Leaders-In-Training Trip Log: Ohio River Way & YMCA Camp Piomingo
This summer, the Ohio River Way launched its first youth expeditions. In partnership with YMCA Camp Piomingo, we took two groups of 15 and 16 year olds on five day expeditions. We’re thankful to volunteers from River City Paddle Sports for helping make the expedition possible. Each trip included six campers, two counselors from Camp Piomingo, a volunteer from River City Paddle Sports, and myself on behalf of the Ohio River Way. All ten people, our food, and our gear floated down the river in one, 30-foot voyageur canoe. Here’s a day-by-day description of our most recent expedition.
Photo by John Nation
Day 1
We arrived at camp, had breakfast in Piomingo’s dining hall, and then prepared for our first day on the water. Every camper received one large and one small plastic container for food as well as their “day” dry bag. I brought bread, ham, turkey, cheese, pickles, mustard, Sun Chips, granola bars, and vegan jerky. After we completed our lunch “assembly line,” everyone was fitted for their life jackets. Then, we drove out to a nearby lake, Doe Valley.
With no current to worry about, Doe Valley was a good place for us to practice how to paddle. After reviewing our safety procedures and launching the canoe, we went through “Paddling 101,” including front strokes, back strokes, push aways, draw strokes, and braces. Proper form—using your core—is essential for long days on the water. For practice, we beamed the canoe back and worth using draw strokes and push aways, and we also tried spinning in circles.
Once back at camp, we distributed larger, 130-liter “night” dry bags that the campers would share and pack their overnight gear in. To make sure all of their gear worked before we left, that night the campers pitched their tents and sleeping bags inside the rec hall and tried sleeping in them.
Day 2
A waterfall near Harrod’s Creek
After our final meal at Piomingo, we loaded all of our gear into the canoes and the camp bus. On our way to the launch site—at Creekside Marina on Harrod’s Creek in Louisville’s East End—we stopped at a local Kroger. In one bascart, we put a black and yellow box for dry food. In another, we put a cooler. Then, we gave the campers 20 minutes to select all of the food our crew of 10 would eat over the coming four days. One hour and $460 later, we left with an overflowing bin and cooler. The campers chose the food, and they were responsible for cooking all meals throughout the trip.
Our island campsite
Together, we carried the canoe into the water at Harrod’s Creek. While I shuttled back to camp, our volunteer captains—Joe Kinman on the first trip, and Tracy Barnes on the second—took the kids up Harrod’s Creek to explore a waterfall. I rejoined the crew at Captain’s Quarters and we paddled a couple miles to a nearby island. We made camp, fished, and did a small “RiverSweep” picking up trash. The campers made their first meal: Steak and eggs.
Day 3
To get the true paddling experience, we incorporated one long, 28-mile day into the expedition. This was it. At 4:20am, we woke the campers up with Tina Turner’s “Rollin’ On The River.” We expeditiously packed breakfast and lunch, took down our tents, and packed the canoe. By 6:03am, we were paddling towards Louisville’s skyline in the first light of the day. It’s the perfect time to be on the water.
We made a quick pitstop at the Louisville Community Boathouse by 7am to avail ourselves of the toilets and to refill our water jugs. A “river angel,” John Nation, joined to take some photos as we paddled. He also brought some donuts to help fuel our day.
Inside the McAlpine Locks
As we passed Louisville’s skyline, we radioed the lockmaster at the McAlpine Locks & Dam, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After making it through the Portland Canal, the lockmaster instructed us to paddle 250 feet into the landside chamber on the landside wall. This gargantuan chamber can raise or lower a 15-barge tow by 37 feet. We were inside alone in our 30-foot canoe.
Above the locks, the current was around 0.8 miles per hour. Below the docks, the current was 2.2 miles per hour, a welcome addition to help us cover the remaining 20+ miles. Throughout the day, we refueled with water and electrolytes, snacked along the way, generously reapplied sunscreen, and occasionally stopped for a “bio break.”
Around 1:45pm, we pulled off to a shady spot on the river and spent a half hour or so napping on the riverbank. This is one of my favorite parts of long-distance paddling. Somehow, by pushing yourself so far outside your comfort zone, an ordinary patch of shade and mud becomes an oasis. Folks fell asleep immediately.
Cheeseburgers and potatoes
After our reprieve, we made our final push towards our campsite that evening: An abandoned dock system near a historic home in Southwest Jefferson County. We arrived around 5pm, unloaded the boats, and the campers immediately went to make dinner. The cheeseburgers and potatoes were just great.
After dinner, around 7pm, the caretaker of the historic riverfront home gave us a tour. The 11-hour day on the water had been brutally humid with temperatures well into the 90s. Our campers quickly realized that if they asked more questions, they got to spend more time inside the air conditioned home. It was fascinating to hear stories of life on the river in centuries gone by, and how the families here used to welcome other travelers on the river as guests. It was—literally—cool.
Swimming at sunset
After the tour, we returned to the humidity and were surprised by another river angel. Joe Kinman stopped by with some ice cream for our crew.
As the sun set, one of the counselors from Camp Piomingo donned their rescue tube and became a lifeguard. The changing colors on the river and the hills made for some incredibly swimming.
After that, the campers stayed up late laughing and singing “Fishing In the Dark” with their lines cast in the water. Two campers fell asleep with their fishing rods cast, only to be awoken by a fish getting hooked. They didn’t lose their grip, but—roughly 21 hours into our day around 1:30am—the fish eventually broke the 15-pound line.
Painting by Tracy Barnes of one of the campers fishing
Day 4
With only around eight miles of paddling this day, we slept in before a slow breakfast of scrambled eggs. Around 11am, we began paddling towards West Point, Kentucky. After passing LG&E’s powerplant at Kosmosdale, we crossed the river and paddled up the Salt River for a historic detour.
A tent at Fort Duffield
Once up the Salt River, we took out at the boat ramp and walked to Fort Duffield. This former earthen Civil War fort belonged to the Union and was in place to protect Louisville. Today, it’s the largest earthen fortification remaining in Kentucky. Once up the very steep hill, we were treated to a great view of the river and explored some replica cabins.
Back down the hill, we paddled the final small stretch to our campsite: the home of Mayor Richard Ciresi and Deputy Judge Bonnie Ciresi, proud river angels. With another great view of the river, our crew made camp and cooked a spaghetti dinner before pan frying some Dolly Parton-brand chocolate chip cookie batter. After dinner, we returned to the river to swim. As a thank you to the Ciresis, and simply as a challenge, we cleared a huge pile of drift wood and trees in the shallow waters in front of their home. As a team, we maneuvered trees back into deeper water and pushed them into the current to carry them downstream. We washed off with a hose and had an early night.
Day 5
On our final day, we woke up and the campers cooked blueberry and banana pancakes. Our dishrags were becoming worse for wear, so we took our pans and dishes to the river to wash them a final time. After loading the canoe with our gear, we bid farewell to the Ciresis and began our roughly eight mile float back towards camp. Along the way, we passed Fort Knox, as well as one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ abandoned lockhouses from the earlier days of wicket dams.
Passing Fort Knox, with a traffic barrel we found and strapped to our bow
From Camp Piomingo’s Van Buren overlook, generations of campers have been told that the opposite side of the river is Australia. If they squint hard enough, they’ll even see kangaroos. That day, they did. As we completed our journey, some normal campers from Piomingo hiked out to watch us complete our journey. Across the river in Australia, we were onshore with two full kangaroo costumes alongside a five-foot by eight-foot Australian flag. With the Australian national anthem blaring, we reboarded the boat and crossed the river to where we were taking out, the boat ramp in Otter Creek Park. We made it back around 2pm. Volunteer Don Speer, our final river angel of the trip, arrived with popsicles.
We were simply filthy. We had worn the same sun hoodies and trousers for five days, and they were covered in mud, sand, and sweat. As a team, using the strength of all 10 of us plus Don and our shuttle driver from camp, we carefully lifted the 400-pound canoe from the water and carried it onto the trailer.
Before returning to camp and taking very necessary showers, we grouped into a circle in a bit of shade. We took two minutes of silence to reflect on our journey, interrupted only by the birds and the hum of a passing barge. I’m so proud of how our team grew through this journey. It not only required teamwork, but significant individual effort to maintain a positive mindset through a challenging expedition.
One of our campers flew all the way from Mexico City for this journey. Here’s how he summarized the journey in our trip journal:
The final page of our group trip journel
In a few words I summarize my trip. In two words: unity and challenges. We were always together, but with some challenges. I thank Tracy and Forest, the best people I met. I will never forget you, and I thank God for giving me this new opportunity to experience more things. Maybe this was not a physical trip, but a mental one. I thank you for every moment I lived. I had an amazing time. Probably the best weeks of the year. I am sad to leave, but I know better things are coming. I have everything in my memory…. I will have all the vistas, moments, all for forever. I hope to return next camp and see you again, and if not, I'll see you another year. I'm going to miss you all!
Campers contemplating the river