The kayak season has somewhat officially begun. With the sunshine and warmer weather the website has been getting a lot of visits and the phone has been ringing. Excitement is building at AquaScapes as our second full season begins.
Friday, March 16 I had a couple of people decide to go down the Blue River. Crystal and Marion, her dad, are from Houston, TX. Crystal is going to school in Louisville and dad was up for a visit over spring break. A last minute trip down the Blue seemed like a good way to end the visit.
Crystal and Marion ready for their trip.
While I was driving to meet them I noticed the Ohio was high enough that it had backed up the Blue about 6 miles. The crossing for Dry Run Creek was inundated with green water from the Blue and it appeared the river was running upstream.
I met with Crystal and Marion at Stagestop Campground and we walked down to the river to check out the flow. Surprisingly it was very low. This seemed strange to me but I guess we haven’t gotten into our rainy season yet. Since that day we have had at least 3 inches of rain and the Blue is running strong.
I drove them up to the put-in and of course we had our usual chitchat. Marion sells insurance and he was telling me about his fears for the insurance industry if the Healthcare Bill was passed (of course it was passed two days later).
Obviously some other paddlers were enjoying the warm sunny weather as several vehicles were parked at Rothrock Mill. But the early spring sunshine hadn’t warmed the water much and my feet tingled for about 20 minutes after I had launched Crystal and Marion.
They wanted to get out a little early so I decided to meet them at White Cloud. I sat on the warm stones and worked on my tan while I waited for them to show up. They soon rounded the bend and came into view. The pullout at White Cloud is steep and stones from a bridge have tumbled down into the water so I was a little concerned about pulling them out here.
They didn’t seem deterred and approached rapidly. I scrambled down the bank to hold their boats so they would be more stable as they got out. I was almost to Crystal when she stood up in the boat. Most people usually roll immediately when they do this but she held on for about 3 seconds. It is always surprising how quick these boats can roll.
In the end they both had a good time and Crystal was good-natured about getting dunked in the cold water. As an outfitter that is usually as good as it gets, but it is enough. Look forward to more posts as the season progresses.
Crystal and Marion at the end.
