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Managed 25 miles on the river today . Again the river didn’t help us very much and we had to earn every mile. We had many kindnesses along the way and now we have a beautiful campsite and a beautiful evening with fireflies on the Ohio River out of front door.

We were lucky to get a beautiful campsite last night right along the Little Hocking river. We were unlucky enough to hear dogs barking nearby literally ALL night. They sounded at times like they were killing each other. We’ll paddle for a bit this morning and then find somewhere to nap in the heat of the day.

So, it is only February, but Karen and I were able to spend a day together this past weekend to hatch plans for our next trip.  We are tentatively set to head back onto the Ohio River on Sunday, June 17th, and paddle for four days and maybe part of a fifth day.  We hope to get another 125 miles or so down the river.  And we look forward to paddling at a time of the year that we should not need to wear our wetsuits.  They are helpful when it is cold but a nuisance in all the ways you can imagine and perhaps some that you can’t imagine if you have never worn one!  Some of the things we are thinking about:

Does this dry and snowless winter mean that the river will be low and S-L-O-W???

It was clear when we arrived in Marietta last October that we were in new, flat, midwestern terrain.  Will that continue?

Who will be the angels who help us along the way this time?

Will we get to paddle without it raining every day?

So, stay tuned for more plans and ponderings.

We spent three rainy days on the Ohio River this time…we almost pulled the plug on the adventure this time after the first day.  We were soaked, shivering and the end of the rain was not in sight.  However, we found a park shelter and hunkered down after finding a sports bar in Paden City, WV, to get a hot supper.  In the morning (and we did stay dry and warm in the tent!) we decided to chance another day…heading out to the amazement of some of the people in the RV park who stood and took our photos as we set sail.  We paddled for about 30 minutes when the rains started again and we found another shelter and stayed for about two hours, fixing our first hot lunch and finding a heated restroom at the campground where we warmed up a bit.  We decided to shoot for a Wayne National Forest and a campground about 17 miles down.  As long as we knew we had a campground ahead, we didn’t mind the idea of getting soaked again…so we did and we were rewarded by finding a peaceful lagoon like entrance to the park…quiet and still.  We set up camp, enjoyed the bath facilities including how showers and successfully made a smoky campfire with soaked wood…but it was a campfire.  A beautiful park and refuge for us.  Finally, the third day we awoke to the potential of no rain.  We headed out with Marietta in our scopes.  We paddled the full day, only a mist of rain but cloudy…sometimes the clouds thinned enough that we got a bit of sunburn on our noses.  When we got out in Marietta, Ohio, a quaint small city on the river, the sun came out in earnest to celebrate our completing 400 miles of our journey since 2001!  So, it was worth it to us…the river continues to entrance me and gave us gifts like the siting of a bald eagle on that last day!  More later…from both of us!

And they’re off!

I never imagined I would be so drawn to river life.  I can hardly wait to get back out.  Karen and I will be going back out on the Ohio on October 2 for three days.  I have made some connections in Powhatan Point, OH, where we got out of the river in May.  Jennifer is a woman who works at the City Building there and I found my way to her by calling the local Riverside Restaurant where we had had lunch in May awaiting Karen’s son Kyle to pick us up.  Jennifer spoke with her aunt who lives on the river and she is willing to let us camp there our first night and then put Wonder, our red canoe in there as well.  Jennifer is now looking for someone who might pick us up downriver and drive us back to Powhatan Point.  I have every reason to believe that she will succeed.  We have found folks along the river helpful and welcoming.

If we do about 25-27 miles a day, we will have the good fortune of spending two nights in the Wayne National Forest along the river.  I was hoping we would get a chance to visit the Ohio River Museum in Marietta but it is closed during the week for the season.  So we will have to learn about the river through our normal processes….looking and asking questions along the way.

The goal on this trip may be to get to Belpre which will add about 80 miles to our journey.

On October 1, I fly to Pittsburgh where Karen will meet me and we’ll drive down to Powhatan Point, set up for the night and hope to get some rest for the journey ahead.  I’ll ask Chelsea if she will be able to help us again by posting photos on our blog that I will text message to her.  So, stay tuned, and thanks for your interest in following this Wonder-ful journey of ours.

Just as the river changes constantly, so do our lives. Karen decided to resign from a position she has held for 18 years. A leap of faith for her as she opens herself to what life holds for her next. I am now a year into a new job I took when I moved back from New Mexico. Karen’s oldest son has become engaged. My daughter just got a book deal with Random House. Karen and Mark have a new house to work on. And our husbands continue to be the souls willing to anchor our adventurous beings.

And through it all the river keeps flowing steadily and faithfully to the Gulf of Mexico. I want to learn from the river. I love the river, by which I mean rivers in general. But I am having a hard time learning about the peace and the strength they carry.

Since I moved back to the east coast, we can now try to plan more than a trip on the river every year or two. We want to go for a couple of trips EACH year. However, each trip still takes effort as we live in two different states and we will be paddling between two others. Getting Wonder, our red canoe, to the river is Karen’s job as she is the caretaker. Getting me there is the job of Southwest Airlines. Yes, it remains complicated.

Perhaps this time out I will learn more and really absorb the power of the river. We will return to the Ohio River the first weekend of October, hoping to catch a warmish fall and not have to don our wetsuits for this short trip. We will put in where we pulled out in May in the small town of Powhatan Point, Ohio. Karen ordered the new navigational charts and has them in hand. I have looked up some phone numbers to find people who might help us get to and from our car. My plane reservations are made.

What will the river teach us this time? Will she flow more slowly in the fall? In May we had the advantage of the spring rains. LOTS of spring rains and a fast moving river. Usually we paddle in the spring. I don’t think we have been on either of the big rivers in the fall.

So, please stay tuned as we gear up, literally and figuratively, for another few days of geting off the grid…well, with our cell phones, of course…and letting Mother Nature retrain us.