Welcome to the first Annual Tacitus Hussey paddle trip. This adventure is a week-long reenactment of a paddling trip that Tacitus Hussey led on the Des Moines River in 1892 from Humboldt, Iowa to Des Moines, Iowa.
Our trip begins on Sunday, June 1st in Humboldt and will end at the Trail Daze 2008 celebration in Des Moines on Saturday, June 7th in Union Park.
The first annual Hussey paddle has begun. Al Donaldson and Bill Denton, from Cedar Falls and Waterloo, did a pre-paddle on Saturday afternoon to check water levels and river speed. The 4 mile paddle took less than 40 minutes from Humboldt to Frank Goetsch Park. In fact, they almost beat the shuttle driver, yours truly, to the take-out spot. They got lucky on
the way and spotted an eagle nest with family and many cedar waxwings. It was a truly wonderful beginning to the week. Here's a picture of Al and Bill at the beginning of their adventure. What is not clear is that the DesMoines River at the put in at Humboldt was moving at about 8 mph.
Today began th
e actual paddle. The gods smiled upon us with beautiful weather and a great group of paddlers. A total of 3 canoes and 7 kayaks began the morning at Humboldt and re-paddled Al and Bill's journey of the previous day. At Goetsch Park, the group stopped to snack and prepare themselves for a portage over the Cornbelt dam. Safety was the key for this segment and the group worked together to have the portage be successful. Three additional paddlers joined the group at the Deer Creek access for the second half of the journey. I joined Al as the bow paddler and 2 addtional kayakers from Ft. Dodge joined the group. Lots of fun water, some enjoyable standing waves, and everyone ended the trip dry. :-) The critter count today included several owls, great blue herons, a red headed woodpecker, m
ore cedar waxwings, and an eagle at the take-out, The group celebrated a great first day with pizza in Ft. Dodge. John Garton of Ft. Dodge offered the use of his backyard (for pitching tents) and shower to our campers. The folks on this trip have been great. Iowa truly does have the best of the best. Here's pictures of the boats at the put-in and the first two lead paddlers, Jim Dodd (Dakota City) and Dave Kraemer (Ames) .
20 miles down - 110 miles to go. :-)
Our trip begins on Sunday, June 1st in Humboldt and will end at the Trail Daze 2008 celebration in Des Moines on Saturday, June 7th in Union Park.
The first annual Hussey paddle has begun. Al Donaldson and Bill Denton, from Cedar Falls and Waterloo, did a pre-paddle on Saturday afternoon to check water levels and river speed. The 4 mile paddle took less than 40 minutes from Humboldt to Frank Goetsch Park. In fact, they almost beat the shuttle driver, yours truly, to the take-out spot. They got lucky on
the way and spotted an eagle nest with family and many cedar waxwings. It was a truly wonderful beginning to the week. Here's a picture of Al and Bill at the beginning of their adventure. What is not clear is that the DesMoines River at the put in at Humboldt was moving at about 8 mph.Today began th
e actual paddle. The gods smiled upon us with beautiful weather and a great group of paddlers. A total of 3 canoes and 7 kayaks began the morning at Humboldt and re-paddled Al and Bill's journey of the previous day. At Goetsch Park, the group stopped to snack and prepare themselves for a portage over the Cornbelt dam. Safety was the key for this segment and the group worked together to have the portage be successful. Three additional paddlers joined the group at the Deer Creek access for the second half of the journey. I joined Al as the bow paddler and 2 addtional kayakers from Ft. Dodge joined the group. Lots of fun water, some enjoyable standing waves, and everyone ended the trip dry. :-) The critter count today included several owls, great blue herons, a red headed woodpecker, m
ore cedar waxwings, and an eagle at the take-out, The group celebrated a great first day with pizza in Ft. Dodge. John Garton of Ft. Dodge offered the use of his backyard (for pitching tents) and shower to our campers. The folks on this trip have been great. Iowa truly does have the best of the best. Here's pictures of the boats at the put-in and the first two lead paddlers, Jim Dodd (Dakota City) and Dave Kraemer (Ames) .20 miles down - 110 miles to go. :-)
8 comments:
Sounds like an exciting excursion. Good luck and may the wind be at your back.
Leigh
Leigh,
Thanks for the kind words. The trip is underway and I'm posting daily reports. I will be in a B&B w/o Internet for the next two nights so reports will be scattered. Take care,
- Ana
Great pictures--looks like tons of fun! Hope you have a great time. I'm looking forward to seeing future updates posted.
Checked in today to see progress but must be too early. Hope the week goes well for all on teh Paddle! Looking forward to stories when we all get back!
Mary
Ana, I want to see more pics with you! Share the camera with others :-) Good luck with the weather. Looks like you'll need a lot of luck.
XOXO
Magda
PI,
Are storm related water levels creating problems for participants? Have you seen any interesting varmits (besides Al) during the trip?
Should not have found this Blog, Now I am upset that I could not have gone for a few more days, We have seen Iowa at its best, both nature and its people. Thanks Al and Ana and the rest of the group for the great experience.
Dr. D,
Looks like a great week! I hope it wasn't too tiring. I feel as if we were all with you in spirit as everytime I looked out the window I wondered if I would need a canoe to get around.
Theressa
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