Life dictated that we switch the planned Little Miami trip to a day paddle on the Maumee. Two very different rivers, but everyone was willing to pivot so we put a plan in place.
Eric scouted the river earlier in the week, and the river downstream of the low head dam is almost completely devoid of water. We decided to put in at the marina at Mary Jane Thurston State Park and paddle to Bad Creek. Mary, Eric, Tom B., Tom and Helen G and Lance met at 10 and the four canoes were in the water by 10:30. The paddle was relaxed and we had lots of time for conversation, looking around, and enjoying the early fall day. We saw herons, eagles and turtles, and had plenty of company of other boats (pontoon, kayaks, power boats) in the water. There were people at campgrounds all along the river breaking down docks for the season - a sign of the winter to come! We paddled to Bad Creek, just to check things out, and Tom paddled around, found some people at the campground on the edge of the creek and asked if we could stop there for lunch. It was a great stop! The people were really friendly and they had a very cool three-yearold French bulldog named Lincoln. Lincoln was ready to play, and Lance was happy to oblige - he threw a stick until Lincoln decided he had had enough! It was getting really warm. We hung out and chatted for a bit longer...maybe a mistake, even though we were really enjoying it, because as we chilled, the wind was getting stronger. We got back in our boats and made the tough paddle into the wind back to the marina. By this time, we had lots of competition from boats and wave runners on the water, so we not only fought the wind but had lots of wakes to contend with.
We made it back by 2:30. Some ODNR rangers were at the dock checking boat registrations - there was lots of boat traffic, for sure, so it was understandable. (Always good to be up-to-date...) We decided we weren't finished having fun, so we headed off to the brewery in Grand Rapids. Lance shared some of his garlic with us, and taught Helen and Tom how to use it to grow their own patch next year. After some beer, snacks, and pizza, we made the day complete by walking down to get some ice cream.
It was a really fun day and well worth the effort. Nice water, fun people, a cool dog, beer and ice cream. What more could you ask for?
