My New Kayak: A Bliss-Stick Flip-Stick

I paddled one of these while I was in New Zealand in April 2004. Back then I didn't like the boat too much. Only because I was starting out in kayaking and it would flip me too often with the higher class stuff I was running there. But now I am ready to give the Flip-Stick another go.


Here I am in my old Flip-Stick on the Granity Creek run of the Buller River in New Zealand.

The kayak is made by Bliss-Stick which is based in New Zealand. Justin paddled one of their creek boats, the Huka on the Otaki river and he liked that boat very much as well.

Jennifer will be taking over my old kayak, the Pyranha and my hunt for a creek boat continues...

Sheltowee Trace

Big South Fork Canyon
680cfs



Three sisters wasn't very much surfable at the low level.  Most things were tamer out there this day.  But I still love the canyon.  Easy to get to, easy to run shuttle and fun to run.

We camped at the big rock before the bridge.  There is another good camping spot just behind the big rock. This was the first night of our 3 day adventure.

The next day we met Jay and John Thomas at the Cumberland Falls and began our Sheltowee hike. The section the Sheltowee Trace that we were doing runs along the river with views of the rapids along the way. Also along the way were some beautiful creeks that feed into the Cumberland. These creeks had some wonderful waterfalls on them.  After a quick 3 miles we camped at Dog Slaughter Creek.  Camp there was amazing. We should camp here some time while paddling the Cumberland Falls section.  A sandy beach with the falls of the creek behind us and a great view of the river in front of us.  That was a pretty cool campsite.

The next day we hiked 12 miles and finished the hike early.  The highlight to that day was lunch at Bark Camp Creek.  The waterfalls along the Cumberland river just kept getting better and better as the day went on though. The hike never grew too strenuous. Just when you think you can't hike another foot your out there for 2 more hours and the time flies by.

*pictures

Refreshing, New Ideas Come From Sports Meeting

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Refreshing, new ideas come from sports meeting
Bob White THE KENTUCKY STANDARD - 5/24/06

Like most Americans, I’ve had my fair share of the so-called normal sports.

I played basketball, football, and baseball as a kid. I also ran track and cross country in my younger years. Most of my involvement in those activities these days includes a television.

While these sports are great for fans and players alike, the constant sight and sound of these sports can make all of them a bit mundane.

Luckily for us in Nelson County, there could be some refreshing opportunities on the horizon.

A handful of local folks met last week to discuss different sporting opportunities with tourism officials and coach Steve Small, a motivating, people-person type of guy from Mount Washington recently hired to assist in the marketing of sports in Bardstown.

I’ll admit being a bit pessimistic about the need for the community to hire a sports-marketer, but after attending the meeting I made the realization that you can have a team of all-stars, but without a coach, the team won’t shine.

With tourism officials joining hands with local sportsmen and women, the team, gleaming with innovative ideas, is there.

For $1,000 a month, we have a coach too.

Let’s hope the coach can help the team’s ideas flourish. I’m optimistic of Small’s abilities.

Refreshing was that none of the sports discussed during last week’s meeting related to the so-called normal sports.

But that doesn’t mean alternative sports such as disc-golf, paddling and hiking couldn’t be marketable and profitable for the local economy.

One man in attendance noted the traveling disc-golfers would do to play a new course. Of course, with travel comes gas sales, lodging on occasion and food.

Another mentioned how a park-n-play whitewater course could lure hundreds from the region to put in and paddle around whether on their lunch hour or weekend.

A third idea was the construction of trails to connect disc-golf courses with the whitewater park and other local spots such as Sympson Lake.

I was a bit surprised at the enthusiasm Small and tourism officials had in these ideas.

Chairman Nicky Rapier told the disc-golfers their wish was already being considered.

Whitewater enthusiasts were told their hopes couldn’t surface at a better time, considering recent talk of raising the old rock dam at U.S. 31E and Beech Fork.

Small told trailblazer Mike Hammons his skills could come in handy with the disc-golfers, since courses generally make use of wide and wooded paths.

It was a bunch of good news last week to hear the optimism relating to sports generally considered outside the norm.

Committees will be formed to discuss each interest on an individual basis the group decided.

It’s so cool Small and the tourism folks are interested in hearing more ideas such as those discussed last week.

Within a year or two all of us might be able to break free on lunch hour and head to the river to play on the waves.

Within months, we might be able to take the kids for a round of disc-golf after school and work.

Within weeks we may hear of even more opportunities to come.

With plenty of innovative minds filled with plenty of quality ideas, there’s no telling what the sporting future may hold for this area.

While these sports may not be the norm, there’s nothing wrong with them.

Change is Good.

Sports Marketing Meeting Meeting Reveals Local Wish List

Sunday, May 21, 2006
BRIAN WALKER The Kentucky Standard


Public encouraged to submit more ideas

It was the quality no quantity that made the meeting work.

The turnout of 13 people Thursday night for the first public discussion of sports marketing and tourism was more than organizers had expected. Attendees came armed with ideas for a variety of attractions, but the best part was that each carried a genuine enthusiasm, organizers said.

“This is great. To see these folks come in here and talk about what they’d like to see here and to have them commit to help is wonderful,” Bardstown / Nelson County Tourist and Convention Commission Chairman Nicky Rapier said.

The tourism board decided during numerous discussions through the years there was an untapped market of alternative sports, regional events and tournaments that could and should be held in Nelson County.

The board recently took action and hired Steve Small, a retired Western Kentucky University women’s basketball coach, to work as a part-time sports marketing director for the county.

Small introduced himself to the audience at the Fiscal County Meeting Room in the old courthouse with a 10-minute talk about his beliefs and dreams for Nelson County.

He touted the success of plans he helped implement in Bowling Green such as the disc golf explosion, a karate tournament and the popularity of soapbox racing.

Small said he wants to ensure locals get their desires met first even though bringing folks from outside Nelson County here to enjoy the area and to eat in the restaurants and stay in the hotels is important.

“We have got to make sure people that live and work in Bardstown and Nelson County have the recreation and sporting events and things they want first before we worry about everybody else,” he said. “If there is a local market, we will tap into those people and expand it from there.”

Bardstown Parks Department Director Donna Pascal said she was at the meeting to support the efforts of the tourism board and to offer any expertise she could.

Several members of the Bardstown Boaters Club, local disc golf duffers and Mike Hammons, owner of Horizon Hoppers Adventure Services, a local canoe and outdoors operation, were there to ask questions and seek advice on how to push each of the sports they enjoy.

Disc golf combines tossing a Frisbee-like disc into wire baskets, generally mounted on poles on a course. Many rules of standard golf apply in play.

“I’d like to see what it would take to get a white water park set up on Beech Fork River,” said Spalding Hurst of the Bardstown boaters. “There is a great location we have in mind and I know it would draw in kayakers and boaters from all over the place because there isn’t anything like this here close.”

After some group discussion, Hurst and others explained they must travel great distances to do some aspects of their sport and this would become a destination site for boaters or all types.

Rapier said he knows there is currently talk of how to better utilize the river for a water source for Nelson County. Plans are underway to build a new dam, making this the ideal time for the boaters’ wishes to be worked into the project, he said.

“I want you guys to help us do some homework on the logistics and how to help get something like this done in Bardstown,” Rapier said.

Dawn Ballard, Vice President of Tourism Expansion and Marketing for the commission, said she would arrange a more one-on-one meeting with the boaters so in-depth discussion on the topic could take place.

A trio of disc golf players from the area said the closest courses are in Elizabethtown and Radcliff. Those who want to play will drive great distances for a good course, they said.

Small, who said from the outset of his time on the job he supports the game, intends to see a course up and running by year’s end.

“I have been working on trails and different types of things that could be useful in construction of a disc golf course,” Hammons said. The golfers volunteered labor and knowledge too.

That type of cooperation is what it will take to make the work Small and others are doing pay off, Rapier said.

“I’m excited about this,” he said. “We had a nice turnout for a first meeting and there is going to be plenty to follow up on from tonight.”

For more information, call Ballard at 348-4877, Ext. 114 or log onto www.bardstownboaters.com, www.discgolf.com, www.horizonhoppers.com, www.kycanoe.com or www.visitbardstown.com.

Brian Walker can be reached at 348-9003, Ext. 114 or bwalker@kystandard.com.

Elkhorn Clinic II

Elkhorn Creek
280cfs

Today, Jennifer and I paddled the Elkhorn at low water. The weather was fantastic and my shoulder was starting to feel better. I think paddling is good therapy on my shoulder.

But anyways, Jennifer had her first kayaking trip! She paddled my kayak and I canoed. It didn't take long before she was tearing it up and wishing the Elkhorn had bigger rapids on it. But even at 280cfs it wasn't that bad. A good day for a float, scrappy but still fun.

She flipped on Colston Lane rapid but swimmed with the best of them. We did some surfing at Angiioplasty. Had a great time. I shouldn't have backed on ya Saturday Zack. But I did get some good pictures down at the Beech Fork on Saturday, home of the future Bardstown Whitewater Park!

Paddle Pickup 2006

Beech Fork River
Manton to 49 Bridge
650cfs



more pictures

The 2006 Paddle Pickup was a huge success! Once again volunteers came out in full force even with a forecast of bad weather. For our efforts Mother Nature sided with the Bardstown Boaters as 29 volunteers pulled out as much garbage as we did in the past, filling a huge dumpster along highway 49 with tires, toilets, water heaters, air conditioners, vaccums and beer cans. All pulled from the banks of our beloved Beech Fork River.

For the 2006 Paddle Pickup we paddled 9 canoes and 1 kayak 6.5 miles from Manton bridge to 49 bridge. Halfway along the journey we began filling the canoes to the brim with trash. At the take out we met with 10 other volunteers who had already pulled all the garbage from that area.

We only had one swim during the event. Kenny and Edie, as the 1st generation showed the 3rd generation the ways of the water.

Horizon Hoppers, Dean Watts, and the Bardstown Rotary Club all once again showed their support for the local enviroment by donating everything the Bardstown Boaters needed to pull off this event. But what is appriciated most is the support from the volunteers old and especially new who came out on May 13th and did something we can all be proud of.



We will see you all next year in May for the next Paddle Pickup if not on a river sometime before then!

2006 Participants
Jay Thomas, Spalding Hurst, Justin Janes, Jennifer Miles, Betsy Berns, Lindsay Schultz, Kenny Thomas, Shirl Thomas, John Thomas, David Gerald Seward, Aarin Lee Seward, Tom Lamont, Wes Parish, Ellen Thimme, Ethan Thimme, Edie Johnson, Angela Babb, Melissa Babb, Marie Babb, Jason Jones, Colin Masters, Tim Wheat, Emerson Ballard, Zack Wimpsett, John B. Mathews, David Etheredge, Toby Thompson and Donna Miles

Elkhorn Clinic

Elkhorn Creek
340cfs



Today Jay and I took John Thomas out for his first kayaking experience. He said it was a good one. John completed the alpha and the Omega, swimming once a the very beginning, just getting used to the water and wet exits, then swimming again at the very end, getting used to bumping off of rocks.

For the low water level it was surprisingly playful out there. There was a cool side surfing wave at the old bridge rapid. I caught the big wave at the big drop thingy and the right side of Angioplasty was pretty good. The rock wall has been built up there and provides better eddy service.

It was another great day on the water, wish you could have been there!

Elkhorn After Work

Elkhorn Creek
1000cfs



Jay and I ran the Elkhorn after work. There wasn't as much play out there as we thought there might have been, but it was a good little run. Jay is still hesitant to work on his roll. I want a new boat.