Dam 6 to Bailey Run

2008 Kentucky River

Monday, September 15, 2008

Dam 6 to Bailey Run (Mile 84.5)

PLEASE BE AWARE: With only 1 put-in for this pool, this is a 20+ mile out and back paddle.

I’d been looking forward to this. For quite a while I'd wondered exactly where this spot was. Then my parents came for a visit and we went to take a tour of the Wild Turkey Distillery just on the south side of the Blackburn Memorial Bridge over the Kentucky River between Versailles, Kentucky and Lawrenceburg. At the time I remembered being particularly struck by how amazing the bridge looked with it's "S" shape and by what a beautiful spot it was in with the distillery visible atop a hill as you're heading South and an old train bridge spanning the river beside you. The scene is shown in the photo (yes, I made sure nobody was behind me when I stopped to take it outside the car window). :)

The put in I used today was in Tyrone, Kentucky. At the time I came this was the only public ramp in this pool between dam 6 and dam 5. It wasn't too far upriver from dam 5, however, so this was going to be along paddle. The navigation charts actually indicated that there were 2 public ramps at about the same spot, but the one that used to be called Onan’s was no longer open. In fact, it didn’t look like it had been used in a decade or more. Fint’s was the one that was open. I was informed that Mr. Fint had passed away a couple years prior to my coming and that this ramp was now run by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. They’ve got it nicely paved and well maintained.

At first I missed it, however. At the time I still thought there were 2 ramps and that it would be easy to find at least one of them. There had been a ramp sign at the junction of US62 and KY1510, but there wasn’t one when I got right down to the location (access actually comes on the left, right after the bridge past the quarry). Anyway, I continued driving straight past the ramp until I was on a very narrow gravel road winding around the ravine for Wildcat Branch. This was clearly not the way to go! I eventually found a dubious spot to turn around and nearly got stuck a couple times as I did so. Returning, I saw a guy at a house by the side of the road, so I stopped and asked where the ramp was. He pointed straight ahead. It was right in front of me! It was so obvious I felt like a real dunce! It turned out that he needed my help too, though - I gave him a jump start for his pickup!

Anyway, when I finally got down to the ramp, two white geese and a darker one with red around the nose and eyes (a Muscovy Duck I'd find out later) were there to greet me. They were apparently used to people feeding them and drifted close. Alas, I did not have anything suitable to give them. Would they eat trail mix? Deciding that they probably wouldn’t, I started upriver to dam 6. It was getting pretty dark with all the clouds, however, despite forecasts which didn't call for rain. It would hold off for the day, but the clouds did have me wondering...

Once I got upriver near dam 6 I heard quite a bit of rustling in a patch of vegetation to my right. I had startled something and it was trying to get away, but it couldn’t seem to free itself quite quickly enough. What it turned out to be was a beaver, and when it finally emerged, exasperated, from its ordeal I got an indignant glare at having caused it all this effort! This was only the second beaver I had seen so far on the Kentucky River..

Anyway, I thought this dam (at mile 96) looked a lot like dam 7 without the hydroelectric plant. There was a large shoal on the left as I turned around to head back downriver (on the left in the first photo below) and here I saw lots of little shells (as per the second picture). There was a beach on the downriver right side and there was also a line of large rocks at the bottom of the dam chute, perhaps to prevent boats from getting too close.

The lock here was concreted over (guess it's forever closed) and the old wood and iron lock gates were left discarded on the beach. As far as a portage, this would be a fairly easy walk up or down for a paddler with boat and gear. You’d just have to negotiate the rocks and the grade as well as the old gates.

I realized as I started paddling back downriver that the palisades may be transitioning out at this point. In the last pool they cropped in at points, but for the most part you could only see them if you peered back through the trees. Here in this pool you don’t really see them at all despite the fact that you will have some rocky shorelines at times. This section would actually turn out to be the most diverse as far as shoreline scenery that I could remember. I’ll not bore the reader by describing every change, but suffice it to say that the forested hills switch sides at just about every curve in the river and that everything else is almost constantly in transition.

The first mile and a quarter down from the dam is more or less a straight stretch with a dry Sercy Branch entering from the right in the middle. The Clear Creek then enters from the outside of the first curve (a fairly sharp left one) and I got in about 500 feet. This stream has cut through one little palisade up on the left as you enter. I also noticed as I’m composing this that there was a stone dike at the mouth of this creek! I didn’t see any sign of it while I was on the water - just the shoal here.

I’ll mention something else that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before as regards tree roots because it amazes me how adaptable trees are! They’ll continue to grow even if a whole side of their root system is basically useless. Scenes like the one below are actually quite common on the river.

At mile 94 was the old Y.W.C.A. Camp Otonka, a camp which illicited some fond memories from one of my readers. Today I could just manage to see some wooden structures through a clearing at this location (pictured below) but that was it. A boat ramp may once have come down over the shoal, but there was no sign of activity here other than the sound of a tractor at work.

From this point (mile 94) to mile 92 you'll have a 180 degree right curve and in the center of it you'll find quite a few houses. I’m not aware if this is a named community or just a collection of homes, but they're on both sides of the river, and I couldn’t recall houses being at the shoreline on both sides in quite a while – not since Irvine. Usually they’ll be present on one side and then another. Anyway, some of the dwellings on the right had steps coming down to the water and one house, in particular, had a really nice set with rocks placed for steps and an iron rail descending alongside them on one side all the way down to the river. There was a private paved boat ramp here too.

A couple other things on this curve: rope swings and ducks. Entering and exiting this curve there were 2 nice swings. The one on the exit looked brand new. They were both nicely done. The ducks were funny. I saw a couple or three varieties here and some were in a group playing. One of them would start by flapping its wings and then it would dive under the water. The others would then follow and when they emerged they’d fly – just skimming over the water – chasing each other and quacking all the while. Then they’d settle down for a period and it would start up again. It was quite fun to watch!

There was another house overlooking the river at mile 91 at the tip of Lilliard's Bend above Lilliard's Bar on the right – the Lilliard residence? Then, at mile 90 on the left, was a location the charts referred to as being Dowling Camp. I’ve got to admit to being rather clueless on this – I simply don’t know if this was an old camp like Otonka or if it was (or is) a community. I will say though, that this place has some of the coolest looking houses on the river along with another private boat ramp.

At mile 89.5 the Gilbert Creek enters right after it’s merged with Clay Lick Creek. I couldn’t get in far, but it was an endearing spot with a heron hanging out with some Muscovy ducks. I hadn’t seen Muscovies before, but there were quite a lot of them in this pool. There was also a canoe back into this creek which I was happy to see. It’s always nice to be reminded that there are other paddlers on the river.

Across from this creek was a house that had some more intriguing steps leading down to the river. A lot of time had been put into these, although it didn’t look like they were being used anymore. They were so covered in foliage that you’d almost miss them. These were stone steps with rock walls on either side a few feet tall. Like the others I mentioned before, they didn’t go straight down - they wound down, which added to the aesthetic effect. Very classy.

Next on the same side the charts indicate “Summer Cottages” at mile 89 where the Craig's Creek enters. I could see a couple houses here and it looked like they used to have a ramp which had been dismantled - you could see the concrete in a pile above what could have been the ramp grade. There was a newer paved ramp too, however, and at the bottom was a rusted out hulk of old machinery of a kind I couldn't determine. I couldn’t get into Craig's Creek, by the way. It was too shallow. Interestingly, there's a creek of the same name which drains into Laurel Lake - this guy Craig must have been a popular fellow! :)

In the distance at this point, you’ll hear traffic and that’ll be the bridge for the Bluegrass Parkway. It’s painted blue underneath although you wouldn’t know it from driving over. Nice – bluegrass blue! There are actually 2 bridges – one for each direction. The road for them has been cut through to form a palisade. There was some really nice, lush looking land underneath it downriver on the left side. I tried to get a picture but it turned out blurred.

At mile 88 on the opposite bank was, yes, yet another private paved boat ramp! I think that’s 6 ramps in total now including Fint’s and Onan’s. Bear Branch entered only a couple feet wide on the left at mile 87 too, but it was in between mile 88 and 87 that something very strange happened. At first I saw 3 medium sized downed tree limbs protruding above the water. Then they moved! Then they made noise! I squinted to get a better look as the sun was still hiding amidst the clouds and the trees were partially shading the water. It was about 6PM.

Anyway, as I struggled to decipher what the heck was going on, I finally made out that the shapes were definitely too round to be tree limbs. Then they ducked under the water! Dag! What in the world was I looking at?!? I HAD to know… They popped up again at a few more points as I continued my paddle downriver. It was an eerie feeling of the unknown as my brain struggled to process this information, but I eventually realized that they must be otters fishing for the minnows. The only other time I’d seen an otter was from the bridge overlooking the south fork of the Licking River in Cynthiana. There are supposed to be a lot of them out here on the Kentucky River, though, and I was glad to have finally seen some.

Mile 86 to 84 was one long, slow curve left (I’d be getting out at mile 84.5) and it was at the start of this curve I met a nice fisherman. He confirmed quite a few things for me. Onan’s ramp had been closed for a decade and all the ramps besides the one I used are private. He also told me about Mr. Fint and that he was a commercial fisherman on the river who operated the ramp. Finally, and possibly most important, the minnows I’ve been seeing are shad. :) That’s what the man back in Oregon had said too. I’m going with these guys! The fishermen know what they’re talking about, and it’s always nice to meet one who is willing to talk to me.

At mile 85.5 Grier’s Branch enters on the right and the Wildcat Branch comes in on the left. Wildcat was the site of the famous Shryock’s Ferry used by John Hunt Morgan and his troops but neither of these streams was navigable due to shallow water. Grier’s Branch was the larger of the 2 at several feet wide.

After these, the Versailles water intake is at mile 85 on the right across from the old Onan’s ramp, and there was a structure near this intake which intrigued me. It was an old stone structure that may have been part of the original intake, and it looked strangely familiar... It appeared to be 6 sided with spots for windows on the river side. I’d seen a similar structure just upriver from dam 14 in Heidelberg through the trees. That one was made of brick and this one was made of stone, but I nevertheless wonder if the structure I saw back in Heidelberg was part of an old water intake? If anyone can confirm or deny this, I’d appreciate it.

When I finally arrived back at the ramp in Tyrone I found an older couple feeding the geese. I didn’t want to bother them, but their car was parked exactly where I’d have to park in order to have a level spot from which to put my boat on top of my car (otherwise it'll slide right off!). I paddled toward the far side of the ramp, then to the other side trying not to disturb the geese for them but it was no use - they swam away anyway. It looked like this couple had a real nice meal for them, but they said the animals would only eat the bread. It appeared that they had laid out an entire pot of stew, poured in equal amounts on either side of the ramp. Now, I assumed that this was the leftover portion of a meal, but it was still such a giving gesture that I was quite moved by it.

I had kind of expected them to stay for a little bit and I would have been happy to have carried my boat all the way up if it meant that they could enjoy a little more time here. In fact, I would have been quite honored to have conversed with them for a while, but they headed out before I could think of anything to say. I felt for this couple and hoped that they had a family that appreciated them as much as they appreciated the ducks. :)

On the drive out I took some more pictures of the distillery and of the bridge. Snapping the bridge is pretty hazardous though. There’s no room for pedestrians and there's not really anyplace to park, so what I had to do was slow to a near stop in the middle of it to get a picture! I don’t recommend this, but I was too taken with the scene to do anything less. Maybe in time I’ll discover a nice overlook from which an even better picture may be taken.

My next trip on the river will be quite short unless I can port dam 5. I’ll make a concerted effort to do so that I might be able to break up the next pool. Otherwise, what I’m looking at is a 2.5 mile trip next time, a 12 mile the next and then a 3 miler (doubled for the circuit routes). If I could port the dam I could get 3 days into 2. I’ll try it, although it’s supposed to be the most difficult lock to climb from the water. We’ll see…

DIRECTIONS:

US62 to KY1510 and go south to Tyrone. It’s the same turn as the one for the Wild Turkey Distillery. After you pass the quarry on the left there will be a bridge. Take a left immediately after the bridge and that will lead to the boat ramp.