Harold & Laurie were the first to arrive at Morgan's Campground near Morrow, Ohio, the first time in memory that they were the first OHCRA members at an outing. Trip leaders Ted and & Connie soon followed with Tony, Alice and 3 dogs shortly after. Newer member John and his dog Gage also set up camp. Morgan's Campground has always accommodated the Ohio Historical Canoe Route Association and that weekend continued their hospitably. Steve, Coleen and Chuck came with Judy and Mike arriving last. 12 members braved the high humidly and mid 80 temperatures. Part of the crowd went to Morrow for grub then back to camp where Lance was waiting for poker and the evening campfire.
Saturday morning was beautiful. After breakfast the shuttle started at 9:00am. Right on schedule. At the village of Corwin the boats were unloaded at the village park, which has a decent launch ramp to welcome the canoers. The Little Miami looked great with enough water and the flow was magnificent. 9:50 am was the launch time and the 13 mile trip was finished at 2:15 pm. The weather forecast was for rain around 4:00 pm but it looked so nice with the sunshine. The 6 canoes and 2 kkkayaks guided past many turtles, ducks and blue herons. The curves in the river were throwing boats into eddies because of the swift water and at the same curve that always wants a human sacrifice, another one was offered this year. The canoe was stuck under a log but after some hard pulling it popped out to continue the journey downstream.
Back at camp Lance, Coleen and Chuck walked upstream and floated the riffles back to the campsite like 3 school kids. With lifejackets on and drinks in hand they had fun. After relaxing a spell and whittling the afternoon away it was time for the potluck. There was chili, butternut squash soup, beef stew, spaghetti salad, sweet corn and cornbread to name a few. The sunshine they had earlier had disappeared and clouds joined the party dropping the rain right on schedule. It rained pretty hard creating a shallow lake around and under the picnic table. Fire logs were used to keep feet out of the water. The rain did quit but the ground stayed wet and muddy. Games were played until bedtime with a struggling campfire casting small flames.
Sunday promised to be a fine day weather wise. The Little Miami River was another story. It rose two feet over night and Morgan's were not allowing boats to use their launch ramp due to safety concerns. Judy and Mike wanted to get their kkkayaks on the water so Steve shuttled them up stream to a different put in. There was a community breakfast with everyone donating food and man was there food. After filling bellies folks started the task of breaking camp. By late morning most folks were on the road heading for home.
