Clinch river kayaking
Today was a great day to kayak
down the Clinch river.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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W.E. Junkie --- Aw, thanks.
Zimmy --- We're almost next door to the Clinch, so Mark sprang for a couple of used kayaks on Craigslist this spring. Our section of the Clinch is just our speed --- a few small rapids, but nothing too scary. We saw nearly a dozen great blue herons!
Shannon --- it seems to be hard to make time for kayak trips, but once I get on the river I always wonder why I waited so long! Make time!
Zimmy --- if you've never canoed before, you might want to try out a canoe on a lake first. Canoes tend to have two (or more) seats, so they're much easier to paddle with a partner, but they have the benefit of being extremely stable. Definitely the way to go for the raw beginner!
Kayaks are a bit less stable (although the canoe-like ones, like the blue one I was using, seem pretty darn sturdy and reliable to me.) They seat only one person, and they ride high in the water, so you can go down rivers even when rocks are pretty close beneath you.
Since we live so close to the river, we park a car at the lower end, then use another car to get to the upper end. Alternatively, if you know there's a pay phone (or cell signal) at the lower end, you could arrange for someone to come pick you up when you call. You certainly don't want to try paddling back upstream!!!!
Mark has been trying out the more sporty types of kayaks, like Creek Boats and Play Boats. So far, I like the roomier, easier to navigate ones that look like a traditional canoe or kayak.
Hello, My name is Abbey Ness and I am a graduate student at the University of Virginia. I am working with a group of citizens in the Clinch River Valley on a project called the Clinch River Valley Initiative. You can read more about us at www.clinchriverva.com. We are currently creating a document to summarize our past successes and plan for the future. We would like to include a picture of a woman kayaking from this page of your website in this document, if possible. Please let us know if you give your permission for us to use this picture. If so, please let us know the photographer's name so we can give him or her credit for the photo. Thank you so much!
Abbey Ness