Kanawha River Mile 1 to 9

Kanawa River

Nine Mile Creek (Mile 8.5) to Thirteen Mile Creek in Leon, West Virginia (Mile 12)

Thursday, August 23, 2012

(Navigation Charts 1 - 4)

Today I put in amid the tiny community of Leon, West Virginia. However, as I nearly drove right by the entrance to the ramp I’ve got full directions below! There’s a small space between WV Route 62, some railroad tracks and the river and this is where you'll find it. There are several parking spaces but no facilities. One note as it relates to safety, however. This ramp has very poor visibility. What I mean is that if you're here almost nobody will be able to see you. I would not recommend putting in here alone.

Anyway, since I’ve decided to narrate this river in an upstream fashion I’ll start from the furthest downriver point I covered today – Nine Mile Creek - and then work my way back up to this ramp...

Thus, when you reach the mouth of Nine Mile Creek you’ll find the area on the southern side of the Kanawha to be one vast stretch of farmland while the northern side is one of forested hills and pleasant rural scenes. As for Nine Mile Creek itself, it doesn't look like there's a whole lot to it at first glance, yet I found it to be navigable for about a mile on a previous trip and it was very picturesque so I think is well worth paddling into if you have the chance.

Anyway, this part of the Kanawha is a very peaceful one and I took my time to enjoy it as I paddled along... Between about mile 9.5 and mile 10, I found a couple things to be interesting. The first was a pleasant little fishing oasis for the farmer on the north side…

Then, just before reaching the Ten Mile Creek you’ll pass a Light and Day Marker with the same name at mile 9.6. The photo below was taken looking back downriver...

As for Ten Mile Creek itself, it comes just afterward at – you guessed it - mile 10! A road bridge spans its opening; a bridge that you’ll have passed over on the way here if you came the way I did from Point Pleasant, WV. Today I was able to navigate into the creek about a mile, and if you do this too you'll encounter some very pleasant scenes. Below are some... Notice in the second photo what look like white spots on the surface of the water. These are actually whirlygig beetles. They're incredibly interesting insects! They tend to reside in peaceful side streams like this and when you near them they'll zigzag in myriad directions in a wide swath. It's quite an interesting spectacle and it's yet another example of how wonderful our Lord must be to have created such an amazing array of creatures!

I also met what I believe was some type a bittern (below). These avians are related to herons and in addition to feeding on fish they also snack on amphibians like frogs from time to time.

In the end I was blocked by one exclamation point of a deadfall! I suppose I could have ducked under this, but I thought it made for an interesting note to end on.

Back on the Kanawha you'll find the river to be quite pleasant as you'll be in the midst of a very peaceful area, one in which you can simply stop and listen to the sounds of nature all around you (or until you hear a car coming down the road!). The photo below was taken looking downriver...

Next up comes Thirteen Mile Creek (which actually enters closer to river mile 12) at the community of Leon, West Virginia. In fact, this stream enters directly alongside the ramp you'll have put in from. I was able to get in about 2 1/2 miles and I found it to be quite pleasant. Numerous photos below...

Once you've paddled out of the creek that's about it! The ramp will be right beside you! A nice day on the Kanawha River. :)

DIRECTIONS

I set off from Point Pleasant heading east on a combined West Virginia Route 62/2. After about 3 miles I then followed Route 62 when it split to the right. From here I’d reset my odometer and after you get about 9 miles (Leon is roughly 10 miles away) you’ll want to start keeping your eyes peeled. First you’ll pass Leon Baden road as it comes in from your left and then you’ll cross a bridge over Thirteen Mile Creek. Then, just after you cross main street (which also comes in from the left) you’ll make a right turn to reach the ramp, going under the railroad tracks to do so. Look for the brown "Public Stream Access" sign. The ramp is almost directly across the street from the post office.