th.

We will will be doing some class II canoeing & kayaking on the Hiawassee river. This is an excellent river for family outtings, canoeing, rafting and beginning whitewater instruction. We'll also be taking the club whitewater raft down the class III+ Ocoee river. Michael Mathews will guide us down. Some of us will be kayaking the Ocoee as well.

Camping will probably be at the River Rats whitewater outfitters and campground.

If you want to get out one time this year, this is the trip to go on. It promises to be a very fun weekend. Let us know if you will be attending by checking in on the forum.

Tags: Hiawassee | Ocoee

We've had a lot of great news this week relating to the Bourbon City Challenge Adventure Race.

• Kentucky Youth Sports Scene, a Central Kentucky-based publication launching into Jefferson County Schools in August, has agreed to preview the race and advertise for the event. On race day, they'll be there with a giant RV they use in promotion of their publication and to add to the fun with freebies and stuff!
• Bulleit Bourbon confirmed as title sponsor for the event.
• Red Bull rep Jennifer O'Connell visited the race site Monday and confirmed her company's sponsorship of the event. Red Bull will be providing buoys for the lake paddle leg of the race for paddlers to navigate around the course.
• The CW Louisville came on board as a television sponsor donating air time for a TV spot.
• Given's Aviation agreed to provide two passenger planes and pilots for plane rides over the race course on race day.
• Rocksport agreed to sponsor the event and bring out a portable rock climbing wall for spectators and racers to enjoy on race day.
• One band and an acoustic musician has agreed to provide some tunes Sat. night, for the campout, and for Sunday, during the race.
• Kentucky Mountain Bike Association is planning on setting up a booth and providing some chotchkeys for the gift bags, according to their treasurer.
• Keene's Depot donated some barrels for aesthetics (and coolers for water)
• Louisville Water Company donated 600 bottles of water for the event.
• Red River Gorgeous donated a three night stay in their largest cabin, White Pines, as a prize award.
• Handy Food Mart donated energy bars for racers.
• Jim Beam pledged a cash contribution as a sponsor.
• Representative David Floyd and Senator Dan Kelly also contributed to the event as have many others including Town and Country Bank, GBA Printing, Marengo Cave.

Horizon Hoppers Adventure Services owner Mike Hammons has taken over as facilities manager for the event. Mike will be in charge and have final say over the locations of booths, parking, camping areas and oversight of the airport property as a whole. Mike's other business, Central Kentucky Canoe and Kayak is also contributing to the event. This is a substantial devotion of time and energy. It is greatly appreciated.

I can't name all the good that's happened this week. It's been a good week. And it's going to be a great race!

-Bob White

Visit www.kyrace.com for all the event details and registration. We'll see you in Bardstown, KY on September 8th & 9th!

Tags: Adventure Race | Bourbon City Challenge

Come out the last weekend in October to see some of the best paddlers in the country as they descend into the mountains of Breaks Interstate Park to test their skills in one of the country's most extreme kayaking races! Professional and amateurs alike will attempt to maneuver their 11 foot race boats thru some of the most treacherous whitewater on the east coast. The race will begin at 2pm sharp in the flatwater pool above the rapid know as "lets make a deal". There will be plenty of groups meeting at Ratliff hole saturday morning to hike into the gorge to watch the race! So come on out and enjoy the race and the festival in Elkhorn city following the race! For more information visit www.russellfork.info and http://russellforkrace.blogspot.com.

Tags: Russell Fork

We finally had one of our more local rivers available to run on Sunday. The Big South Fork was at about 2800cfs so Josh and I decided to get down there before the drought resumes. We met up with Bryon, Adam and Jason from the Vikings and ran from the confluence to the O & W Bridge. It was a great day of paddling, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on a warm Sunday afternoon.

No problems with any of the rapids, the level was a little on the washed out side, making things easier for the most part. Josh did have a little shoulder scraping on Cheese Grater rock below The El.

Here is an account of the weekend at the Big South Fork from Barry Grimes. He details the permit situation at O&W and explains why the Big South Fork was so muddy this weekend. Link

Tags: Big South Fork

Tags: Bourbon City Challenge | TV | Adventure Race

"Explore Your Frontier Responsibly"

Bulleit Bourbon is now the title sponsor of the Bourbon City Challenge Adventure Race. The event will be Sunday Sept. 9, 2007 leading off the week of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and will be held at the Bardstown-Nelson County Airport (a.k.a. Samuel’s Field) at 9 a.m. on the tarmac. Registration begins at 7:45. Camping available for participants on Sept. 8 at Horizon Hoppers.

All the details for the race can now be found in one place at: kyrace.com

Tags: Bourbon City Challenge | Adventure Race

Thank you to those of you who have reported back to us about your cleanup! We, at American Rivers, are overwhelmed by what has been accomplished this year. Nearly 95,000 volunteers (a more than 50% increase over 2006) have removed more than 600 tons of trash from more than 7,000 river miles. Visit Trash Talkin', the National River Cleanup Week blog, for more of this year's cleanup stats.

Gathering all of your accomplishments and getting the chance to speak with many of you about your cleanups has been the most rewarding part of this whole year for me -- I feel so honored to be involved with your work through National River Cleanup Week! Trash Talkin' has been created so that you can share your experiences both with one another and the rest of the country. As an extra incentive, after entering your story you'll be automatically entered to win one of four high-performance Extrasport pfds.

Here’s all you need to do –

• Visit Trash Talkin'
• Scroll down to the "share your cleanup story" link.
• Enter your comment in the new window
• Give yourself a name
• And publish your story!

HEATHER HAMILTON
Cleanup Week Coordinator
American Rivers
1101 14th St. NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20005

Tags: Paddle Pickup

REGISTER NOW

Registration is now open for the Bourbon City Challenge! To register for the Adventure race just complete an online form here. It's that simple.

You can also download the flyer for the Bourbon City Challenge.

Tags: Adventure Race | Bourbon City Challenge

If anyone is looking for a place right on the Beech Fork just down from the future site of the Bardstown Whitewater Park, you should check out the land at Beech Fork Estates.

Beech Fork Estates Website
Realtor.com

• Located in historic Bardstown Kentucky.
• Selling 105 tracks starting at $10,000/acre, ranging from 1 to 10 acres.
• On new blacktop roads with city water and other utilities.
• Restricted to a minimum of 1400 sq. ft. brick homes with 2 car garages.

Tags: Beech Fork

This race incorporates running, trail-running and navigation, paddling and pedaling to the tune of nearly 20 miles of combined travel around Bardstown - The Capital of the World‘s Bourbon-Making.

Date: Sept. 9, 2007 at the Bardstown-Nelson County Airport (a.k.a. Samuel’s Field) at 9 a.m. on the tarmac. Registration begins at 7:45. Camping available for participants on Sept. 8 at Horizon Hoppers

Participants may register by phone at 502.572.5419 or by mail, checks approved.

Adventure Race
c/o
BOB WHITE
P.O. Box 1173
Bardstown, KY 40004

Anyone with questions or suggestions call, Bob White at 502.572.5419Read More...

Tags: Bourbon City Challenge | Adventure Race

Josh and I shoved off today for our "Week of Rivers". But since the south east is so dry it's going to look more like a "Week of Ocoee". We did run the Pigeon earlier and that was fun. Now we are in Sevierville with a busted water pump and an overheated Jeep. It's all good though because we stopped at Advanced Auto and they called in a mechanic for us. 4th of July and all he's going to hook us up. Price sounds pretty reasonable too. So far so good. Ocoee tomorrow...

Later in the evening...

It's late and the jeep is not fixed. We are now parked at a sit and sleep furniture and matress superstore overlooking the car dealership. Fireworkks are going off all around Pigeon Forge and the Sevierville area. We are waiting for morning so we can get this water pump fixed. Our mechanic at Autozone couldn't get the fan disassembled so now we are going with plan B. Hopefully we can get this fixed quickly in the morning and get down to the Ocoee to meet up with the others.

Josh is cooking dinner behind the car and I am getting ready to sleep in the passenger seat. Kayaking is always an adventure. Even off of the river.

Day 02 & 03

On Thursday after a very long wait on getting the jeep fixed, this after sleeping behind a furniture store, we finallly made it to the Ocoee. The water was about to be shut off so with just 30 minutes of release left we hurried and shoved off.

We met John and Chris at the put in and booked it down. The water holds for about an hour after they shut it off so we made it down with no problems.

We camped at Thunder Rock. Good times were by all.

Right now I am relaxing at Hell Hole after day 03. Josh and John are making their second lap and I am eating and surfing. More good times were had today.

Day 04

Today some more Vikings rolled in while some others headed off to the Cheoah. We stayed at the Ocoee for another run on the middle section.

I was a little off today with my rolling, having a close call at Broken Nose. I rolled in the entrance and barely caught the last eddy before the right side. Then just below that I flipped again on Slice and Dice. I did manage to roll up without hitting the rocks like I did on day 02, but it took too many roll attempts. It all boiled down to the fact that after 3 days of straight paddeling I was dog tired. I manned up for the rest of the run with no problems, but I played much less to save my energy.

4 days of paddling has been great. I'll probably take it easy tomorrow the last day.

Tags: Pigeon River | Ocoee

Just wanted to invite you to participate in the Taylorsville Lake Clean Sweep Event. It will take place Septmeber 29 at 8:00am at the Possum Ridge Shelter House in the Park. We would love to have your participation and help getting the word out. You can contact Angela Kessans or the USACE Visitor's Center at 502-477-8882 if you have any questions or need anything further. There will be prize give-aways, free lunches, tee-shirts and more!

Tags: River Cleanup

By: John Thomas

It was good. The last 2 miles really wore us out. Jay, the worst weatherman in the world, said it was only a 10% chance of rain so he didn't bring any raingear. Well since a Thomas was hiking it rained. Not only did it rain, we witnessed an impressive lightning storm. We got drenched while hiking and it rained all night while we were trying to sleep. The campsite was on a peaceful beach in front of flat water on the river. We watched "gar" fish all day while drying our clothes in our undies. Jays dog performed well on the trail and really enjoyed boulder hopping along the river. It was a good trip. Jay has pics that I am expecting to see sometime soon.

• Pictures
• Rockcastle Info

Tags: Hiking | Rockcastle River

On Saturday, June 9th, the Bardstown Boaters held their third annual river clean up of the Beech Fork, commonly referred to as the Paddle Pick Up. By all accounts the Paddle Pick Up was once again a huge success! This year’s event focused on the section of the Beech Fork, which runs from the Nelson County Fair Grounds to the 31E Bridge. Over 50 volunteers participated this year and either canoed, kayaked or walked the banks of the Beech Fork collecting trash of all shapes and sizes. By the end of the day, we removed over three tons of garbage from the river including over eighty automobile tires, a computer monitor, a Lexington Herald-Leader Newspaper Dispenser, and more beer cans than we could count.

This event would not be possible without the assistance of Mike Hammons, owner and operator of Horizon Hoppers Outfitters (www.horizonhopper.com). Horizon Hoppers provided the canoes, which enabled us to put over thirty volunteers on the river. The Bardstown Boaters also want to thank the Nelson County Government for providing the industrial dumpster and garbage bags. In addition, we want to thank the Bluegrass Tavern and Smith Brothers Distributors for this year’s Paddle Pick Up banner. Moreover, we want to thank the Bardstown Rotary Club for their continued financial support, which paid for the event t-shirts that were handed out to the volunteers. This year a special thanks goes out to the Boy Scout Troops 142 and 147. The involvement of the local Boy Scout Troops added new energy to this year’s event and we hope to have both troops back again next year.

We welcome anyone interested in river conservation or the Bardstown Boaters to visit our website at www.bardstownboaters.com. Even though the past three Paddle Pick Ups have been hugely successful, there is still a mountain of garbage to be removed from the Beech Fork. The first step to resolving this tragic problem is to stop contributing to it. The state of the Beech Fork is a community wide problem, and it will take a community wide effort to correct. Therefore, the Bardstown Boaters challenge the Bardstown / Nelson County community to stop polluting our rivers and woodlands. Collectively as a community we can reverse the environmental damage done and restore the health of the Beech Fork.

Sincerely,

Justin Janes
Environmental Director
Bardstown Boaters

Tags: Beech Fork | Paddle Pickup

From American Whitewater

The Friends of the Falls Association has completed its campaign to raise $225,000 for the design, permitting and construction of the Spokane Whitewater Park. The campaign reached its goal recently thanks to a donation of $40,000 from Teck Cominco American, a diversified mining company headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., which has a regional office in Spokane.

In the Great Spokane River Gorge, one mile from downtown and next to the Sandifur Memorial Bridge, the Spokane Whitewater Park will feature two u-shaped structures built from large boulders. The structures enhance river access and create drops, waves and pools in the river for kayakers and other users to enjoy. The project also includes additional parking, landscaping, and a visitor center at the entry to People’s Park, which will benefit all users of the area including anglers, hikers, mountain bikers, residents of adjacent neighborhoods, and anyone using the Fish Lake and Centennial Trails.

The Whitewater Park is one of 15 priority projects in the Great Spokane River Gorge Strategic Master Plan. The Plan is inspired by the 100 year old recommendation of the Olmstead brothers that Spokane create a Great Gorge Park. A full copy of the plan is available from the organization’s web site: www.friendsofthefalls.org.Read More...

Tags: Whitewater Park

On Saturady Zack and I met up with Richard and Jeremy from the Vikngs to paddle the Ocoee. We paddled the Upper Olympic section first. The first miles of the upper is class II warmup stuff. The action begins with a really great 7 foot drop, Alien Boof. Next comes Mkey's then the Olympics. The Olympic section is the real deal. Big pushy water. Class IV stuff. Fast and furious.

You pick your way down the left side, whichs makes the run through here easier. After Humungous you move right and run through Edge of World. Heartpuding stuff. Roach Motel is next and that is no joke either. We ran everything without a problem and had a blast doig it.

We ran the Middle Section next. It was a walk in the park after doing the Upper. We were very tired after running all of this, it was about 5 1/2 hours of paddling constant class III.

On Friday and Saturday night we camped at Chillowee State Park. I'll always prefer camping at River Rats though.

On Sunday we ran the Middle section again. We jumped in Hell Hole a few times at the end after having the river mostly to ourselves. I'm really starting to enjoy the Ocoee. Coming back in July and August will be sweet.

Tags: Ocoee

2cfs - Beech Fork
Fairgrounds to 31E

Flickr • Vimeo • YouTube

CNN Video • Story

Wow. This thing just keeps getting bigger.

We had 50+ out on the Beech Fork this Saturday for another great Paddle Pickup.

First I would like to thank everyone who makes this river cleanup possible. People like Mike Hammons with Central Kentucky Canoe & Kayak. He halts his own business and donates his entire fleet of canoes to us each year. And when we load these things with tires and old scrap metal then scrape them down the rubble dam, we really but the boats through the ringer. But with out them, the Paddle Pickup could never grow to be this large. So Mike, the Bardstown Boaters would like to thank you for all or your hard work and support.

We would like to thank Nelson County for providing all the means needed to remove the bulk garbage from the river.

We would like to thank the Bardstown Rotarians for providing t-shirts for all the volunteers of the Paddle Pickup.

We would like to thank the Bluegrass Tavern and Smith Brothers Distributing for providing us with a new banner for this year's event.

And special thanks goes out to Boy Scout Troops 142 and 147. They came out big for the 2007 Paddle Pickup. Over 20 scouts paddled the river, cleaning it up and removing tons of garbage from it. The Boy Scouts worked very hard on this day and it couldn't have been this great of an effort without them.

This year the Paddle Pickup removed more trash for our local stream bed than ever before. Over 80 tires were among the tons of garbage removed, which includes an old news paper dispenser that has been wasting away down at the Beech Fork for about a decade and of course your standard 20 bags full of beer and soft drink cans.

Sadly we had two blatant displays of disrespect to our river during the Paddle Pickup. A group of eight paddlers putting on at 31E threw down beer cans right in front of a group of volunteers who were removing tires from the river. Also a father son team of polluters threw down their bait container and soft drink cans while they enjoyed fishing at the freshly cleaned rubble dam.

Keep throwing your trash in the river, and we'll keep picking it up. We won't be stopping. One day these idiots will get the message.

If you weren't able to make it out this year, we'll be doing it again next year. It will take place again during the National River Cleanup Week.

Thanks to all our volunteers who helped make our local waterways a better place. We'll see you on the river.

Tags: Paddle Pickup | River Cleanup

Beech Fork water level: 20cfs

Today was the Duck Race fundraiser for project graduation and the United Way. The Bardstown Boates were helping out with the event, so Kenny, Jay and I decided to get out there early to paddle up the Beech Fork and scout things for the Paddle Pickup in two weeks.

We put on at the dam in the very low water conditions, but with the pool behind the dam we were able to paddle with no problems. We went up to the BG bridge where the water finally shallowed a bit, and then we paddled back. Not much current out there, lots of scum on the water surface.

We had a good look at the rubble dam in the low water. The drop was well defined and all the rocks were uncovered. Also it appears that someone had been down there taking grades at the rubble dam. Hopefully it was someone who might help with the park.

At 2pm we had the big duck race. Dropping 1200 rubber ducks at the rubble dam, they drifted to the bridge and across the finish line. The winner recieves $1000 and over $3000 was raised for charity.

It was another great day on the water with much trip planning conversation and preperations for the big event, the Paddle Pickup, taking place.

I'll see you all down there in two weeks!

Tags: Beech Fork | Charity

WBRT in Bardstown is holding a fundraiser to benefit Bardstown schools. They will be releasing up to 5000 rubber ducks on the Beech Fork and the winner will win $1000. You can get your own duck in the race for $5. Call WBRT at (502) 348-3943 for an entry.

The Bardstown Boaters will be helping out by wrangling in the ducks on the river. If you would like to help us out, the race is on Memorial Day Monday, May 28th at 1pm. Meet at the Beech Fork off of New Haven road, Highway 31E in bardstown.

Post in the forum here if you plan to help.

Tags: Beech Fork | Charity

The Paddle Pickup is less than a month away! Please mark your calendar for Saturday, June 9th and join us for the 3rd Annual Paddle Pickup. A Bardstown Boaters river cleanup tradition in Bardstown.

We will meet at 9 a.m. at the Beech Fork in Bardstown, KY where 31e crosses the river. Look for our tent to register. Mike Hammons of Central Kentucky Canoe & Kayak will be offering canoes to anyone who would like to paddle during the cleanup. Or if you like you can help in the cleanup on foot on the banks.

Volunteers will receive a free t-shirt for their help. But the best part of the day is seeing all the garbage that we will pull out of the river.

Visit the Paddle Pickup section of our website to learn more about the history of this event.

Tags: Paddle Pickup | Beech Fork | River Cleanup

1700cfs

7 of us paddled the Cumberland below the Falls this Saturday. The weather was great, a little overcast at first but the sun came out later for a beautiful day on the water. Everything was in, Last Drop, Screaming Right, Stairsteps, all the way to the class II stuff at Bark Camp.

We paddled all the way out and it wasn't bad at all. The last 5 miles or so of the Cumberland is usually flat water, but now with the lake being low, a lot of that flat water is moving current. It took 4 hours to run, put-in to take-out.

I'll be back on The Cumberland again this year, probably more than once. I have some video from Screaming Right and Last Drop up on YouTube.

Tags: Cumberland

The Salt River Basin Team, a group consisting of Div. of Forestry and Div. of Water officials along with a pack of tree huggers, are coming to Nelson County June 4 at 9 a.m. at the old courthouse to school local officials on the state of streams in Nelson County. The group will also address any forestry concerns. Since Ag is big here, there are stream concerns relating to fecal coliform and nutrients from fertilizers and plant stuff getting into the water and polluting it.

The Salt River Basin Team has been working to inform local officials about the state of their rivers and creeks since 2005 when their first meeting took place in Bullitt County. Since they've been making their way around the 10-county Salt River Watershed (which Beech Fork is part of) and checking the quality of streams etc.

Additional upcoming meetings include one in Meade Co. June 21 at 9:30 at the courthouse and one in Henry Co May 22nd at 1 p.m. at the courthouse.

Tags: Environment

I've added an aerial picture to American Whitewater's page of the proposed whitewater park site on the Beech Fork with a link to it in the whitewater park section of this site.

The image was captured from Flash Earth using the Yahoo! Maps imagery. This image shows the location of the park in relation to downtown Bardstown.

More pictures of the rubble dam on the Beech Fork can be found on Flickr and on the water levels page.

Tags: Whitewater Park

I received an application this week for grant money being offered by Clif Bar and American Whitewater. We now have the opportunity to apply for one of two $1,250 grants. The grants will be distributed to clubs for projects that promote river stewardship, conservation, access and/or safety education on our nation’s rivers. This program provides Club Affiliates with the seed money necessary to implement programs in their backyards.

I will apply in order to seek more funds for the Bardstown Whitewater Park campaign.

You can find out more about this grant at American Whitewater.

Tags: Whitewater Park

I ran the Elkhorn today with the Vikings and had a really good time. I had forgotten how much fun the Elkhorn can be even at low water. I did a bunch of surfing wherever it was to be had and the weather was perfect. The water was even warm. Makes me glad that winter is long gone. You guys have got to get on the water with me some time.

Tags: Elkhorn Creek

800cfs

On Saturday, Josh and I along with a large group of Vikings ran the Rockcastle river. The weather was extraordinary and the water level was at a very fun level of 800cfs. This made for bigger whitewater on the run and linked up the rapids. Rapids 01 and 02 become one rapid and 03 and 04 another. The biggest rapids in the Lower Narrows was kind of like running what I am calling the "medium three", similar to the big three on the Big South Fork.

The Rockcastle is always fun. And I have the pictures to prove it!

Tags: Rockcastle River

I want to thank everyone who came out for the Texas Holdem tournament on Saturday night. It was a huge success, bringing in $800 for the Bardstown Whitewater Park fund. Better yet, we were able to spread the word for the upcoming Paddle Pickup to a whole new group of people. We'll look forward to seeing you all this June 9th at the Beech Fork.

The last two players of tournament ended up splitting the winnings when they had an even chip count.

Tags: Whitewater Park | Charity

1.5ft - 2ft

Got to run the Plum today. Low level but still lots of play out there. I surfed so much below Buddy's Hole, that I wore my self out and at the last ledge of the broken down bridge, got stuck in a sticky little hole, then couldn't get my roll. So I ended up swimming.

I love running the Plum. That is a great little run, so close to home. Bring your play boat for that one.

-Pictures

Tags: Plum Creek

See the different water levels at the rubble dam on the Beech Fork in this growing gallery of images. This set is being collected to aid in designing the Bardstown Whitewater Park.

Tags: Beech Fork | Whitewater Park

The Bardstown Boaters are hosting an invite only Texas Holdem charity tournament on Saturday April 14th. It is a $50 buy in. $30 goes to the pot, and $20 goes to the charity fund. The boaters are raising money to bring in an engineer to study the Beechfork River and the possibility of building a white water park there.

To participate or for more information contact Spalding Hurst or Wes Parish.

Tags: Whitewater Park | Charity

460cfs


The Rockcastle is awesome. I have said that before, but it has been a while since I have gotten down there. I love the run even more with the new shuttle and the new rapids. You can easily run the lower narrows twice in one day, you could probably run them three or four times if you wanted.

Josh and I ran the lower narrows twice, a bomber run before Ben came down. Then on our second trip we took our time, scouting the rapids and shooting video at each one. There were many other boaters down at the Rockcastle, more than I had ever seen before, though some of them were running the CBF this day. We did meet up with Meagan and Bubba on the water.

The new shuttle is easy and short. We put on above the Lower Narrows, but you can walk up river some and put on above Beech Narrows if you wish. All you have to do for the shuttle is turn right on Close road, look for the trail head with the gate on the left, then walk down about 10 minutes to the water. Rinse and repeat.

You can't get this much bang for your buck this close to home. 2 runs, 5 hours of paddling on the beautiful Rockcastle and about 16 class II and III rapids. I'm glad to see more people enjoying one of Kentucky's best whitewater runs.

Tags: Rockcastle River

Level: 1500cfs

I ran the Big South Fork this Sunday. I drove down on Sunday morning meeting up with Adam, Bryon, Chris and Troy from the Viking Canoe Club along the way. The sun was out and the weather was great. I took my Huka out for it's first real run and it performed very well through all the rapids of the BSF.

We put on at the confluence and ran down to O&W. I ran the left side boof at Double Drop with no problems, washing machine was pretty easy at this level and on The El I was surprisingly able to keep upright all the way through it. All the rapids seemed quite manageable at this level. Might have been even more fun in my play boat since there are a lot of play spots.

It's a long day of driving to do the BSF as a day trip, but always worth it. Next time I won't forget to bring my camera either.

Pictures and video from the day.

Tags: Big South Fork

By BRETT FRENCH Of The Gazette Staff Large rocks would be placed in Yellowstone River to create waves or rapids... Billings has the opportunity to be a regional whitewater mecca if it constructs a play park in the Yellowstone River, according to a river engineer. "It would draw from across the region," said Nick Turner, with Hydraulic Design Group. "People will drive four hours to go to a play wave." Hydraulic Design Group has offered to conduct a feasibility study on a whitewater park in Billings. The price tag on the study is just more than $32,000. According to one report, as of last year there were 34 whitewater parks under construction or already built across the U.S., almost half of them in Colorado. A study by the Outdoor Industry Association said whitewater recreation is one of the fastest-growing outdoor recreation activities in the United States.

Other cities have seen substantial economic gain from developing river play areas. Turner said a study by Golden, Colo., estimated the town's water park added $2 million a year to city coffers. Turner also said creating a whitewater park brings more people to the river, saying one study estimated there were 12 visitors for every paddler. "It's a place for people to come down and experience the river," he said. "These types of recreation enhancements on rivers throughout the U.S. really improve quality of life. They bring people to the river. By introducing more people to the river, it creates more river stewards." The water features are typically made by strategically locating large rocks in the river to create waves or rapids. Any design would include room for passage by other river users, such as drift boats and jet boats, Turner said. An added benefit of such features is that they naturally create holding pools and eddies for fish. He also noted that the opportunity exists to tie such a Billings facility into current events, such as the annual Peaks to Prairie race and the Big Sky State Games.

Published on Saturday, March 10, 2007.Read More...

Tags: Whitewater Park

2007 Membership Year
Update Your Membership

Now is the time to renew your membership with the Bardstown Boaters for the new year. With Bardstown Boater membership we cover our annual American Whitewater Club Affiliate fee. This gives a savings to you of $10 on your American Whitewater membership. We also cover the cost of this website and any thing left over goes to fund our river conservation campaigns, like the Paddle Pickup.

As a member you will:
• become a part of a knowledgeable and friendly group of local paddlers
• help support local paddling and conservation efforts
• receive $10 off your American Whitewater membership
• have your own bardstownboaters.com email

So renew your membership or join the Bardstown Boaters for the first time today! Use the PayPal option to quickly renew or join online or mail a check.

Tags: Membership

Associated Press
DUCKTOWN, Tenn. - Commercial outfitters have secured a loan to pay the Tennessee Valley Authority $1.1 million in advance for 12 years of whitewater releases on the Ocoee River, officials said.

The loan arranged by the Southeast Tennessee Development District and eight banks, combined with a $500,000 federal-state grant, will ensure that rafters, kayakers and canoeists have plenty of current in the river that hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics' whitewater competition.

The total $1.6 million loan-grant package will help TVA offset a projected $3.1 million loss in power revenues from diverting water from its hydroelectric generators on Ocoee Dam No. 3.

Under a deal crafted last year between TVA and 22 rafting outfitters, the federal utility has agreed to provide 34 days of scheduled water releases on the upper Ocoee annually.

The outfitters charge a fee of $3.50 per ticket to pay for water costs. Last year's revenue was more than the TVA charge, so the extra will be put toward debt service on the loan and marketing the Ocoee experience, said outfitter Larry Mashburn.

Mashburn said 35,000 people rafted the upper Ocoee last year, up from 32,000 in 2005.

link to source

Tags: Ocoee

930cfs

This past weekend we camped at O&W at the Big South Fork. On Saturday Patrick, Darrin, his mom and I hiked the Honey Creek Loop. There was spectacular scenery through this hike. You can probably see it best from the pictures. That hike had us pretty tired so we saved all the kayaking for Sunday.

Ben Ballard came down on Saturday night to run the canyon with us. Darrin, Patrick, Ben and I ran it. This was Patrick's first whitewater kayaking experience and he handled it pretty well. He's got the bruised knuckles to prove it.

The weather was absolutely perfect on both days. And the Big South Fork recreational area was as beautiful as ever.

Flickr Pictures - Slideshow

Tags: Hiking | Big South Fork

1800cfs
35 degrees

I've never really gone paddling below 50 degrees before. But on this Sunday, Josh and I ran the Elkhorn at a good level, but on a cold 35 degree day. The run was great, got in some good surfing when I could catch them. The sun was out most of the time and with all the gear on it wasn't too bad out there.

We also had a mini boat rescue situation as the current tried to take Josh's kayak downstream and away from us. It was saved and everything worked out though. Another great ride down the Elkhorn was had.

Forum thread for this trip

Tags: Elkhorn Creek

Benson Creek - Low (~1.5ft)

On Saturday I picked up my new creek boat, a Bliss-Stick Huka, in Bowling Green. I traded the Dagger Rival canoe that I had for it. I paddled one in New Zealand in 2004 and liked it back then and after paddling it on Sunday I still like this boat today.

On Saturday night I attended the NPFF as the area got hit with some good rains. With the Benson running, Josh and I decided to run it instead of the Rockcastle on Sunday.

The Benson was a great run, very local to my house, a little low, but still fun. There were a couple of good surf spots this day and the falls were runnable, though I walked around while Josh ran them. He fought pretty good to keep from getting pulled back in. Others that ran the falls made it look pretty easy.

The run was quick, maybe a couple of hours. But I was able to try out the Huka and I really liked it. I can't wait to do some overnighters in it.

Benson Creek Google Map
Video from Benson Falls (Josh's run is the last one)

Tags: Benson Creek

In March of 2004 I was in New Zealand for a couple of months. I had just started kayaking back then and was doing some kayaking in New Zealand. There was one place that I was in awe of over there, Huka Falls. I just marveled at the thing and though I had read that people had kayaked it, I just couldn't believe it was possible back then. But here, taken from the Bliss-Stick website, is someone doing just that.

Tags: Huka Falls | New Zealand

The 24th Annual National Paddling Film Festival happens February 23rd and 24th in Lexington, KY. Two nights of paddling films, live music, a Silent Auction, and more, with Guest Host John Grace of Lunch Video Magazine. Details can be found at www.surfbwa.org/npff.

Tags: NPFF

A new feature has been added to the Whitewater Park section of the website. It is the timeline for the Whitewater Park outlining the progress that has been made and bringing you update on where we are with the park.

Timeline for the
Bardstown Whitewater Park

Tags: Whitewater Park

From The Kentucky Standard

Bardstown will have a new city engineer and Larry Hamilton will have a new job but in both cases, the newness is only skin-deep. Hamilton will start work Thursday as the new city engineer, a position he had until 1998 when he retired after 25 years with the city government. Hamilton first joined the city in 1973 as an assistant city engineer under R.A. Kelly. He was promoted in January 1977 after Kelly retired. After retiring himself, Hamilton continued to work for several years as a consultant to the city before accepting a job in 2003 with the state Division of Solid Waste. A Bardstown native, Hamilton still resides in the city. “When (Mayor Dick Heaton) called and discussed what he had in mind, I wanted to help him with his plans,” Hamilton said. “I wanted to work with the mayor and help him accomplish what he wants to achieve.” “Working with (the mayor) will be challenging and fun and I’m looking forward to that,” Hamilton said. As city engineer, Hamilton will be in charge of the city Public Works and Utilities departments, and will report directly to Heaton. Those departments cover electric, cable, Internet, streets, sewer and water concerns. Heaton said he thought during his tenure on City Council the city needed “more in-house engineering assets,” and decided to move on that immediately when he became mayor this month.

When Hamilton last worked for the city there were three experienced engineers on staff, Heaton said. When he retired, the city chose not to fill the position he vacated. Hamilton, a certified professional engineer, carries a higher level of classification than the other two engineers on the city staff. Jeff Mills is a certified electrical engineer and George Greenwell is a civil engineer. “That forced us to take more engineering to outside firms,” Heaton said. “I feel like we will be able to save enough, by reducing outside contracting” in utility and public works jobs to recoup additional salary expenses, Heaton said. “It will create more efficiency with more engineering personnel on staff,” Heaton said. In the eight years after Hamilton left the city, “we’ve done nothing but grow,” Heaton said, adding “miles and miles of infrastructure.” During those years the city built a new waste treatment plant and expanded the water treatment plant, while also losing longtime waste treatment plant operator Jerry Riley, who died last year. That position has not yet been filled. Hamilton “has a strong working knowledge of both of those facilities,” Heaton said. “I’m going to feel comfortable with someone with Larry’s background and experience.” Heaton said he discussed his plans with the Council before deciding to offer Hamilton the job. “I’m looking forward to getting back,” Hamilton said. “I don’t have an agenda other than learning what the mayor and the City Council have on their minds and working on that.” Tom Dekle can be reached at 348-9003 Ext. 118 or by e-mail at tdekle@kystandard.com.

Tags: Whitewater Park

Fearing a dam break that could cause catastrophic flooding in Kentucky and Tennessee, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began lowering the water level on Lake Cumberland on Monday.

If the dam, which is nearly a mile long, were to break, flooding in communities downstream along the Cumberland River could kill people and cause an estimated $3.4 billion in damage, Roemhildt said. Cities along the Cumberland include Nashville, Tenn.

The level of the lake will be drawn down to 680 feet immediately, the corps said, 10 feet below the normal level of 690 feet in the winter. The normal level in the summer is 723 feet.

Thus, after the reduction, the lake’s water surface would be 43 feet below the tree line during summer months. That could edge Lake Cumberland out of the list of the nation’s largest freshwater lakes, said Craig Shoe, resource manager for the Corps of Engineers.

This will be the lowest Lake Cumberland has been since 1981, it seems. They are keeping it high enough to generate power. If it gets even lower than prediction, 680, Pitman Creek may have some surprises to uncover. It gets steeper as it approaches the old river channel, but most of it will still be under the lake. Even at 680, that will make the lake at least 100 feet deep in that area.

Tags: Cumberland

Plum Creek: 3ft
Glenns Creek: Low

Today I ran two new creeks. The Plum and Glenns.

The Plum was a blast. Lot's of surfing, one surf spot after another. I probably could have surfed more, but for my first run I was kind of just checking out the lay of the creek. Their were probably about 30 Vikings on the Benson this day. I guess with knowing the rain was coming and falling on a Sunday, everyone had ample notice. I sure did.

Afterwards, Jim and I went over and checked out Glenns. It was low and scrappy, but we ran it just to see what's up. Could be a fun run with some more water.

Tags: Plum Creek | Glenns Creek

Elkhorn Creek
2050cfs

Jay, Bill and I got in our January Elkhorn run to officially kick off 2007. The level was good and the water was moving fast. My favorite spot was the left side of angioplasty where I caught some really good surfing on the big wave there.

Jay demoed a Jackson Hero from Canoe Ky. I don't think it was the creek boat for him though. I still recommend the Huka. We saw one of them at the put-in.

I also found 5 dead mice in my Pyranha kayak. Good thing John didn't make it out or we would have had to dealt with those stinky things riverside.

Awesome day on the water, not cold at all. As long as you stay in your boat, which some of us didn't do the whole time.

Tags: Elkhorn Creek