Liz showed up Thursday afternoon and got set up and joined Ruth at her cabin while waiting for the rest of the crowd to return from a lunch/beer run. Steve came later and set up and then later Coleen joined them. Most of us attended the Little Miami Conservancy meeting at 6pm followed by an enjoyable time around the fire.
Friday morning Steve left at 4 am to go to work. Later that morning Jennifer, Liz's sister joined us for the day. Liz, Jennifer, Ruth, and Coleen hiked the Little Miami Bike Trail from Morgan's Campground. Ruth with Cobi, and Coleen turned back but Liz and Jennifer went as far as the Fort Ancient Connector climbing the stairs up to the lookout area of Fort Ancient before returning. Jennifer left that afternoon. The rest of the afternoon we spent lazing around camp, reading, and eating. Every small group made their own supper, and we all spent the rest of the evening around the campfire. Lance became the firewood chucker. "How much wood could a wood chucker chuck if a wood chucker would chuck wood." The next morning Saturday we restarted the fire while we cooked breakfast.
Saturday morning Ruth decided that she and Cobi were heading home and stopped over to say goodbye. Lance also made plans to leave that day and stop at a nearby flea market. But Liz talked him into staying and doing the 5.5-mile paddle from near Oregonia back to the camp. Lance being very familiar with this river guided the trip. We had warm sunshine and got to practice our river reading skills a little. We stopped at Fort Ancient for lunch. We saw Kingfishers, Great Blue Herons, turtles, and other small birds. But the highlight was the Bald Eagle. It sat on a branch out in the open and even stayed there as we floated under it. The wind picked up near the finish and so we were happy to see the take out at the camp. Once more we finished the evening up with supper and a campfire.
Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast around the fire. We sat around and talked until the 10:00 rain forced us all to pack up and leave.
Submitted by Liz Clingman