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Licking River:
Falmouth Downriver To?
I decided to do
something different today (I’d been attempting to paddle the entire
Getting to
Thaxtons from
Thaxtons offers
3 regular trips along with some others that you can check out on their website.
There’s a 6 mile, a 12 mile and an 18 mile. I chose
the 12. For this trip you’ll follow a Thaxton's vehicle in
your car to the point at which you'll be taking your boat out at the end of the
day, a little wooden dock.
You’ll then drive in the Thaxton's vehicle down to the
city of
You’ll first paddle under the KY22 bridge as you enter into a “C” curve. The South Fork of the Licking enters soon after, and in this way the stream displays another similarity to the Kentucky River, this one as concerns the point where the forks come together. Here, as there, the boat ramp is on the converged North and Middle Forks and here, as there, the South Fork meets the other forks shortly after a boat ramp. Of course, the big difference is that the Licking in general is much more shallow. It has fewer dams.
Anyway, the area all around the fully converged Licking is almost one large shoal. In fact, you’ll encounter shoals almost continuously for about the first quarter of this trip. These particular ones had pleasant little riffles of water which presented an interesting challenge as I tried to pick the best way downstream. It ended up being negotiable, but further down it would be more challenging.
After this first “C”, the shape of the river takes kind of a funny form - at least on the map of it I have in the book “A Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Kentucky” (I know, I mention this book a lot but it really is invaluable). The shape was that of a cartoon caricature looking to the right – the bottom half of a face with parted lips. I was approaching the section which formed the chin at this point, but there would be long and slow inverted “C” curves which would form the lips of the face further up. I have a crazy imagination at times, but it really does look like this!
Just as I was coming to the bottom of the lower lip I spotted a fox on the right shoal. I’d never seen a fox this close up, and the picture didn’t turn out very well, but I’ve just got to include it below. My first fox shot! Can you see it in the middle of the picture?
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You're apt to
see quite a few different animals on this trip, for that matter. I saw a deer at one point and I also saw geese, heron, and, of course, a ton of
fish! In fact, the water is so shallow that at many points the fish will nearly jump right into your boat! You
can see their dorsal fins above the water at these shallow points as they appear
to be trying to swim upstream. I was thinking that if I’d
brought even just a net I could possibly have caught some!
The shallow
water does present a challenge and a bit more work though.
You’ll have to kind of weave your way through it, and this will add a bit more
distance to the trip. In fact, I found that I’d expended
about as much energy on this trip as I would have on about 15 miles of flat
water. I only weigh about 160 pounds so it’s not that hard
for me, but for a larger person this might be a
bit more frustrating - a better chance of getting grounded on the rocks.
This, in
combination with long stretches of flat water, has Thaxons recommending that
people new to their trips start out with the 6 mile so they can get an idea of
how the river runs before taking a longer trip. I did this
myself.
On one curve at the first lip there’s a nice hilltop which has one tree standing by itself. It reminded me of the television show I’ve heard about called One Tree Hill. On the second (upper) lip I met up with quite a few geese which flew off in formation as I paddled up to them. At another curve I saw a solo goose that tried to hide from me in some underbrush. I laughed as it tried to avoid me because while most of it was covered, I could still see its head bobbing back and forth as it moved. "I can still see you!" :)
After what
seemed like a couple more miles I reached the takeout point at the little dock I
mentioned. It comes down at a slight angle to the
water but is a couple feet above the actual water level.
Being more accustomed to putting in and taking out at boat ramps, I kept the
boat steady as I put the things I had inside my boat up onto the
dock. I then moved a little further down to avoid these items
and, as I keep the boat steady, I put my forearms up on the dock and kind of
pushed myself up onto it. I then grabbed
the front handle of the boat and pulled it up onto the dock while keeping a mind
on my footing (the dock is grooved though so this is fairly easy to do).
The drive back was pleasant as I reminisced about the
trip I’d just taken.
DIRECTIONS:
Please see Thaxton’s website noted above. I came in on KY27
though and they were on the left just after a bridge 10 miles up from where KY22
meets KY27 in