24-27 Oct 2014.
River level 3.75 feet at the Dora gauge...perfect...nice current but low enough to have lots of sandbars for camping. You definitely wouldn't want to be any lower.
The trip from Cartop put-in 11 to the upstream Cartop put-in 6 is about 2 hours and as gorgeous a river as I've seen. The putins are easy and have lots of room to turn around, park, etc. The carry from the truck to the river was dry and graveled, although the downstream put-in at area 6 (there are two, on either side of an oxbow) was soft and muddy at this water level.
And we never saw another soul on the river.
And I can't mention the Salamonie without mentioning the DNR folks. Everyone we met was gracious and kind. One fellow saw the canoe on the truck and came running over across the parking lot to see if we wanted to discuss good places to put in, gave us a map, chatted about times and miles. Everyone was like that...was a very friendly group.
One slight negative...the reservoir itself isn't something to paddle and so there are limited miles here.
and one WARNING: do NOT drive down to the put-in on the downstream side of the dam. Its very steep, there's no room to turn around, and you'll have to back up a long, narrow, steep, leaf strewn ramp.
11-12 Oct 2012.
River level 3 foot over gauge at lafayette...perfect...nice current but low enough to have lots of sandbars for camping
The forecast of high winds in our face on the 13th had us cut this trip short and take out at Williamsport the night of the 12th.
Lots of herons, nice color to the trees, small little fish camps and no humans until we hit Attica
I want to make a note of how nice people were: I talked to Allen Nail at Fort Ouiatenon and the Chief of Police at Covington (our original takeout) about where to leave the vehicles so they wouldn't get towed...they couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. Good friendly folks.
It's too close to Ft Ouiatenon to make for overnight...but Collier Island (sandbar) would be an outstanding camping spot at this river height...a gravel bar big enough for a rock concert. So maybe if you put in on the other side of Lafayette it would be helpful...
1 Sep 2003.
You can only float on Carpenter Creek a couple days a year. The rest of the time it's WAY too shallow.
Put in at the cemetery on the NE side of town
Take out at the Chataqua bridge on 1600S...about 1 hour later.
Nice run, hairpin turns, no logjams.
After the chataqua it's considerably more difficult with lot of logjams, homeowner built "dams", etc.
And for a view of EXACTLY how dumb a couple guys can be...
6 September 2003
Beautiful day, USGS says the Rensselaer gauge was at 4 feet when I started.
But this is not a float....if you don't paddle, you don't move. If the wind is strong out of the west, you might even float upstream....
This run took 7 hours of easy paddling and steep climbing, all told. Lot's of typical hoosier wildlife, as well as 1 couch, but no major appliances.
There were, to my mind, three "sections" to this run.
1) East of Rennselaer (SR114 public access site) to the west side of town: about 1 hour. no log jams. Rennselaer Parks Dept has a "canoe landing" on the far west side of town. Interesting trip through here as, obviously, once upon a time, the river was a source of recreation in town...a lot of steps down to the river, abandoned landings, etc. doesn't look like any of it's been used in years.
2) West side canoe landing to (jasper) county road 1000W. three and a half hours. Terrible, log jams everywhere. About 100 feet downstream from the west side canoe landing you hit the first logjam and, between the landing and 1000W, there are probably a dozen more. the banks range between 10 and 20 feet high and they're slick mud. all in all, a real pain in the butt.
3) County road 1000 west to SR16 public access site. about two and a half hours. Nice...only 1 log jam for the entire trip, between SR55 and SR16. The takeout, as was indicated to me, is, indeed, very steep. not many roads, only 1 or two houses the entire run.
All in all, there are too many logjams to make this a trip worth repeating....the combination of steep, slick banks and logjams....well, not much fun in that middle section. There were many herons, ducks, turtles, jumping fish, and the final section was very pleasant. Not exciting, but pleasant....like zen canoeing.
If you put in at 1000W and take out at 55, it could be a nice, couple hour float with no logjams. There's no real place to park at 55, but it's not nearly as steep as the 16 public access site.
6 October 2003
Rensselaer station shows 60 ft3/s, 3.9 feet.
Putting in at the West side canoe landing in Rensselaer, count on 90 minutes to the SR114 public access site.
There are no obstructions, but there are several places, through town, where the river drops 2 - 10 inches. Virtually impossible to paddle up the big ones and there's not much bank...so you're wading (in October).
It's about 60 minutes easy float back to the West side canoe landing.
On north from SR114, it's very shallow, but no obstructions (up, say, 2 or 3 miles). A very pleasant paddle with heron, squirrels, deer, turtles, etc.
By the way, Rensselaer used to be known as the "falls of the Iroquois".
Now, all taken together, all those drops probably come to 2 feet, so there wasn't much of a falls.
On the other hand, as I understand it, way back when, the entire area from the Iroquois to the Kankakee used to be marshland. You can definitely see where both the Kankakee and the Iroquois have been dredged, and you can see, over this entire area, the ditches for the huge dredging project that turned the wetlands into farmland.
So maybe once there was something to the "falls of the Iroquois".
18-20 October 2003.
Put in at Monterey, took out at Pulaski. Stayed the night at Tippecanoe River State Park Canoe Camp.
The river was 450-500 cfs at the Ora gauge, running a little faster than usual, which was great because there was a strong wind out of the west.
The entire trip was free of logjams and the few strainers were easily negotiated. The only exception to this was within the actual boundaries of TRSP. I'm assuming (although I don't know) that they keep it as wild as possible because of the river otter release program (more on this later). Within the boundaries of the park, the logjams and strainers have a NARROW canoe's width section cut out of the them....there were several places where you had to hit it and hit it exactly right. At faster water, someone could actually get hurt.
The rest of the way was clear. One really cool thing was the river otters. Near the south edge of the TRSP property, I came across some river otters. What a hoot! They were doing their river otter tricks and dancing and diving and showing off. They'd come right up near the canoe, like dolphins do in the ocean, then whirl and spin and dive. Very fun. Sadly, they're too darn quick for a camera!
At this flow (450-500 cfs/Ora) and with a strong west wind, moderate paddling, the various sections took:
Monterey to TRSP canoe camp: 6 hours
TRSP canoe camp to Winamac Swinging Bridge: 5 hours
Winamac Swinging Bridge to Winamac SR35 Public Access site: 2 hours
Winamac SR35 Public Access Site to Pulaski Public Access site: 3 hours.
For those of you with grandchildren, etc looking to get them started, you can't beat Adams Mill
It's one big oxbow...so you can put in on one side of the road and 45 minutes later, take on the other side of the road at the "mill park."
Water is usually gentle...nice quiet paddle and you take out where you put in.
Took Adian (just turned 6) on 6 July 2011...flow 76cfs at Kokomo. Was pretty tame, but we didn't have to get out and pull anywhere
For the rest of Wildcat Creek, see here. And, no, it's not always that busy...