Maps used for trip report: Little Miami River
Last night Mikey C. and I went on a long paddle for an evening. The "Spring Valley Launch to Caeser Creek Access" (view that link on the left on the map) mapped out to 9.89 miles, which I'll round up to 10. The majority of this route was new river for us so when we set out to to find the start and end points it is always a bit of adventure. We frequently use public access to park out vehicles and they close at dark. That means we have to park on the side of the road outside the gate. You never know if the vehicles will still be there on in one piece when we go back to them.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Night Paddle - Rt. 68 to Jacobs Landing
Map Used: http://www.Henrynet.com/mapping/LittleMiamiRiver.htm
Link On Map: "Rt. 68 to Jacobs Landing"
Gage height, feet = 1.39 on 09-08-2009 @ 10:30
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=03240000
Mikey C. and I did a night paddle last night (7 Sept 2009) and had the type of "good time" that you don't repeat. The section we were on is towards the beginning of the Little Miami and therefore the water flow and height is not what you get further on. Add to that the time of year and we knew that there would be some dragging. Add even more that this section does not have any canoe/kayak rental places that typically keep the river clear of excessive obstructions. What does all that mean? It means that several times we had to either portage around huge tree fall or get out of our kayaks to drag through shallow parts.
The trip took us about 4hrs, 15 minutes but a significant portion of that was spent figuring out the best way to get around or over the three portages and then doing it. Because of the delay we paddled harder than we would like so we could get home at a reasonable time and go to work today. Normally we like to float along and watch nature and enjoy the night.
We encountered a few sets of glowing eyes on our trip. Mikey C. detected a few critters and I seen a deer. We also seen a fairly large cat and tried to entice it into the river for a swim but it was not fooled by our excellent meowing sounds.
We were happy to have crossed off this portion of the Little Miami River. We have one more section north that we expect to be similar to what we just did but we will tackle that in the daylight. As we go South the water will get deeper and the river will have less obstructions.
Link On Map: "Rt. 68 to Jacobs Landing"
Gage height, feet = 1.39 on 09-08-2009 @ 10:30
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=03240000
Mikey C. and I did a night paddle last night (7 Sept 2009) and had the type of "good time" that you don't repeat. The section we were on is towards the beginning of the Little Miami and therefore the water flow and height is not what you get further on. Add to that the time of year and we knew that there would be some dragging. Add even more that this section does not have any canoe/kayak rental places that typically keep the river clear of excessive obstructions. What does all that mean? It means that several times we had to either portage around huge tree fall or get out of our kayaks to drag through shallow parts.
The trip took us about 4hrs, 15 minutes but a significant portion of that was spent figuring out the best way to get around or over the three portages and then doing it. Because of the delay we paddled harder than we would like so we could get home at a reasonable time and go to work today. Normally we like to float along and watch nature and enjoy the night.
We encountered a few sets of glowing eyes on our trip. Mikey C. detected a few critters and I seen a deer. We also seen a fairly large cat and tried to entice it into the river for a swim but it was not fooled by our excellent meowing sounds.
We were happy to have crossed off this portion of the Little Miami River. We have one more section north that we expect to be similar to what we just did but we will tackle that in the daylight. As we go South the water will get deeper and the river will have less obstructions.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Evening / Night Paddle on the Little Miami River
Map used on this trip: Little Miami River
Last night my paddling in crime buddy and I went for an evening into night outing along the Little Miam River. For a map of the route see the link labeled "Jacobs Landing to The Narrows" on this map: Little Miami River. We put in as light was beginning to give way to darkness and soon night was upon us. About half way into the trip it was fully dark, the moon was out, the water was still, and we were the only ones out there. It would have been romantic except that Mikey C. quite simply isn't my type.
Mikey C. had a flashlight and a light that hooked to his head. I had forgotten my flashlight for reasons I'm not sure of. It's not like me to be unprepared when getting on the water. His "head lamp" worked out great and I decided right then and there that I needed to get some. I could use one for my hunting trips anyways so this give me an excuse to invest. Luckily while at lunch today my wife brought up those lights so I'll pick up two quality ones and another cheaper one for general use. Maybe I'll review them in a later post.
The evening/night paddle was amazing and just based on that one outing I prefer it over day paddling. It's calmer and you can get in tune with your surroundings to a deeper level.
I plan on contacting our local kayak store and trying to organize a group night paddle on a Friday or a Saturday evening. It would look like some sort of incompetent military invasion to be walking along the river and seeing 10 kayaks floating along in the dark.
Last night my paddling in crime buddy and I went for an evening into night outing along the Little Miam River. For a map of the route see the link labeled "Jacobs Landing to The Narrows" on this map: Little Miami River. We put in as light was beginning to give way to darkness and soon night was upon us. About half way into the trip it was fully dark, the moon was out, the water was still, and we were the only ones out there. It would have been romantic except that Mikey C. quite simply isn't my type.
Mikey C. had a flashlight and a light that hooked to his head. I had forgotten my flashlight for reasons I'm not sure of. It's not like me to be unprepared when getting on the water. His "head lamp" worked out great and I decided right then and there that I needed to get some. I could use one for my hunting trips anyways so this give me an excuse to invest. Luckily while at lunch today my wife brought up those lights so I'll pick up two quality ones and another cheaper one for general use. Maybe I'll review them in a later post.
The evening/night paddle was amazing and just based on that one outing I prefer it over day paddling. It's calmer and you can get in tune with your surroundings to a deeper level.
I plan on contacting our local kayak store and trying to organize a group night paddle on a Friday or a Saturday evening. It would look like some sort of incompetent military invasion to be walking along the river and seeing 10 kayaks floating along in the dark.
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