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

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

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

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

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

• 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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