Ohio River May 28-June 2, 2016

Madison, IN, to Rome, IN

May 28 River mile 558-566.5 Jeff Matthews was the treasure we found to help us on this leg of the journey. I had called the town hall or community center and said, as I had in the past, that we were looking for someone who might help us get in and out of the river this year. The woman suggested Jeff as he is a kayaker. However, he was away at the time. A few days later, I was able to talk to him on the phone and he agreed to help us. We met him at his home in Hanover, IN, and he drove us back to Madison to start our journey. 

We camped overnight in a wilderness site after paddling 8.5 miles. We had recently learned that all land up to the high water mark of the river is public land even if  part of private property. This was one of those sites where we could see a couple of high water marks but stayed within what we thought was ok. It was a good site, but that night brought us one of the biggest scares of our journey. We were awakened by the sounds of a wild animal, perhaps a coyote or wild dog, chasing its prey which may have been a fawn for the meek cries it made. It really sounded as if that animal was going to charge right through our tent as we heard it run past on one side and then turn and run past us again. It was not until morning that Karen said she thought it may have been a wild boar! That didn’t even cross my mind even though my heart had been pounding out of my chest when I awoke to the commotion.

May 29 River mile 566.5-592.5 We left the site around 7:25 after our restless night. It was a beautiful morning with fog on the hillsides.We took a lunch break in Westport at a public park where we enjoyed a banana popsicle from a local vending truck. There were lots of boats coming and going from the ramp as it was Memorial Day weekend. One of the vehicles launching boats had run over a long snake which was a memorable sight on the boat ramp!

The day became very, very hot.  We found Tartan’s Landing Marina and paddled into its lagoon.  There was a man attending to his sail boat.  We know people do have sail boats on the Ohio but have never seen one on the waters.  We hailed him and asked if we could leave our canoe at the dock and where we might find some shade to rest and/or find ice.  He didn’t think there was ice anywhere but directed us to a small patch of shade.  We rested there in the relative cool under the mulberry trees.  We even slept a little.  Then we decided to walk around the lagoon to the office to see if there was ice or cold drinks.  It was a bit of a walk and when we were nearly there, we found gates indicating that we were really not welcome.  So we turned back and decided to paddle on.

When we got back to the canoe, a pontoon boat was arriving with a man, woman and their little dog.  The woman called out words of admiration for our courage, and that started a conversation which led to being invited into their nearby home on the river (which we had passed while paddling), complete with AC.  We were invited to use the bathrooms and enjoy a soda.  After some conversation and admiration of their beautiful home overlooking the river, we headed out, but not before Sue gave us water, sodas and chocolate to take on our way.  Sue wouldn’t let us photograph her but she did take a photo of us on the colorful deck of their beautiful home.

Sue and Tony had suggested our next camping spot on 12 mile island, so we headed there.  As we came closer to Louisville, the waters became more full of recreational vehicles for the Memorial Day weekend.  The wakes from the boats rocked us as we paddled toward the island.  When we arrived, there were many boats lashed together as we learned friends do on the river to make one big party.  Not sure that we wanted to be in the midst of a weekend party, we moved forward anyway.  Pulling our canoe up on shore we noted a kayak was also there.  We walked up the steps to the park on this city owned island and found only one other tent.  After scoping out our own tent area, we met the tent’s owner, Mitch, and we became friends.

May 30 River mile 592.5-609.5 Mitch set off early to meet us in Louisville. We arrived at the Lousiville Community Boat House at about 10:15 with Mitch waiting for us on the dock. He was a welcome sight and showed us to the boathouse and the showers. What a memorable Memorial Day he had in store for us. After our showers, he took us to breakfast in a quaint cafe, and then on to Churchill Downs. We seldom get to see the sights of river towns or cities, so this was a rare treat. I got my first senior discount to get into Churchill Downs. We watched a couple of races but made no bets. We are not betting women…we take our risks in other ways! Mitch also took us to the Lousiville Slugger museum and an art exhibit in a downtown hotel. Our tour included the full size replica of The David on the main street of the city! We were back at the canoe in time to get some cooler miles under our paddles before dark set in.

The days were getting hotter so we planned to awake earlier to get on the river in the cool of the morning.  That evening, we made it through the McAlpine lock and dam in Louisville and headed downstream.  We found a rock ledge to camp on that night.  Right on the river.  We enjoyed a fire on the rocks and when Maggie waved at a passing barge at dusk, the barge honked back.  That was also a first.  We always wave at the tugs, but we can never see if they are looking at us.  Apparently we hit that one just right!

We were a little skittish at this site from our wild animal experience a few nights back and so when a dog ran toward us from the dark, it was startling. But it turned out to be a friendly dog also enjoying the river with some local kids fishing.

May 31 River mile 609.5-638 The next morning, we started early again to gain as many miles as possible in the cool of the morning. We took a lunch break in West Point, KY, at 12:30 pm and picked up hot dogs at the local Valero station. Met Kimberly who told us about the town’s Civil War history. We walked around and read about the historical sites and ate our hot dogs in a park. We continued on with the destination of Otter River State Park. We saw an eagle and another beaver that day. We arrived at Otto River Park at 6 pm, having paddled 28.5 miles. We found that the park was closed but we could get up the ramp and to a camping area. We had the park all to ourselves except for the turtle that we helped cross the train tracks. Well, Karen wondered if I was helping it. Maybe it didn’t want to be on the other side of the tracks! And there was the water snake…and the trains. Yes, the trains. The track was a few dozen feet from our tent! Three trains came through on the track …one at 9 in the evening, one at 11ish at night and one at 4:45 am.  That one got us up and at it for another early paddle.  This was the first time we had ever started out before sunrise and it was beautiful. We were ready to leave before sunrise at 6 am!

June 1 River mile 638-664 Arrived at a nice town part in Breandenburg, KY, at 8 am where we had breakfast. Prior to breakfast we had seen two osprey and another beaver.  We took another long midday break and continued on our way.  At one point, a small fishing boat with one man approached us.  We don’t remember anyone else ever approaching us while we were out on the river.  He called out that he likes to find out where people are coming from and where they are going!  We held on to his boat and chatted for a while and then he insisted on giving us water and some oatmeal cookies to take along with us.  We ate some of the cookies with him but kept others right up to the last day we were on the river.  

Later in the day, we took a lunch and nap break in New Amsterdam, Indiana.  After snoozing a bit in the pavilion, we were joined by Sarah and Zachary.  Sarah is a junior in high school and took the time to talk with us for quite a while about being a farm/country girl in that area. She loves her family and her community and spoke so eloquently of her life and the river. 

 

Hot and fairly bothered, we later landed in Leavenworth, Indiana, late in the afternoon. During that day we saw lots of barge traffic and quarries and interesting tunnels where the quarries had been. We even chatted with a tugboat worker at one point. The wildlife that afternoon was a duck that was acting like a killdeer, luring us away from its young, looking maimed so we, the predator, would go for it. Once it felt out of danger from us, it flew away! 

 

We had hoped to camp at an RV park on the river but they do not allow tents, apparently by state law.  They had no showers or toilets.  We had our hearts set on dinner in a restaurant but they do not exist on the river in the area where we were this year.  The man at the RV park said there was a restaurant up the hill but it was quite a hike.  We thanked him after getting permission to leave our canoe at their ramp.  Then we sat down and assessed the situation.  We decided to go for the restaurant and hope to find a place to stay before dark downriver.  We headed out on foot and it turned out that the restaurant was about 300 feet above the river and about a two mile hike.  We were exhausted and very hot when we finally got to The Overlook Restaurant.  When the waitress learned we had walked from the river she was surprised.  Conversations started up with people on both sides of us.  Joe and Donna talked at length with us and he tried to find us a place to stay, to no avail.  The waitress brought us over some tourist info and Maggie called the first cabins on the list and that is how we found Karen and Gary, owners of the Big Timber River Cabins.  Actually, there is only one cabin now but they are building more and we highly recommend them for a tourist destination.  They made the cabin ready for us quickly, fetched us from the restaurant, drove us to pick up our canoe and gear in their truck, then took us to their beautiful cabin. 

Karen and Gary transported us to and from the river for two days. Our lodging was such a beautiful handmade log cabin.  We ended up staying two nights and they shuttled us to and from our put in and take out points for two days. Those two nights may have saved the whole trip for us…and kept us dry from the storm the second night.

June 2 River mile 664-683 When Karen and Gary picked us up we asked if we could take them to dinner at KC’s Betty Rays Landing Bar and Restaurant in Magnet, IN. It was quite an experience, notable for all the dollar bills hanging from the ceiling of the bar and the fried catfish and gizzards! 

June 3 River mile 683-701 Karen and Gary delivered us back to Magnet for our last day on the river. Showered, fed, and rested, we aimed for Rome, IN,where we planned to be picked up by Jeff at 4:30 pm. We stopped for lunch at a nice reiverside park and met David Alexander of Forgotten Time Cabines. He was working on the new community center in Darby, paid for by the mining company that had pulled out of town. The next year, we drove past the community center which was all finished and full of people.

We met Jeff Matthews, our driver, just a few minutes after 4 and he drove us back to his home and we chatted for a bit with him and Kathy.  They presented us with two local bottles of wine and then we were on our way home.  We have always had the fortune of finding people to shuttle us at the beginning and end of our trips.  This was the farthest anyone has had to travel to do this for us.  It took five hours from Jeff’s home and yet he did it with enthusiasm, sharing his own stories of paddling kayaks and canoes all over the Midwest.  We hope to see him in New England sometime soon. 

We have learned over the years that there are always people who will help us along the way.  We have, more importantly, learned that we could not do these trips without those people.  We are so grateful to all those, named and unnamed, who have showed kindness to us along this journey.