Kayaking - Dyers Creek Recreation Area

Dyers Creek Recreation Area 4/21/13                        Miles Traveled 6, Total 37.5
Julie & Scotty
60degrees, blue skies, breezy

There were lots of people out here taking advantage of a first sunny day.  We paddled out to the Cumberland River.  It was hard paddling here against the current and into the wind.  It was much easier in the creek and inlet areas.  Scotty put his wet socks on the bumper and they stayed there on our drive home!

Kayaking - Jones Creek, Scotty & Dick

Jones Creek, 3/16/13                            Miles Traveled 9, Total 31.5
Dick & Scott w/ Aquaholics, 8 total
Near Harpeth River, Put in on Jones Creek, Take out Petty Road
75 degrees, sunny/breezy

This was supposed to be Class 2.  It was very, very shallow; lots of scraping.  Scotty had to help pull one guy over many of the shallow spots.

Kayaking - Tremmell Creek, KY

Tremmell Creek, KY 2/23/13                                   Miles Traveled 11 miles, Total 22.5 miles
Tremmell Creek near Bowling Green
w/ Bowling Green Meetup, Julie, Scotty, Dick - 15 total
11:15-3:15, 4 hours

It was cold and we had to bundle up.  At one point, one guy fell in - brr, it was really cold for him that day.  Several twists on this river.  One section of the creek was completely blocked.  The guys pulled our yaks over the logs and the rest of us had to walk along the bank through lots of brush.  We were VERY tired at the end of the day!  :)

Kayaking - Harpeth River 1/19/13

January 19, 2013                   Miles Traveled 7.5 miles, Total 11.5
Harpeth River:  Highway 70 to Harris Street Bridge
12:00 to 2:15, 2 hours 15 minutes
w/ Dick

This was a GREAT day.  It had rained a lot in the days before so the water was high.  At the bend, the water was so high that we couldn't see the rocks.  On previous treks down this river we could see the rocks here.  The water was choppy in 2 places.  The river had a good current and we traveled at a fast speed.  We loved it!!
(Side note - Dick went back to this river a week or 2 later and talked with a ranger there.  The official couldn't believe we had gone down the river after that rain.  He didn't think it was safe!)

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Kayaking - West Fork River - Fish Heads From Above!

West Fork River 6/22/13                       Miles Traveled 12.6, Total 102.3
West Fork River to Red River to Cumberland, 7:30-12:30, Sunny, 75 to 85 degrees
w/ Friends of the Blueway and Blueway Access Adventures
w/ Scotty, Julie, Dottie about 24 total

We had to start early as Blueway Adventures was shuttling and Scotty needed to be at McGregor Park. He rode a school bus up and we put in at Billy Dunlop Park.  While he was gone, I discovered that one of the paddles was almost cracked at the end.  I put it together with the other half and duct taped it together, it seemed strong as it wasn't all the way cracked.  It was a beautiful day and we were rewarded immediately with a shot of sunshine coming down through the trees.  Very soon, I also saw cows standing in the river.  As more kayaks came through, all of the cows headed up to the bank.  I hadn't intended to take the lead, but the other kayaks were putting in very slowly.  So a group of 7 of us traveled most of the way down together down the river.   We also saw a deer standing extremely quiet on the shore.  Scotty and Dottie had seen it long before I had!  I also saw a river otter pop it's head out of the water to see what was coming through.  Later, a few of us saw a river otter scampering on the bank.   At one point in our trip, several items dropped from the trees just in front of our kayaks.  This took us totally by surprise.  When we looked up, we saw lots of herons' nests.  Then as we traveled on, something else dropped out of the trees just between Dottie's boat and another woman's boat.  We think that as the heron's flew out of their nests, they dropped fish heads.  We never were really sure what dropped, but it certainly was a surprise!  This was an interesting paddle.  We felt like we were going so very, very slow and the other kayakers never did catch up to us.  We're thinking that they were on a float and we were on a paddle.  A funny thing happened at the end when Dottie and I walked into the restaurant from the back on Cumberland Drive.  We looked and looked and looked on the Wendy's menu for Frosties!  We finally realized that we were NOT in Wendys, and settled for Burger King vanilla ice cream cones.  Scotty and I had earlier decided that after every 100 miles, we'd reward ourselves with a milkshake.  These weren't milkshakes, but they certainly were a delicious end to a great day.

Leaf Chronicle Article - Tour de Clarksville

I hereby give this rock the name 'sandwich rock'.

Breaktime where little West Fork comes into the West Fork River.  There are not any places to really stop along this river.

Can you find the heron?

"Look Ma, no hands!"

Isn't she cute?

This is the bridge at Billy Dunlop Park.

This picture alone shows why I love to kayak!  Thanks God for a lovely view!!

Kayaking - Percy Priest Night Paddle

Percy Priest 6/18/13                           Miles Traveled 4, Total 89.7
From Hamilton Marina to Goose Island
w/ Paddle Adventures Unlimited group, Julie, Ethan, Beatrix, Alicia

Ethan and I were in Nashville this day at the Apple store, then Cheesecake Factory so we decided we'd try this paddle.  We drove with the kayaks atop the Highlander.  We had them strapped onto the 2 2x4's.  They seemed secure until we picked up speed, then the green one on the passenger side tended to bounce up and down at the tip.  So we drove down on the old Clarksville Highway.

We thought we'd be late, but got there just at 5:45.  Others were very late so we didn't put in until much later.  There were probably about 22 paddlers, 5 of us were from Clarksville.  Beatrix and her daughter Alicia were there.  It was fun seeing Beatrix paddle with her little dog Sammie along for the ride.  The lake was very calm.  It was an easy paddle out (and back).  Within the group there was also a stand up paddler and also a gentlemen trying out a very small kayak that he kept rolling.  When we got to the island, we hung out for awhile.   Most people had a snack or a drink with them.  The best part of this paddle was heading back to the marina.  We all put lights on our boat and the moon was just starting to come out.  It's always beautiful out on the water, but tonight was extra nice watching the lit-up kayaks glide across the moonlit lake!  I'd love to do another moonlight paddle, but this paddle is only 4 miles and I'm not sure it's worth driving over an hour to get there.  But, I'm glad I got to do it with Ethan.  He's a great companion!