Summer trip to the Ocoee with Jay, John, and Kenny Thomas, Jonny and Michael Matthews, Scott(Scooter), David Ethridge, Spalding Hurst, Josh Carpenter, and Amber camping at Ocoee River Rats. First run on the lower with Jay and Kenny in the duckie, Spalding and Josh in Kayaks, and Jonny guiding Michael, Scooter, David, and John in Ole Abram(bucket raft). Second run included the upper-lower combo run with Spalding, Michael, Jay, Kenny, John, and scooter in Ole Abram. Tons of fun all around. Highlights include Jay and Kenny with a swim at Double Trouble in the Duckie, running the meat of Double Suck BACKWARDS in Ole Abe, Scooter and Michael getting a bull ride in on Hell Hole, and Ethridge's attempts to keep a cigar lit on the whitewater. Can't wait to go back.

Pictures

Tags: Ocoee

Spalding Hurst and Josh Carpenter paddled the Ocoee this weekend, along with 20+ Viking Canoe Club members. Runs were made on the Upper and Middle sections on both days.

Tags: Ocoee | Viking Canoe Club

By: Zack Wimpsett

Four friends and I went to Colorado for 12 days of kayaking, hiking, and skiing. We left for Colorado Springs on May 9th and came home on the 20th.

We arrived in Colorado Springs on the 10th after an 18hr drive. Our first day in Colorado we hiked 7miles on Barr trail at Pike's peak up to 11,000 ft elevation and camped, it was a brutal hike. We originally thought we would try for the peak, but after the car ride and the hike, I think the summit would have been near impossible. Day 2 was spent hiking off the Mountain and checking out the Garden of the God's.

We headed from Colorado Springs to Buena Vista. In Buena Vista I kayaked the white water park on the Arkansas; we also ran a short class II-III section on the Arkansas. The run and the Whitewater Park were awesome, but I broke my paddle which was not so awsome. Our second day in Buena Vista the group was suppose to go rafting on the class IV-V Pine creek to the numbers section of the Arkansas while I kayaked, but the temp dropped and we were hit with 10 inches of snow. So instead we spent the day exploring the big town of Buena Vista and hit up the local pub and the hot springs, the kayak shop there is awesome; you can demo just about any boat on the market for $15.

We left Buena Vista and headed for Vail were we stayed for 3 nights in my buddy’s girlfriend’s condo, pretty sweet deal. I was able to kayak some on the creek right outside our door in Vail. The play wave that the Teva mountain games is held on was right beside our balcony, the water level was low but still fun. We had originally only planed on skiing for one day while we were out there, but since we had all the snow we decided to take advantage of it and skied for 3 days. Skiing out there is awesome; I think I have to put it right up there with kayaking on my list of favorite things to do now.

One of the guys on the trip had to leave early due to work so we took him to Denver to catch his flight as our last stop. We didn’t do anything outdoors in Denver, but we did catch a Rockies game and go out, Denver is a pretty cool city.

All in all the trip was a blast, and I look forward to going back sometime in the near future. A mid summer trip out in late June mid July during the peak snow runoff would be awesome for kayaking there is tons of runs all over the place

Tags: Colorado

This year the Bardstown Boaters hosted their 4th Annual Paddle Pickup on the Beech Fork of the Salt River in Bardstown, KY. The Bardstown Boaters along with help from a total near 50 volunteers from across the state cleaned well over a ton of garbage from the Beech Fork. The section cleaned was from highway 49 to the Nelson County Fairgrounds.

The Paddle Pickup has now cleaned 13 miles of the Beech Fork in all, from Highway 605 in Manton to Highway 31E in Bardstown. The Bardstown Boaters are all ready looking forward to cleaning up more waste from our local waterways next year.

A very special thanks tp these people and organizations who make the Paddle Pickup such a huge success.

Mike Hammons & Central Kentucky Canoe and Kayak
DeanWatts & Nelson County Government
The Bardstown Rotary Club
Brad Hurst
Kenny Fogle & WBRT
David White
David Adams
Laura Blair (Newcomb Oil)
Jerry Boone & Boone’s Butcher Shop
Jennifer Waldron & 3D Graphics
Patrick Hayden & Keene’s Depot

Media: Pictures | Video

Tags: Paddle Pickup | Beech Fork

The Bardstown Boaters were on the Elkhorn late Monday. The level was at the minimum 400 cfs, but it was still a good day to be on the water. Micahel and Zack headed up one crew, getting on a little earlier. Jay, Josh and Spalding were part of the second group down.

After scrambling around to borrow a helmet, Thanks to BWA's JBob for that, the group was ready for an easy paddle down.

The surfing wasn't all that great, mainly due to Angioplasty not being in. Looks like it is gone completely. The best bet for surfing at 400cfs is the very next rapid.

Tags: Elkhorn Creek

A group of ten Bardstown Boaters paddled 20 miles of the Beech Fork on Saturday and Sunday. They ran from Maud, KY to Highway 49.

Here are pictures from the trip.

Here is the GPS Route of the trip.

Jay Thomas has this report.

Great trip. Then entire Maud to HWY 49 is a great run, but the Maud to Fredericksburg section is a definite plus with many riffles and current to keep everything moving. At 300 CFS the entire run was done at the minimum required flow IMO. I'm interested to see the Maud to Fredericksburg with more water. Wildlife was the coolest with sightings of a racoon, deer, and plenty of birds. Several red tail hawk nests along the float keep the prey birds soaring and screaching. Plus the surprising nesting sights of the herons. At only two locations along the float Bill counted over 100 nests, at both locations most nests crowded in one to two trees.

Manton Bridge to HWY 49 is a wonderful section to have the Paddle Pickup, as long as there is enough flow. There is plenty of trash to pickup and water time of only about 3 hours it should be great. I think the 250 to 300 cfs should be a minimum for that.

Tags: Beech Fork | Overnighter

Jay Thomas contributes this trip report from the weekend.

Little River
Elkmount to Sinks
561cfs

Spalding and I did the Little River section from Elkmont campground to the Sinks in the Smokies on Saturday. Weather started out a beautiful sunny 50+ degree day, later getting a bit windy and cooler. Water temp was ice cold. Scenery was sweeeeeet. Continuous class II to II+ rapids for the first 4-5 miles with a couple possible III's with the water level at a lower-than-average 650cfs. Reminded both of us of a continuous Red River run.

I had a battle with a tree limb going though the class III rapid under the road bridge that I won, but the water double teamed me and I flipped and swam. Watched the boat run the next class III without me and disappear around the turn. Spalding was able to catch up with the boat and set up a sweet boat rescue off the pinned predicament it got into. We were able to pull it loose with the help of a throw rope and his new caribeaner. I got my blood flowing again after the cold swim and we scouted and ran the next class III rapid no problem, then I had my second swim after a rock flipped me in a wimpy little rapid. I was done with about 3 miles left so with the road following the river the whole way, I hitchhiked back to the car and came back to get Spalding.

All-in-all the run is awesome! The length of the run, the work needed to constantly rock dodge, the cold, and the hangover got to me toward the end and I was with it enough to call it quits, but what a sweet virgin ride in my new creek boat!

Tags: Little River

Here is a trip report from Jay Thomas part of the duo of hiking Bardstown Boater brothers, Jay & John Thomas.

John and I got to Yahoo Falls parking area at the northern end of the Big South Fork around 1 on Saturday and hurried to try and get on the trail in front of a group of 12 boy scouts from Oakridge, TN. We soon came to the overlook to Yahoo Falls, the tallest waterfall in KY, took a glance and then climbed out of the hollow up to Yahoo Arch. The Arch was really cool, one of my favorite arches to date.

We crossed the road we drove in on, Hwy 700, and continued on the Negro Creek trail. The trail started on top of the knob but even as we descended on the trail we stayed well above the Negro Creek. However, multiple sounds of waterfalls and cascades led us on some side trail bush wacking to some great spots. Negro Trail t-bones the Sheltowee Trace at the mouth of the Creek into the Big South Fork. The area has a large flat camping spot equipped with a large rock fire pit. From talking with the boy scouts earlier we knew their plans of camping at the spot (perfect for a large group), and we continued south on the Sheltowee toward Lick Creek. This trail section follows the BSF upstream and is fairly flat and uneventful except for some really cool beaver woodwork. Also it turns into an ATV playground of paths and camping spots.

At Lick Creek we left the Sheltowee to continue on Lick Creek trail and reached Princess Falls, an 15 foot curtain falls down away from the trail. There is a great flat camp spot enough for 4 or 5 tents with a rock fire pit and rock seating. We took advantage of the spot and quickly got a hot fire going. In the morning we backtracked to Negro Creek where the boy scouts had already packed and gone. Continued on the Sheltowee north to Cotton Patch Hollow, Alum Ford Campground, and then back in the Yahoo Falls Scenic Area. After passing some cool waterfalls and good scenery we finaly arrived to the base of Yahoo Falls. Very Cool and a great end to the trip. The pack up the four flights of stairs to the parking was exhausting; i wish they made the handrails wide enough for backpacks. Conclusively it was a very cool trip, one I'm sure we'll be back to.

Also the boy scout group said their trailer full of gear was stolen out of their church parking lot at Christmas time. I saw one of them pick up an old skillet previously left at the Negro Creek campground like it was a Playboy mag, so I don't feel they were bullshittin. After we got back I emailed a couple places and tried looking up their contact info online to pass around, but if anyone has any outdated or extra gear you want to get rid of I can see if I can reach them some how.

Tags: Hiking

Spalding Hurst checked in with this trip report of the Rio Pacaure, a river he ran while on his honeymoon in Costa Rica.

Hola! Costa Rica has been great. The scenery and the wildlife are amazing. On this trip, Jennifer and I have seen Howler Monkeys, Iguanas, Parrots, Toucans, Sloths and more exotic birds than I can count. The rivers are flowing from everywhere. From volcanoes and from mountains. My run on the class III-IV Lower Rio Pacaure was one I will never forget.

Jennifer and I rolled into town on Monday evening. We went to the first outfitter in the town of Turrialba. This was RainForrest World, an outfitter opened by West Virginian Phil Coleman. I told them I wanted to go kayaking, that I had my own gear, I just needed a paddle and a boat. They had me setup up for a trip the next day in about 3 minutes.

The next morning I came back to join 2 rafts, a cataraft and the chase boater, a local named Ryan, who would also be kayaking and showing me the lines. The section we ran was 16 miles long, so it was a full day. We stopped and had lunch half way through, close to where an indigenous tribal family lived on the river. We saw the local children playing at the river and running rapids on their homemade balsa wood poles.

The rapids were constant on the Pacaure, it was never a dull moment. The river was mostly class III and III+, but There were five class IV rapids mixed in. The first 2 being the hardest (Upper & Lower Huacas Falls), the last 3 being the most fun.

Half way down the run a kayaker from Colorado joined our group. It was good to have another kayker in the mix. The Cataraft had a couple from Reno guiding it down. They were doing research on the Rio Pacaure and the effect of the waterway on the indigenous people who live near it.

I paddled a very used Dagger Nomad 8.5 and this thing was huge. It made blasting through some holes much easier, but I did surf in it a little. Overall the boat performed well for me. I only missed one line on the hardest rapid, but I ended up where I wanted to be.

This trip made me realize why I love paddling. This trip makes me want to paddle more, explore more, see more and travel more. I can't wait for my next day on the river, rather it be the Elkhorn in Frankfort, Kentucky or the Pacaure in Costa Rica!

Tags: Costa Rica | Rio Pacaure