6.27.20 Upper Iowa River (Kendallville to Bluffton)
We are finally getting to return to the Upper Iowa River, it has been 4 years since we tackled this trip. We have had calendar conflicts, high water, weather, and other reasons but we are now here. Today for COVID-7 the water was slightly marginal for the trip with the river stage at 5.5 feet and a flow of 1250cfs. That flow level does not sound like much but the recommended is 150cfs to 850cfs and as the book says over 850 is “pushy”. It was pushy today without a doubt, we were able to make this trip at a record speed of 5.1 mph, fastest we have ever paddled. We completed the 16.7 mile tour in 3 hours and 15 minutes—normal should be closer to 5 hours. We did stop for lunch for about 30 minutes, but there really were very few places to take a break so we finished the second half non-stop. No one was complaining and we were enjoying be pushed through the many rapids and continuously fast moving 64° water. Our group of 9 paddlers included; Mikayla Peters, a relatively new welcome addition to our posse, along with Bill, Teresa, and another relative Dan, a current Iowa resident, but was allowed in because he is Teresa’s brother. The rest of the crew was; Pat S., Art F., Tom H., Steve D. and Me. Our first picture in the blog is the crew that made the trip last time, except that Dan’s wife was with us, she gets no picture, however, she was the photographer.
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