Kayak Yakking and More: Kayaking 8/25-Caney Fork River

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Kayaking 8/25-Caney Fork River - Nature All Around

Kayaking - Caney Fork River - Nature All Around 9 miles

Put in at Long Branch Boat Ramp, Took out at Betty's Island

Me, Scotty, Laurie, Jack, Ann, Clyde, Jim

2 hours 7 minutes paddling time, 4.2 mph

While we waited for the others to come back from shuttling, we watched a fiasco with some other kayakers. An outfitter came and dropped off some people and no more than 50 yards from the launch, one of the kayaks tipped. He had a really hard time getting his boat to the bank so that he could dump out the water. We did notice that once he got on shore, that is when he put on his life jacket. He struggled for quite a while and got back in. He tipped again and the outfitter driver and Clyde went to help him steady the boat so he could get in. He was off and then no more than 10 feet of paddling he tipped again. So another from their group got into the kayak, paddled 10 feet and he tipped. Clyde who was with our group came back and said that the boat was extremely unstable. This is not the river to be paddling on with an unstable kayak, without a PFD, and if you’re new to the sport. The water is so cold it is possible that you could get hypothermia. This went on for quite awhile and then their paddle went floating downriver with the outfitter running on shore to try and get it. The second kayaker came back to the launch and said that he thinks one of the screws was loose in the kayak and would immediately fill up with water. The outfitter is going to switch out boats with them. They finally got a more stable kayak and were able to start their float.

Our other 3 came back from shuttling and we began our float down the river. The gates on the dam are open from 11 to 6 which is when they generate power. As a result there’s a surge in the water level in the flow picks up tremendously. when the gates are closed the water level goes down in the current decreases so you have to time when you go on this river. We had an absolutely beautiful day with bright blue skies and puffy white clouds. The water is clear here and you can often see the big trout below you. The banks were lined flowers and today we saw Queen Anne’s lace, ironweed, and cardinal flowers. As far as wildlife we saw an Osprey fly down the river before us. On the shore we saw a blue heron, a fawn drinking from the river, cows, and Canadian geese. this river twists and turns and you actually cross over it when you’re on I-40 several times. we had our lunch break on a gravel bar under the first I 40 overpass where it was shady although it was loud. There were six of us on the paddle today. We paddled with Ann, Lori and Jack before, but this was our first time paddling with Clyde and Jim. Although it’s a long drive to get to this river for us, we thoroughly enjoyed the day.