Day 28 - 2013

I got my earliest start yet by being on the river at 5:30am. With no wind and a smooth river surface, I was making great time. In fact, I held the same speed as a tow boat behind me for over an hour.

About two miles from Sturgeon Island, I started hearing the unmistakable roar of hundreds of motorcycles. From my guidebook I'd read of a private camping site near here called Hog Rock Camp, which is the site of numerous biker rallys. I also started noticing lots of rocky outcrops and formations along the river.

I pulled up along the right bank and took a photo of three guys who were eating breakfast after camping overnight along these rocks. Their sleeping cots were actually in the cave area.

This is Roger, his wife and son. They asked if they could take a photo of me, so I in turn took one of them. I also gave them my card.

I saw several sites with homes built at the top of rocky cliffs.

In yesterday's blog I indicated the Mirage Drive that propels my kayak didn't feel right. After adjusting it, it felt normal. But this morning it started feeling weird again. I pulled over and saw the problem. In the photo you can see a plastic covered cable at both ends of what looks like a bicycle chain. The cable on the right looks normal. You can see the cable on the left has been stretched beyond the plastic at both ends. later on I discovered the cable wasn't stretched, but it had broken inside the plastic covering.

In this photo you can see the cable is in the process of breaking. I initially planned to try to get to Elizabethtown, Illinois which was eight more miles. But soon after discovering the cable problem, the drive stopped working. I tried removing the flipper this cable controlled, but with each stroke of the peddle the whole kayak rocked back and forth. With the town of Cave-in-Rock about two miles away, I decided to pull out there. I called Denny and he said he would come to pick me up.

As I paddled, I passed this landmark for which the town of Cave-in-Rock is named. This site was noted on Lewis and Clark's diaries and maps, as well as being noted by early trappers. The area around this site is a state park.

Arriving in the small town, I discovered it had quite a few more inhabitants today than normal. The motorcycles I heard earlier were taking part in a poker run and crossed the river on a ferry here. The two little restaurants were packed.

These are bikers on the ferry, as well as waiting to get on it. The ferry on this state route is free.

The people in town had a bike wash going.

Here are a couple of signs about the Cave-in-Rock site. A local told me when the town was officially named, they were at first going to call it "Cave in the Rock", but decided that was too long. So they dropped the "the" and just called it "Cave in Rock".

The local bank here is called Area Bank.

Downtown Cave in Rock.

Cave in Rock fire engine.

Their Methodist church

I shot this photo through a window. The Cave in Rock site has been the location for three movies: How the West Was Won, Disney's Davy Crocket and The History Channel's River Pirates.

While waiting for Denny I visited the "hole".

This is the inside. The light comes from a hole in the roof opening to the surface.

This is a photo of the river taken from inside the cave.

This is the hole from above the cave.

Photos taken from the top of the cave. In the last photo you can see my kayak sticking out from the shoreline on the right side.

While on top of the cave, I was a little queazy. But that didn't seem to bother this guy at all. He drove his V-8 powered tricycle out on a little protrusion and stopped right on the edge.

The breakfast bar and the dining area where I ate a late breakfast and later on I went back for lunch.

I could see a couple of bicycles on the ferry coming toward town, so I waited and talked to the two girls as they arrived. Their names are Bethany and Aaron. They started in Maryland and are headed to Oregon. The whole trip will last about two and a half months. I shared some of my extended trips by bike and my kayak trip.

This is what I looked like on the last day.....a little tanner and a little bushier.

Loaded up and ready to return home.

WHAT'S NEXT?
I don't know if I'll be finishing my trip this summer, or if I'll need to wait until next year. In either case I'll eventually make it to the end of the Ohio River.

Day 27 - 2013

Today's blog is being published one day late due to a week data signal in the area where I camped.


I camped overnight at the downriver end of Diamond Island. Since I didn't find a spot to set up until it was nearly dark, I ended up about 10 feet from the river. The area seemed very remote and my maps and Google earth indicated I was at the end of a long agricultural field. However, about 1:30 in the morning I heard someone unloading what sounded like scrap metal right behind my tent. Whoever it was did a couple of donuts in the dirt and took off. I'm sure they didn't see me because I was behind a drop-off toward the river. But I could see their headlights and the dust they stirred up as they took off. I rolled over and went back to sleep.




I started out today at 5:50. My first contact of the day was this beaver and another one going back and forth in the river as I packed up.




About 5 miles into travel, my kayak suddenly stopped and popped up out of the water. The device I peddle has "flippers" underwater that had hit a submerged tree. I've hit objects and dragged the bottom of the river before, but this "hit" was especially hard. Also, I couldn't peddle anymore. I paddled to the edge of the river, pulled up the drive and saw that one of the masts was bent. In the photo above, it's the silver rod on the right.




I took off the flipper and used my Vise-grips to unscrew the mast. Fortunately, I realized before my trip that I might bend a mast, so I brought two extra ones with me. I used Loctite and the Vise-grips to put in a new mast, reinstalled the flipper, and was on my way within about fifteen minutes.




The first large community and last city I would see before crossing the Indiana/Illinois state line is Mount Vernon, Indiana. The ramp and visitors dock was not a good option for me to tie up to, but I was fortunate to find a sandy beach in an area pretty well hidden and close to the riverfront park. As I came to shore, I took a photo of this kitten on a tree over the river.




These are the steps along the riverfront park. You can read the words from the river, but once up close, cannot make out the letters.




Another view of the riverfront park.







The downtown area of Mount Vernon is an interesting mix of dilapidated buildings, along with restored and new construction.




This is Mount Vernon's impressive courthouse. About three blocks from the boatramp, I found the Westside Laundromat. I was able to wash all of my clothes, which I really needed to do.

This video should be a hoot if you can view it. It explains the mirage drive and include some underwater video.







I cut to the inside of some barge pylons and took a close up of a towboat and it's barge being loaded with coal.




A tow coming out of Myers lock.




Can't quite make out the name, but this is the control house for the John T Meyers Lock and Dam, opened in 1970.




Me in the lock chamber with the doors opening so I can proceed.




I decided to camp on Cincinnati Island......yes that's really it's name. As I was pulling over, Josh Gunn, a conservation officer of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources pulled over with questions about how I was propelling my kayak. He was very friendly and said to call him if I needed any help. When asked, he said I shouldn't have a problem camping on the island. I know Diamond Island was posted as "no trespassing" and all of the islands along West Virginia are off limits for camping. I decided to stay here and as it turns out, there was already a family of four camped right on the other side of the island from me. It appeared they had been there for quite some time because they had an area mowed off and trees/shrubs cut from their campsite. I spoke to them briefly and heard them talking, coughing and moving around during the night. This was not a huge island like some of the others I've passed.

In spite of stopping for a couple of hours to do laundry, I still managed to cover 40 miles today. Toward the end of the day I detected some changes in the way my drive system works. I stopped to adjust it once and it feels better, but I also detected some wear on a cable which I don't have parts to replace. Despite being in a pretty remote area, without cellphone coverage, I'm going to continue onward in the morning with the hope of getting to Elizabethtown, Illinois by the end of tomorrow.