Jouett Creek, |
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This is an intense creek, with lots of drops and a big slide toward the end. Eddies are few and
far between, and there are lots of blind curves. Scouting is advisable, because the creek is
narrow and there is always the possibility for strainers. (On 5/31/04, however, no portages were
required.)
One possibility for takeout is at Hall's on the River. This requires about a 1/2 mile paddle
upstream on the Kentucky River, which may not be possible, since the Kentucky River is often high
when Jouett Creek is running. The other possibility for takeout is downstream a few miles at
Clay's Ferry, under the I-75 bridge -- the same takeout used for Boone Creek and Calloway Creek.
User Comments
along the left bank towards the bottom in the long slide known as Dead and Bloated. New wood is
ALWAYS a possibility so ALWAYS scout this rapid.
and old strainers. The first major strainer was river wide and located between Compactor and Dead
and Bloated. It requires portage on river left; however, at higher flows there may not be good eddy
service above the strainer so you may want to scout at medium flows after the Compactor runout.
There is also a riverwide strainer at the Class II'ish slide after the Flume at the bottom of Dead
and Bloated. The typical line here is working from center to right anyway, but you need to get up
against the right bank as the tree stops short of the bank about 4' to provide your narrow window.
As of late Monday afternoon the narrow Flume was clean. There is also a strainer at the bottom left
of the last hole of Dead & Bloated, but I think it's been there for a while....keep right.
as "Dead and Bloated". There was/is a multi-log strainer that blocks the entire streambed and would
likely snare a paddler.
For Jouett novices, this slide is approx. 0.25 mile below the 6-8 foot vertical drop (Compactor)
and just after a good size slide with a meaty hole at the bottom. There is a small circulating eddy
on creek left just above the committing left turn where paddlers can scout and/or portage by
bushwacking along the bank. Use extreme caution in the slides after running Compactor to prevent
washing into this blind and very tight slide! If flushed through the eddy, it might be possible to
barrel through dislodging one or more of the smaller logs, although this is not at all advisable.