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.

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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

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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