New River Again

3 ft
McCreery to Stone Cliff

We decided that once wasn't enough so we put together a new crew and headed back to the New.  Emerson Ballard joined us for his inaugural journey, along with Kenny, Jay, Toby and Beastie.  The water level seemed lower than last but it was still great paddling.  The weather was great and camping at Stone Cliff was great.

I started catching a cold at the start of the drive there and by Sunday morning was too sick to paddle.  So in all we only paddled from McCreery to Stone Cliff on Saturday.

We took our time at Silo scouting and taking pictures.  I got to run the canoe through and got that old feeling of whitewater canoeing back.  It made me wish more than ever that I had not missed the Rio Grande Paddle.  Now I have a huge urge to go canoe camping on some whitewater. Maybe I'll look into getting a good deal on a used whitewater canoe. Maybe a Dagger Rival for $300 from a guy in South Carolina.

Emerson swam some this trip.  Beastie did too.  And Toby once, while tearing up some surf.  I know that everyone enjoyed themselves as this easy section of the New is a whole lot of fun to different types of boaters at all levels.  We'll probably be back out there again soon.  Maybe not this year.  But next year is quickly approaching.

Water Shortage Solutions

Wednesday, October 5, 2005 8:21 AM EDT
DAVID MANN The Kentucky Standard

Nelson Fiscal Court and Bardstown City Council want to work together to solve a perceived water shortage in the county.

County Judge Executive Dean Watts said Tuesday during a meeting of Nelson Fiscal Court the two bodies will schedule a joint meeting to address the issue.

Court members as well as councilman John Royalty, who attended Tuesday's Fiscal Court meeting, agreed a joint meeting between the two bodies would be productive.

A date has not been set.

Bardstown Mayor Dixie Hibbs could not be reached for comment. Watts, pointed out however, that she approached him for the meeting. She also mentioned the potential joint meeting at last week's City Council meeting.

Citing recent water supply concerns and recent calls for voluntarily conservation, Nelson Fiscal Court announced its intention to find a new water source.

The Court approved a motion last month allowing Watts to seek federal grant money for a feasibility study to find new sources of water for the county.

For now, Watts said, federal money will have to wait. Congressman Ron Lewis is asking the federal leaders to halt spending on local projects because of hurricanes Rita and Katrina, he noted.

The city supplies about 90 percent of Nelson County's water, according to Hibbs.

Sympson Lake is the primary source of that water. The city also pumps water from the Beech Fork River.

The Beech Fork supplies the city with about a day's supply of water, around 6 million gallons. There are limits, however, on how much the city can take from the source.

According to the Center of Urban and Economic Research, county population is expected to increase by more than 80 percent in the next 30 years.

Watts said last month he would prefer a lake as a solution to the shortage.

A lake would give the community self-dependence and provide an additional recreational area, he said.

Elkhorn is Back

400cfs

Jay and I finally got back on the Elkhorn, after hurricane Katrina finally gave the area some water.  We all thought the huge downpours would bring everything up and for a good while.  That wasn't the case.  New Orleans got obliterated and all we got was a 3 day window on the Elkhorn.  Luckily we got on the Elkhorn by Friday at the last moment.  400 is a good level, plenty of fun to be had at that level.  The weather was magnificent too.  Now we have our sights set back on the New.

The Future

During our past camp trip we decided that for next year we may try to install $10 membership dues. Then use the money to get us listed as an official whitewater club with American Whitewater. This cost $75 per year. Thus giving us more exposure by being listed on there website and in there bi-monthly magazine and hopefully a larger membership base.

We want to also organize another charitable event, maybe something tied in with the Bourbon Festival next year so we can get exposure by being listed in their literature and website as an official bourbon festival event. Something like a Bourbon Float. "Travel down the old Beech Fork river to see the old dam where Evan Williams was first distilled". Something like that.

2006 is all about adding new membership and promoting paddling to the Bardstown community.

Falls of the Ohio

Jay and I finally checked out the falls last night. We ran what I assume to be rebar alley. The water was fast and scrapy on this day. There were a few little waves but nothing special for surfing. We slowly, as slowly as we could, made our way down the 400 yard stretch. It goes by very quickly. Next time we want to check out the lower site. Not too bad of a spot. We'll be back.

Full Moon A Risin' On The Beech Fork

Dam to Camp to Dam
20cfs

Beastie led Tim, Toby, Zach and I up and down the mighty Fork this past weekend. This was a send off trip for Zach, his last Kentucky wilderness trip. He shoves off to Hawaii soon. The water was low, so we couldn't make our planned route of 49 to 31e a reality. But quick on our feet we decided to go from the dam up and then back the next morning. This worked perfectly. Plenty of water held back from the dam.

I also found the perfect route through the dam to modify. We need to move 8 rocks to the side and build up a small ledge. It would be a great chute and ledge drop when water runs through it. A wench on a tree and a long cable could get the job done.

Nantahala

Jay, Sarah, Jennifer and I spent the weekend at the Nantahala. We made a raft trip down the river on Saturday and a kayak trip stopping short at the Pizza Shack. Beastie went with us again on the raft trip. Jay and I were able to patch up the raft very good and get it back in action for this trip. The second day Jay and I ran the falls a couple of times in the morning and then we hit the road driving through the very scenic highway 28, followed by the very curvy dragon's tail section of 128. Don't know if it was faster or not going that way, the highway is probably the best route. Everyone seemed to have a great time on the river and everyone is interested in doing it again. We stayed at Freeman's motel. Secluded little place, very basic. They lost power Saturday night after a storm hit the area. We also drove along the blue ridge parkway at night and stopped at an incredible place along there. Good trip, for sure.

Paddle Pick-Up

This Saturday was not so much a paddling adventure but was certainly an adventure. I never thought we would have pulled out so many tires and the amount of garbage that we did, but with 32 volunteers we certainly put the dent into the cleanup of the Beech Fork that we were hoping for, and more.



We ran 6 canoes from the fairgrounds to 31E and had 4 wheelers, a tractor and trailer shuttling garbage up the hill at the bridge. We estimate that we pulled out 125 tires and around 1 ton of trash from the river. Next year we might go from 49 bridge to the fairgrounds and do it in May to coincide with the National River Cleanup week.
Everyone put in a lot of hard work this day and the preplanning could not have been more perfectly executed. Also the cookout afterwards was a huge success.

Rockcastle Day Trip

300cfs

Jay and I got in a day trip to the Rockcastle. A great river day with lots of combat rolling for me, the has helped my confidance on the river I think. After jumping into a whole on Screaming Right last week and now getting worked a touch in the Narrows I feel better about my cobat rolling. I am calm under the water in rapids. The details: We left at 7:30am from Louisville and shoved off at 11:30am on the river. The shuttle setup and getting to the put-in is long. Stair steps was god, we walked around Beech Narrows which looked very grabby this day and then had a blast on the 6 drops of the lower narrows. The lake was at 717ft, this gave us 6 rapids in the Narrows, covering one small rapid that I know of, that was exposed last time at 711ft. So there really aren't a whole bunch of rapids for such a long shuttle, but the Rockcastle is beautiful and no one else goes down there. We got lost trying to get back out to Highway 80. The road signs and maps don't jive very well. When taking Squib-Ano road out take a left at the Adkins/Arthur crossing. I may be getting to a point where I would like some more excitement in my kayaking, but I still love the Rockcastle the best. I think the rating on AW.org needs to be class II-III(IV) Next time I go I hope to get pictures of all the rapids and update the website on AW.

Cumberland Below The Falls

1500cfs



Jay, Scott and I headed for Corbin, KY yesterday and ran the section of whitewater below the Falls of the Cumberland. It's a bout a 3 hours door to shove off after gearing up, checking in, walking down to shore from the parking lot. We set up a shuttle through Sheltowee Trace, it just sucks having to wait around after the trip for a ride back to our car and to waiting for the kayaks to come back to the outfitter. But the trip was well worth the visit. We had a great time, Jay sam Center Rock, Scott styled it. Scott swam Screaming Right, Jay styled it. I was flipping all over the place improving on my combat roll. I thought I had taken a bad line on Screaming right, but it turned out to be okay. We really should be running this stretch more often since it is so close to home. But it still falls short to the Rockcastle.