The May 2024 trip was originally scheduled to be on the Greenville Creek where trip leader Tony had already acquired permission to camp at a Darke County Park. Two days before the trip a tornado tore through the town of Greenville downing trees and power lines. The park manager called Tony and told him there was no way they could clear the park before the trip and the creek could have significant downfall in it.
Looking for other streams to paddle in western Ohio such as the Mad River or the Stillwater, finding camping on such short notice was the problem. Turning to the central part of the state, the Kokosing Valley Campground was open and the Kokosing River is a beautiful paddle, so emails went out updating the situation and the change of venue.
Thursday morning it was raining as it seems to do all the time in Ohio anymore. Tony arrived at the campground around 2:00pm and sat up his tent and a 10 x 10 tarp with tarps wrapped around two sides. The rain had let up but once everything was in place it started again. Tom B pulled in around 4:30 and Harold S came at 5:00. Again the rain slowed enough for them to get set up then it rained until 8:00. It was very cloudy and cool after but no rain. A campfire was lit and enjoyed until bedtime with no rain falling the rest of the night.
Friday morning was 48 degrees, cloudy but no wind or rain. Surprisingly the river level did not rise very much with all the rain. Plans were made to shuttle over to Big Run Road and paddle back to camp. Around 10 miles. Tom went to up state New York the week before and bought a brand new Peter Hornbeck Kevlar canoe. The 18 pounder was on its maiden voyage. Harold was also using a new to him canoe. He picked up a Mohawk solo canoe from founding member Ted S just the day before. Teds canoeing days are over but Harold will keep the Mohawk on the rivers for some time to come. The shuttle commenced at 10:00am for a supposedly 4 hour run.
They were on the river at 10:25 with the sun peeking out of the partially clearing sky. The water level was beautiful and lots of wildlife were enjoying the rain free day. They saw 3 eagles, an osprey, 4 or more deer, lots of sunning turtles, squirrels, groundhogs, a heron rookery, ducks, geese and scores of different song birds. They made the 10 miles in 3.5 hours, including a lunch stop. The current was wonderful and they averaged 3.2 mph.
After getting boats settled back at camp, Tom and Tony went to the campgrounds driving range to hit golf balls and try to hit the aluminum canoe tethered in the center of a pond. No one hit it but it was fun trying. After individual suppers a campfire was lit and all three enjoyed a nice evening bullshitting. Around 7:45 pm members Chuck and Steve pulled in for drinks and more bullshitting. There was a major solar storm on the sun and flares were hurled towards earth. There was a forecast for aurora borealis or northern lights and around 10:00 pm Steve saw the first sign of them. What a wonderful show they put on as everyone took pictures and marveled at the light show. Since Chuck had to work on Saturday, the two soon headed for home and the campers went to bed.
Rain was forecast again for Saturday so plans were made to get up early and pack everything up before the rain hit. All three were up a 6:00am packing. Tom got on the road at 7:10 am and the rain started at 7:25 am. Harold and Tony knew it was time for them to go also and by 7:45am the May canoe outing was over.
It was a great spur of the moment trip and until next month...keep the open side up!
