I began this morning at my campsite which was on the Kentucky side of the river, a little downstream from Brooksburg, Indiana. I woke up at 5:30am, but didn't get on the river until 8:00. I never realized that taking an extended trip on a kayak would require so much time to pack and unpack. That's because almost everything goes in dry-bags. Then everything......and that includes clothes, bedding, hygiene items, food, cooking utensils, electronics, tools, kayak support (sail, repair parts) tent and more.....has to be packed into the kayak. It takes at least an hour to set-up and take down, but sometimes much more. That's not to mention cooking, washing clothes and keeping myself clean. In this photo you can see my escort of baby ducks trying to get away from me as I departed.
You won't see many photos on this days blog. Most of my route was in isolated areas with few towns next to the river. One exception was the little community of Milton, Kentucky. I tied up at a public boat ramp and went into town to get some breakfast at a convenience store. As I returned to the river, there was part of a construction crew working on the bridge connecting Milton to Madison, Indiana. They had lots of questions and wished me well. I gave them a copy of the paper I give to people along the way so they can follow my progress on this website.
This is another photo in Milton with the flood levels marked on a building.
I went across the river and pulled into the huge boat ramp at Madison, Indiana. I just had to take a photo of this sign, because it shows the distance I started from last year and the distance I have to travel this year.
Most people from around where I live know Madison for their speedboat regatta. Here is the headquarters for that event.
Madison has a great riverfront park that continues for the length of the city and seems to enjoy use by a lot of people in the community. A lady came up to me and asked if I was from out of town. I assured her that I was and answered her many questions about my trip. Her twin sister was down the sidewalk a little ways, so I went down to meet her and give them one of my cards. They were very nice and I found out their names are Sharon and Karen (hope I spelled them right).
This is a jet boat people pay $20.00 to ride on the river. This boat passed by campsite last night.
Right before I passed this floating restaurant, I saw four high school age girls, all dressed in yellow outfits, sitting on a grassy hill in the park area. They waved and yelled down to me. I yelled a question back and realized I shouldn't have asked as soon as I said it. I yelled, "what are you dressed in yellow for?" They yelled back, "we're in prison". Right then a uniformed officer with dark sunglasses on, (like the boss in Cool Hand Luke) stuck his head out from behind a van. They laughed and so did I as I continued downstream.
According to my guidebook, this is Beach Front Boulevard, but about a mile inland is the town and college of Hanover.
A lot of the river bank in this area caves in, resulting in very muddy water and no way to get out of the river without sinking up to your knees in mud. These folks had a ladder to get to the river, but it's not attached. It looks like they just move it back as their property continues to wash away.
Traveling by kayak is a slow process. This is an example of where I'm cutting across the shipping channel to cut to the inside of a curve ahead. I do this knowing that in order to get to the point two or three miles downstream, it may take a half hour to an hour. I use a mirror to keep an eye out for barges behind me. Fortunately they don't move much faster than I do. I also have a marine radio I can contact them with in case I have an emergency.
I passed great camping spots all day, but wanted to push on until it started to get dark. Well, I found myself in a tough situation again. It was so bad I actually tried to set up camp on the rock in the background. The edge of the river was silt and mud. Somehow I found this one tiny section that had gravel along the edge.
Then, this is what the terrain looked like.....rocks everywhere. I had to cut down a shrub with my hatchet in order to make an area big enough to set up my tent.
With the shrub cut down, I barely have enough room to set up the tent. I need the tent tonight because we may have rain. In checking Google earth, this side (Kentucky) is very isolated. I'm right next to the 587 mile marker just up river from Twelve Mile Island.