KAW 173 – Day 7

KAW 173 – Day 7

River Mile 67 and kayaked 24 miles to River Mile 43 on the Kansas River Water Trail.

We woke up this morning at Beaver Hollow about 4 miles upstream from Lecompton. When we went to bed the night before, it was muggy and hot and the mosquitoes were in full force. Somewhere in the middle of the night things cooled off and this morning was perfectly beautiful. We affectionately call this spot Beaver Hollow because we’ve stayed here before, and there is great beaver activity. All night long, you can hear the splashing in the water. And in the morning you can see that they’ve been there.

We knew we had an early morning, because we had scheduled an early morning public paddle. So we were all up before the sun and on the river by 7 AM. The paddle in the early morning as some of the most perfect times on the Kansas River. The river is still, often there’s mist and the sun is slowly rising. This is the time of the day that you can see the most wildlife activity if you quietly paddle along the banks. We’ve seen so many beavers that we’ve lost track of the count. This morning was no different between beavers and deer… what a glorious place we live in!

We paddled just a few miles before we reached Lecompton and met a great group of people for a public paddle. It was great to see so many of our friends and members, what a wonderful way to come into this part of the watershed and to see the folks that really helped us make this organization what it is today. It was great to see so many friends. We departed and headed towards Lawrence, with a quick stop on the sandbar to cool off. We went ahead and left and some folks stayed back and enjoyed the river for a little while longer. When we arrived at Riverfront Park in Lawrence, we had arranged for a group of our volunteers to come and help us unload all of our gear so that we could portage our boats empty through Bowersock dam. We got back on the river after unloading, and paddled another 2 miles to Bowersock portage. This portage was put in by Bowersock Power and Mill Company and we are so grateful. And it addition to that, Sarah and her crew at Bowersock all came and met us at the portage and helped us get all of our boats to the other side. It’s great to have so many wonderful partners up and down the river. I think one of the things that’s really made me proud and happy about this experience is all of the help along the way. We have so many people that love the river and so many people that want to help and make it so much sweeter.

After portaging the dam, we paddled another 2 miles down to 8th Street boat ramp. When we arrived, there was a great group of people there to meet us including two city commissioners, folks from the Kansas Water Office and the Chair of the Kansas Water Authority. These are people that we have worked with regularly on connections to the city and on solutions to water issues. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to have the support of all of these people that we’ve worked with over the years. We talked about Lawrence and the connection to the Kansas River Water Trail and about future projects below Bowersock that can give even more opportunity for Kansans to enjoy their river.
It has been an incredibly busy day with lots of community visits and interaction.

Special visits from my parents and in-laws as today was my 52nd birthday. What a great way to spend it…and I’m so grateful that I am physically able to do this journey!

Once we got done at 8th Street with the community visit, we all needed some time to rearrange our gear and get loaded up with water for the next leg of the journey. We spent some time getting settled and we also enjoyed lunch courtesy of Free State Brewing Company in Lawrence! We have been so spoiled on this journey but we are so grateful for all of the local connections to the water trail. Next time you’re in Lawrence… you can get off the river and simply walk over the bridge and go to Free State and have a beer and dinner. And this is really at the heart of this entire advocacy for the river trail. How are these communities connected to the Kansas River? Do people just simply drive over the bridge and never think about the connection? We are trying to highlight that you can enjoy the river trail, and stop in these communities along the way and enjoy the local flavors. There are so many wonderful things and all of these little river towns that people often don’t even know about. If you love to kayak, canoe, paddle board, fish, boat, or whatever you can think of to enjoy the river trail…there is a town along the way that can also offer wonderful places to stay along the way and great food to eat to refuel.

Friends of the Kaw started in the basement of a house in North Lawrence and this is our home. It was great to bring the water trail journey back to Lawrence. Thank you to all the people that joined us for the public paddle, the community visit, and just to cheer us on! We are grateful to everyone who has joined us on this journey.

On the note of wildlife, today was spectacular. In between all of this visiting, we did see tons of wildlife. We saw at least seven Bald eagle‘s between Lawrence and our camp spot west of Eudora. Of course we’re not sure if it’s the same bald eagle or different ones, but we spotted them seven times. We also found lots of tracks on the sandbar, and many birds including red headed woodpeckers, indigo buntings, and cuckoo. Early this morning as we paddled towards Lecompton, we saw a deer run across the river and another deer off in the distance.

There is never a shortage of wildlife on the Kansas River. This is their home and we’re just dropping in for a visit.

Tonight, we’ve settled in at the sandbar just near Eudora. Tomorrow we will do a public Paddle from Eudora to De Soto and again from De Soto to Cedar Creek. We also have a Community visit at De Soto, which is my hometown. I was born and raised on the banks of the Kansas River in De Soto and graduated from De Soto High and I’m proud to say that I am forever a Wildcat! I look forward to seeing you all in my hometown tomorrow!

Dawn, Your Kansas Riverkeeper