Big South Fork - Blue Heron

Big South Fork of Cumberland River

Friday, September 19, 2008

Blue Heron to Alum Ford

Sheltowee Trace River Resort website

The Sheltowee Trace River Resort is located near Cumberland Falls. Among other outdoor activities, they facilitate moderate level paddling trips of different lengths on the Cumberland River from a few different put-in's. The southernmost point is called Blue Heron, which is the site of an incredibly interesting old mining camp (website here). The next is Yamacraw (4.8 miles downriver from Blue Heron) followed by Alum Ford (7.4 miles down) and finally KY927 near Nevelsville, Kentucky (11.5 miles away).

Today I was to meet a representative from the outfitter at 8am and, difficult as it was to wake up at 4:30 to allow for driving time from Lexington, it would turn out that I'd need all that time and more. You see, the online directions I used were fine up to a point and then they were just totally off. Luckily I had another map. With that and a little luck I made it to the meeting point a tad after 8 (for anyone coming out I’d just take US27 all the way into the Whitley City area instead of trying to get too fancy). Whichever way you come please watch out for stray dogs, wild turkeys and a possible horse on the road! I came perilously close to a horse grazing right by the side as I drove down KY927!

Another thing to note about this area is that it’s really remote. You likely won’t get phone service out here, so your planning has to be flawless. This in mind, I must have misunderstood the person I’d talked to the previous day. I was sure they'd said that all the trips meet at the end of KY927. While this did seem strange (because I'd started at Alum Ford last year) I went on ahead to KY927 figuring that things do have a tendency to change…

Sure enough, however, when I arrived there was a mini-bus with 4 to 5 passengers making a separate, longer trip. I was told by the driver that I was in the wrong place. I should have been at Alum Ford! In fact, there was another driver waiting there just for me!!! My heart sank... I could have paid more and gone ahead with the driver here to do a longer trip (Blue Heron to this point instead of just to Alum Ford) but I didn’t want the other person to have made a trip for nothing. Would they still be waiting there when I arrived though? I was ½ hour away! The one driver tried to hail the other via radio but couldn’t get through. I was mortified.

Well, once having driven to Alum Ford I found a really nice girl there who seemed completely unfazed that I was more than ½ hour late! They really are pretty laid back out here! Anyway, she had a load of canoes on a trailer and these were apparently for another group of paddlers who were waiting at the Yamacraw put-in for them. Lord have mercy! I had apparently messed all these people up too - about 30 of them!!! Your communication with Sheltowee needs to be perfect. If you have any doubts about the communication you get – any at all – please call ahead of time to make sure you’re going to the right place at the right time.

Anyway, I left my car at Alum Ford where I’d be taking out at the end of the day and we took off for Yamacraw to drop off the boats. From there we followed the other bus with the 4-5 guys in it out to the ramp at Blue Heron. Before leaving Yamacraw, however, I noticed that there were some hiking trails leading up a hill so I asked what they were. Turns out they're part of the Sheltowee Trace, the 100+ mile trail I’ve hiked parts of before. I knew it went through this Cumberland Falls area but I hadn’t previously noticed that it touched this point.

Y’know what else? This must be my week for scenic railroads because when we arrived at Blue Heron I saw another one! On Monday and Wednesday I’d passed by a scenic railroad just outside Versailles on my way to accessing the Kentucky River in Tyrone. Well, Blue Heron is apparently a stop on the Big South Fork Scenic Railway which offers train rides in the area. Also interesting here are all the interactive exhibits you'll find which represent the life and times of the old mining camp I mentioned.

I got in my kayak and set off before the other guys since I didn’t have as much gear. They were doing an overnight trip back down to KY927 (roughly 24 miles or so) and, oddly enough, I wouldn’t end up seeing either them or the other group of 30 for the rest of the day. In fact, I’d see no one else – only the people in cars driving over the 701 bridge at Yamacraw. In fact, I’d see or hear absolutely no sign of civilization after this bridge. How quiet was it? It was so quiet that when I stopped paddling I nearly fell asleep amid the tranquility!

As I got started, however, it was immediately apparent that the water was going to be a little low today. You’ll put in between 2 shoals on this trip and I just missed getting stuck immediately - I was just skimming over the rocks for the first mile or so. This first section (from Blue Heron to Yamacraw) is where you’ll see 4 bridges - or traces of bridges. The first of the these appears to connect with railroad, and the tracks for the train would be with me on the right bank for the first couple miles or so. You’ll also see the only flat land of the day on the right bank as you start.

It also wouldn’t be long before the most significant feature of this river became obvious: massive boulders along the banks. There appeared to be many different kinds of these too. Some were black, some brown; others tan, orange or white and there were many different combinations of these colors as well. I thought the boulders really added to the already outstanding views out here, and as I continued to paddle on I was met with another incredible scene each time I rounded a corner.

Another thing about the rocks is that at times you’ll look down an alley of water and wonder if you can actually make it around them. They seem to come together in the distance, and if you didn’t know better you’d think that they might actually stop your paddling adventure prematurely. There will also be rock faces visible atop the hills in the distance too. These add to the visual effect - a shock and awe campaign for the senses!

Anyway, after coming through the first “rock corridor” as I call them, there was quite an interesting sight on the right. It was a little stream coming in, but the water looked like it was running through a mound of orange clay. The color was certainly appropriate! You are pretty close to Tennessee here!

… and it was soon after this that another interesting sight met my eye. There was an incredibly old bridge column built onto one of the massive boulders on the left side. This column had really crumbled over time and it looked ancient, yet there it was, still standing! Another rock I passed near this looked like a giant hamburger!

As I rounded yet another corner I saw a third bridge that looked a lot like the one I'd seen at Yamacraw when we dropped off the boats. I didn’t think that could be possible because I didn't think I could have come that far already. If so, I was a little disappointed that my trip was proceeding so quickly, but it turned out to be a different bridge. This one was also abandoned quite a while ago as there was quite a bit of vegetation on top of it. There was also some kind of rock structure to the right of it which might have been about as old as the bridge itself. It was concreted on top, and I wasn’t quite sure if this might have been some kind of little pier or something?

The bridge at Yamacraw did become visible shortly and I met with the scene below. I'd been here last year. Seeing the spot both then and now helped me put the water level in perspective. Last year the most challenging rapid had been here, yet because of the low water today that rapid now looked fairly tame. The rock, nevertheless, did still prove to be a bit of a challenge. It hangs low over the water, you see, and in trying to keep from going under it last year I had run right into it!

At any rate, this second section of the trip (from Yamacraw down to my car at Alum Ford) was to have a lot more riffle areas. I’d end up having to get out at most of them. At first I paddled through some, but there turned out to be so many that I thought I might scratch up my boat a little too much if I continued. I ported from then on. "El klutz-o" here slipped and fell the first time escorting his boat through, however, and after that I held onto the boat with both hands for support as I negotiated my way over the rocks! I’d say that although this trip is beautiful any time you go, I think it best to do in the spring or early summer when the water is higher.

Anyway, when I did get to these riffles I decided to enjoy them even though they meant some extra work. I’ve mentioned before what I think about foiled plans. I think foiled plans mean that the Lord wants to show you something different, and today I think that something might have been the gentle sounds that the riffles made. I might not have enjoyed them as much if I’d been paddling down on faster and higher water - I might have just kept going. This time, however, I let the sounds soothe me as I took them in amid the beautiful scenery and peaceful atmosphere here – and nearly fell asleep as I did so!

There were some more interesting rock formations in here too. There was one spot where 2 rocks met on the right and they were kind of jammed together to form a near perfect circle of erosion right between them. In another spot there was a wild turkey roaming the bank on the left, and I followed it for a while as it meandered around the downed foliage. I hadn’t seen as many of these birds on the Kentucky River this year as opposed to last, so it was nice to spot one again.

There was one really good point of moving water next which was fun and which nearly got me soaked. On it there was a rock angling down so it got your boat to really slope downwards. As it did, and you reach the end of this rock slope, the water will come up over your boat in one big wave as you negotiate it. This one was fun! I should mention too, that on this section of the river there are plenty of shoals and other places where you can stop and rest or even camp.

You’ll see the "boat ramp” for Alum Ford after a last right curve. I use the term loosely because I don’t think you’d want to bring a power boat down here! Today the ramp had about a 2 foot drop-off to the water! I completed my day by paddling just past this point to get a look around the last river curve and then, with my car waiting at the top of the ramp for me like a faithful servant, I headed home for a good nights sleep!

DIRECTIONS:

To Alum Ford: US27 to KY700. Go west until you can’t go west any more!

Sheltowee Trace Outfitters has directions to the other sites when you schedule your trip.