{"id":5914,"date":"2021-05-16T22:46:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T03:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billheinz.net\/?p=5914"},"modified":"2021-05-30T16:29:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T21:29:12","slug":"5-15-2021-upper-iowa-river-kendallville-to-bluffton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billheinz.net\/?p=5914","title":{"rendered":"5\/15\/2021 Upper Iowa River (Kendallville to Bluffton)"},"content":{"rendered":"

5.15.2021 \u00a0Upper Iowa River:\u00a0 Kendallville to Bluffton\u00a0 (4.1\u2019\/mile)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trip Number (21-5) <\/strong>This is the first time in my 20+ years of kayaking that I am leaving a less than desirable report on a kayak day.\u00a0 We endured terrible conditions on this river today\u2014it is my fault for not reading the stats better.\u00a0 This river should be paddled — they say \u2014 from 150cfs to 850cfs so we started and the conditions were 182cfs. so knowing it will be low, but not too low, we tried the paddle.\u00a0 I endured the most damage to my fiber glass kayak in one day than I have ever caused in several years of paddling.\u00a0 All day long I was \u201cpuckering my butt\u201d to keep from scraping the rocks.\u00a0 It does not work<\/em>.\u00a0 I am posting the minimum conditions for this river for all to see.\u00a0 It requires a MINIMUM of 250cfs. and 3.75 feet of water\u2014we had 3.36 feet.\u00a0 I am a large paddler, but even the runts of the litter were scraping today.\u00a0 Enough bitching.\u00a0 The rest of the story–the day started out 57\u00b0 and cloudy with a chance of rain, but turned out sunny with 68\u00b0 temperatures.\u00a0 Our tolerant group for the day included; Bill & Teresa, Tom, Steve, Pat C., and Me.\u00a0 The water temp. was 56\u00b0, so that was acceptable, for our 17 mile trip down the river at 3.6 mph.\u00a0 We completed our paddle in 4 hours and 33 minutes with only a 35 minute stop.\u00a0 It was probably the coolest of the day with winds, when we stopped\u2014the rest of the day was comfortable and even got quite warm near the end when the sun was shining brightly.<\/p>\n

We had a plethora of wildlife today.\u00a0 Geese, Eagles, and even a Deer at the waters\u2019 edge, but in the picture he is very camouflaged, so can\u2019t be seen well.<\/p>\n

To watch the video click the arrow and then enlarge the screen with the icon in the lower right of the screen.\u00a0 To get back to this page just shrink the page back to normal.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When viewing the still pictures below, click on them and they will also enlarge and then move through the selection with the arrow on your computer.\u00a0 Enjoy!!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Our music selection for today was decided by:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve:\u00a0 Waterfall<\/u> by 10cc<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Bill:\u00a0 Run It<\/span> and Palisade Park<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n