Destress Outdoors

Ohio River

Guyan Creek or Little Guyandotte River (Mile 287.5) to Robert Byrd Dam (Mile 279.5)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

(Navigation Charts 152 – 153)

You’ve heard the saying: “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink”? Well, I’ve never experienced what that meant until today. You see, when I arrived at the ramp and started getting my gear out of the car I dropped my water bottle! Of course, the lid came right off! I lost all but maybe a couple cups worth! I wasn’t going back, though. I was just going to have to be thirsty today! On the plus side, I was soon to discover what might have been the prettiest stretch of the Ohio I’d yet paddled. I mention this not only because of all the wildlife I saw on the day – both fauna and flora – but also because of the relative remoteness of this section which naturally contributes to its beauty.

The ramp I used, the K. H. Butler Department of Natural Resources Ramp off of Ohio Route 7, is almost right in the middle of this section of the river at mile 284. It's a nice facility with plenty of parking and it also has a port-a-bathroom which is convenient, yet as I was getting my stuff down to the water I was hearing the sound of sporadic gunshots. Oddly enough, someone seemed to be hunting on the ramp grounds and they’d be at it all day. Shots were still being fired when I returned later in the evening, and this must have driven the people at the campground across the river here (the River's Edge Campground, link further below) crazy - especially since the shots were reverberating off the hills in back of the park.

At any rate, among the first things I noticed when I got on the water was all the seaweed at the bottom of the ramp. I’d not seen it before, and I was quite taken by it because it had the appearance of an underwater Christmas tree! I’d find the stuff quite abundant over the course of the day and I ended up taking a ton of pictures of it. [Indeed, I’d come to find this alga quite prevalent along the northern stretches of the Ohio River - at least from Huntington to Ravenswood, West Virginia and beyond.]

Turns out, the alga actually provided something else - a great habitat for the likewise abundant schools of little minnows I’d see. There must have been millions if not billions of these and by the time I'd gotten down to the Guyan Creek (a.k.a. the Little Guyandotte River) at 287.5 to begin I’d encountered these little fish in full measure. I love the incredible circles they form! The photo below was taken inside the creek. Isn't that cool?!? The first such circle I ever saw was on the Kentucky River and it was so dense that I actually thought it was a tire underwater! Anyway, I was able to get back about 1/4 mile into Guyan Creek.

If you, too, head upriver on the Ohio from Guyan Creek you’ll find yourself amid some beautiful West Virginia mountain scenery on your left and some equally beautiful Ohio farmland on your right. If that’s not enough to captivate you, however, you’ll also note that the West Virginia shoreline is almost one continuous beach in here!

Swan Creek next enters the river at mile 286.5 in Ohio. It's a short one, however, navigable only a couple hundred yards before reaching shallow water. Nevertheless, I did find it interesting that as I crossed under the Ohio Route 7 Bridge for this stream I was able to see remnants of what must have been the original bridge supports. I do wish I’d met the stream's namesake swan though!

Back on the Ohio River you’ll be able to spot the Glenwood Light and Daymarker on the West Virginia side which ushers in the little line of houses that represent the community of Glenwood. There are some boat ramps here but they all look private. Meanwhile, the West Virginia mountains and the Ohio farmland will continue with you all the way to mile 284.5 where you’ll encounter the Eighteen Mile Creek directly across the river from the ramp you're using.

Why the name Eighteen Mile Creek? Well, it appears that it’s 18 miles downriver from the mouth of the Kanawha River at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. I got in roughly ¼ mile, in the process finding it abundant with wildlife. Not only was it teeming with the little fish, but at one point I heard some fairly loud “splooshes”. Looking around, I just happened to spot a trio of critters launching themselves into the water from holes just above the surface. They looked like beaver but – of course – it was too late to take a picture! Then, at another point I spotted an animal just ready to pop out of its hole, but when it saw me it went right back in! I couldn’t tell exactly what this creature was either, but it could have been anything from a beaver to an otter to simply a squirrel. I don’t know. Finally, as I paddled out I encountered an animal I could actually identify - the Muscovy Duck below. It was probably there when I came in, but it was so incredibly mellow that I may have missed it!

Meanwhile, if you paddle this stream you’ll find yourself directly alongside a nice RV Park – the River's Edge Campground. This is a pretty large one which extends for nearly ½ mile of shoreline and, just like the rest of the West Virginia shoreline, it has its own nice section of beach. I seriously looked for a store here at which I might have been able to replenish my water, but with no luck. There might have been one up there but I sure didn't see it.

At this same point in Ohio you’ll find a line of dwellings, among which I noted a classic Mail Pouch Tobacco sign on a barn. There's an interesting article on these barns here. Apparently there used to be more than 20,000 of them across the country and you'll still see them on occassion if you travel the backroads as I like to do. Mail Pouch (a.k.a. Bloch Brothers Tobacco) appears to be headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, a city that is also on the Ohio River about 200 miles up from this point.

Anyway, the river will now begin to straighten out and you’ll be able to see the Robert Byrd Dam up ahead in the distance beyond the Ashton Light and Daymark on the West Virginia side. Horse Creek was in here in Ohio, but it wasn’t much in evidence. Then, directly between Eighteen Mile Creek and the upcoming Sixteen Mile Creek in West Virginina, I encountered another diverse concentration of wildlife. Along with a few dozen geese, 5 heron and 3 wood ducks I also spotted a deer strolling up on shore. The heron, in particular, were very interesting. I almost always see them alone and I rarely see them in pairs, but I'd never seen them in congregations like this. This spot must be quite a draw.

As if all the beautiful surroundings and all the wildlfe weren't enough, this location was about to get ever better. Whilst I was taking my photos I espied the river boat below coming toward me! This vision of beauty, the Belle of Cincinnati, had been docked in downtown Huntington on my way home from work the previous night! “What was it doing?” I'd wondered… Could it be on a river tour from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh?!? That would be AWESOME, I'd thought! Well, in looking at the website I found that not to be the case, although the boat was on a tour of cities that included Huntington and my current home of Gallipolis. Apparently the B.B. Riverboat Company which owns this vessel runs it to different cities where it stays for a night or so and offers the residents tours of the river. You can come aboard and take a lunch or a dinner cruise or just take the tour itself without a meal. What a fantastic sight this boat is on the river!

Anyway, Sixteen Mile Creek comes up next at mile 282.5 and I got in 1/3 mile, originally following the aforementioned deer. This was a really mellow animal. It didn’t run, it just strolled along. The stream looked really nice in the back with water clear enough to be able to see to the bottom…

…but check out this poor creature that’s barely able to keep it's head above water!

Upon emerging from this stream you’ll clearly be able to see the dam up ahead along with some mooring cells, but before reaching it you'll continue to find nice stretches of beach on both sides of the river. I decided to take a break on the West Virginia side to wait as a couple push boats passed, and in doing so I had some very pretty flowering shrubs as company. I don’t know the proper name for them but they'd show up at regular intervals over the course of the day. Their flowers seemed to alternate pleasant hues of pink and white…

At any rate, the mooring cells apparently belong to M & G Polymers of West Virginia and they seem to double as “Arrival Points” for the dam. NOTE: M & G went bankrupt in 2017, but there's a great story about the facility here. Apparently the workers that were laid off actually saved the plant by keeping it running for 6 months until a buyer was found. The facility now operates as AGP Polytech (a division of a company called the Far Eastern Group) and it produces something called PET, or polyethylene terephthalate. The substance is supposedly used as a safe plastic packaging material.

As for the push boats I mentioned... The M.K. McNally was the first coming downstream. It belonged to the Campbell Transportation Company. Campbell is fairly prominent on the river. With headquarters up near Pittsburgh, they provide a wide variety of marine services in addition to transportation. These include harbor services, repair and barge services. American Electric Power's push boat Future was the second vessel and I’d have a front row seat to watch it pass through the lock chamber. It’s funny, but the walls of the lock chambers on these – as large and lengthy as they are – can still sneak up on you if you approach them from around a bend...

I was, of course, EXTEMELY careful once I decided to paddle across the river up by the dam. However, since this particular summer had been extremely hot and arid the water flow wasn’t too much of a problem. In fact, there wasn't much current at all even up at the dam. Nevertheless, I still didn’t quite have the nerve to paddle right up to the corner. There's a nice fishing area there, though (check out the photo at the very end of this journal for that perspective).

On the way back downstream to the ramp you’ll have some more nice beach scenes (the one below is on the Ohio side) some more algae and maybe a heron or two. It’s quite enjoyable…

Finally, here’s a picture of the corner of the dam that I took on the way back home. As mentioned, there’s a nice park here with a good amount of parking, some picnic areas and a plenty of room to fish…

DIRECTIONS:

The K. H. Butler Ramp is easily accessible right off Ohio Route 7 a little downriver from the Robert Byrd Lock and Dam. If you follow 7 south from Gallipolis it’ll be on your left just after 15 miles from the town center and if you travel north from Huntington, West Virginia it lies on the right just past 20 miles from where you cross the “