Clear Creek

We put on at the Route 127 bridge on Saturday morning when the gauge at Lilly read 385 but it was raining very hard and by the next morning it had risen to ~700 and was falling again by Sunday evening when we took out at Lilly Bridge. The extra water was actually great and if it hadn't been raining it would have been a much more frustrating and slower time.

What a great trip! We knew it would be a bit of a long weekend because some of our group had kayaks and some were novice canoeists so we anticipated long slow flatwater. But actually the flatwater sections were pretty pleasant and there was current throughout. The first day we did ~12 miles and found a nice big overhang to camp under. Easy rapids, good scenery, 1 owl, 1 pig, and several deer. A couple of big trees we had to portage and 1 rapid that was too much for the beginner canoes because of a sharp turn in the middle (they portaged) but everyone else ran no problem. Portaging things is pretty challenging becuase the banks are steep and sandy and densely forested but it is easy to scout anything in this first part and everything is runnable even at the low water level.

Day 2 was longer. The first 4 miles were super quick and then there are some long flatwater sections. We had a couple of swims here and there because the river has these giant boulders and s-turns that are very hard for heavy slow canoes that don't know how to steer. The last 2 miles to Barnett Bridge were pretty endless and made me as a trip leader anxious because I knew there was one big rapid (class 3 or maybe 4 at high water) coming up right before the end and I went around every bend anticipating it and it just wasn't there. Eventually we found it very very suddenly. It's a blind corner and once you go around the turn left at the bottom of an easy little riffle there are no spots to eddy out for a big group of beginners to scout. Everyone ran it straight down the middle with no problems but I think at higher water this could be a very consequential drop.

From Barnett to Jett is super quick, even though our group was pretty tired at that point. There's quite a bit of flatwater but the rapids are wider and starting to get more volume. Very fun. And then the section from Jett to Lilly is the best, for sure. More continuous, more water, the end is in sight, everyone's happy.