Late Picture

I can count on Dean to have a camera at the ready. Here he watches Bryce watch me watch a young kayaker go through the hazzard that got me wet near the end of our trip through Turkey Run State Park on Sugar Creek on the first day of July. 2004 

July 1, 2004 Sugar Creek through Turkey Run State Park

I'm not taking my new camera on the water until I get the waterproof case so these pictures are after we took the kayaks out of Sugar Creek at the Jackson Bridge.
If there is a prettier creek to run than Sugar Creek through Turkey Run State Park, I don't know of it.

(Dean and Bryce pose with me at the end of 8 miles on the creek.)

The put-in was at a sandy beach, the same one used by the outfitters and it was nice that we didn't have to pay (it was not so nice that we had to push our kayaks off a cliff to get them to the beach). The water was warm and, in places, swift. The creek is easy to run through the park. There are only a few downed trees. The water was clear and there was enough of it so that I only scraped bottom 2 or 3 times all day.

I got turned backwards one time and almost ran between two downed trees but that would have been showing off so I slipped into the knee deep water and turned my kayak upside down instead.

While Dean and Bryce went for the truck, I changed clothes under my towel like the surfers do on California beaches. Lucky I had a big towel.

John

Dean has some words about the trip:

...

I WOULD SURE AGREE THAT SUGAR CREEK HAS SPECTACULAR SCENERY. THE SECTION THAT WE DID IS ONE THAT MUST USUALLY BE SHARED WITH SEVERAL OTHERS, BUT THE WEEKDAY TRAFFIC IS NOT REAL HEAVY AND THE FOLKS WE ENCOUNTERED WERE ALL FRIENDLY; JUST ENJOYING THE WATER AND SCENERY AS WE WERE.

ON THE WAY HOME, john AND I DID SOME EXPLORATION OF THE BIG RACCOON CREEK AREA AT MECCA, ARMIESBURG AND THE AREA SOUTH OF MONTEZUMA FOR POSSIBLE FUTURE TRIPS. LOOKED TO US LIKE THE MECCA COVERED BRIDGE MIGHT BE THE FURTHEST POINT THAT IS PRACTICAL FOR US OLD MEN TO EXIT THE CREEK.

WE ARE GETTING OUR GEAR, ENTRY AND EXIT ROUTINES STREAMLINED NOW AND WITH A BETTER KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROPERTIES OF THE STREAMS AND ENTRY AND EXIT POINTS, WE ARE LIKE A PRECISION TEAM. :(

BRYCE TOOK SEVERAL PICS, BUT HIS COMPUTER HAS CRASHED AND WE DON'T KNOW WHEN THE PICS WILL BE AVAILABLE. I ONLY TOOK ONE PIC ON THE WATER. THIS ONE WAS AFTER john FINALLY MISCUED JUST A BIT, NOT ENOUGH TO EVEN COUNT. COMING THROUGH A BIT DIFFERENT WAS ANOTHER KAYAKER SHOWING THE OLD MEN HOW IT'S DONE. ... DEAN ...

Bryce is having computer troubles and will not have pictures until he fixes them but he posted this note...

... When was the last time you crossed the suspension bridge at Turkey Run State Park? Well today we kayaked under it. We put in at the far eastern edge of the park just upstream from the Narrows Covered Bridge, paddled through the park and on another miles 5 miles to the Jackson Covered Bridge.

I have kayaked and canoed through this area several times over the years and it is always stunning. Clear, sometimes fast moving water with riffles in places, soaring bluffs, and car size boulders along the way highlight some of the journey. It was a creek of the Indians, and it is not difficult to imagine them paddling their birch bark canoes down the stream. John noted when we took out, the Jackson Bridge was built before the civil war.

The previous trip not only left a mark on my soul, but several on my body, most of which have healed by now. Yesterday's trip was kinder and gentler through a truly beautiful and wild part of Indiana. We seemed to be the oldest "kids" on the creek that day, but perhaps enjoyed the trip the most.

I always shake hand with Dean and John at the end of each trip. It is an acknowledgment of the friendship and our good fortune to be able to make one more voyage. I took several pictures that I wish I could show you, and hope to before too long. It was a wonderful day in Indiana.

Bryce
 

June 24, 2004 Bryce reports on our Big Walnut Creek run.

Being retired is not like not being busy. In early retirement, there is a sense of urgency to do fun things while a) you still can and b) now that there is no bull shit job to keep you thinking you’re too busy to have fun.

What WAS I thinking to have worked so long? I should have been kayaking at 24 or 34 or at least 54. Waiting until age 64 is merely better than never.

There were pressing family matters this week but I did not let them dissuade me from running Big Walnut Creek. I’m letting down my friends because I took no photographs. I’ll remedy that as soon as I get a water proof case for my Sony. I usually use the photos to help me tell the story of the trip and I can’t do that very well either for this trip.

Luckily, Bryce has combined his pictures with DEAN’s and made them available and he has told the story of the June 23rd excursion by the “Boys of Summer” down Big Walnut Creek. It is better than I could do. Bryce says:

Big Walnut Creek is a mild-mannered creek meandering primarily though farmlands unless you go north of US 40. We went north of US 40. Here the terrain is more rugged and the creek carves a deeper route as it flows over gravel and sand, with sandstone in places, and rocks and a few boulders littering its course. The pace is quicker and there are a few stretches that leave a mark in your soul and may slip into your dreams at night.

The boys of summer this day were Dean Branson, John McFall and myself. We ran through the same section last September, but the creek is always different. The water was lower this day, which is not always a good thing and there were new trees down. One tree spanned almost the full width of the creek bank had fallen within the last week or so. Have I mentioned the waterfall? John watched his two buddies precede him and "crash" at the bottom and decided to walk the bank. If creek drops 3 feet in the blink of an eye, I call it a waterfall. There were countless trees, as usual, to go around, over or under on the journey.

You could have not picked a prettier Indiana day, a lovelier creek or better partners to be with yesterday. Great blue herons, black ducks doing their broken wing act, a few Canadian geese, kingfishers and bank swifts put on a show for the boys. I have a few interesting sore places and I am humble the day after...

Eat aspirin, Bryce, I always add it to my diet for a few days after one of these trips.

Thanks for letting me borrow your pictures and words.