Day 23 - 432 miles

The river level is really low, as you can see from the photos, and no sign of rain in the forecast. We took a half-day yesterday and stopped at a camp spot that was an old lock house that they converted into camp grounds with showers, power and water. It's been two weeks since a real shower. There was another "clean coal" plant across from the campsite. They seem to pop up every 20 or 30 miles on the Ohio. We got a good nights rest then went back at it in the morning. We passed through Pomeroy, OH which was supposedly in Ripley's twice. Once for not having any 4-way intersections, due to it only being 2 blocks by two miles long, and again for having a 3 story courthouse that has a ground entrance on every floor. Just at the edge of the city we came across a McDonald's with its own dock! We had no choice but to stop but opted for the Pizza Hut next door. The locals there were very cool. They refilled our water and got us a pizza in a jiff. Thanks Sabrina. We paddled the rest of our miles and saw an old lock house in the weeds just upriver from where we made camp, so we stopped to check it out. I believe it is the old lock 25. The forecast is saying 101 for Thursday! We are camped just outside of Pt. Pleasant, WV. Anyone ever hear of The Mothman Prophecies?

Donations

If anyone wants to make donations for food and other supplies there's a donate button on the right side of the page. Shawn and I both are on tight budgets so anything is much appreciated and goes a long way out here. The donation goes straight into a designated river account. Thanks to everyone that has donated so far! More updates to come!

Parkersburg

We slept in a park in St. Mary's so we didn't get much sleep due to street lights, trains and late night boaters. We wanted at least 15 miles Thursday. We made it to Marietta and crashed. we woke up today and headed for Parkersburg. Shawn couldn't take the long hair in the heat anymore and snipped it all off. Found another rope swing on the way. This one took some time to work up the guts to do but ended up being a blast. Made it to Parkersburg and ran some errands and ate a meal at the Crystal Cafe. We made camp on the historical Blennerhassett Island. We saw a deer swimming across the river to the island, which was cool. They are surprisingly fast swimmers. We've also seen fox and a buck on this 4 mile island.

Heating up

We left Fish Creek Island and did another 21 or so miles and camped on Williamson Island near Paden City, WV. It sits at the beginning of the "Long Reach" which is the longest straight stretch on the Ohio River (17 miles). We woke early hoping to beat 90 degree highs. I speared a carp out of the boat early on. In Fly, Ohio we passed a historic ferry taking cars back and forth across the river. Apparently it's only one of four on the Ohio. We haven't seen a lot of barges down here but we did see one with 15. 3 wide, 5 long! The"Long Reach" lived up to its name especially in the intense heat so we jumped in the water a lot. This quickly escalated to gapping docks. Finally, we got the stretch out of the way and stopped in St. Marys. I overheard someone in town say it was 98 in the shade. I believe it. We found a cool mosaic on the side of an old grocery store. It was huge and had a timeless quote in it: "My river is your river- what happens to the one will to the other happen as well." Warm sleep tonight, More river tomorrow. We should hit Parkersburg. Stay cool friends.

Head Winds

We hit wheeling Sunday but had to fight for it. The winds were brutal and were sending us all over the river. It seemed as though we could have paddled upstream twice as fast as we could down. Coming in to town we passed under the oldest operating suspension bridge in the world at 170 years old. We had to do some running around in town anyways so we stopped early and made camp. Rain came at 5 am until around 9. We hit the river again in the morning and the winds were calmer but still strong. 10 miles down river we hit Moundsville, WV which is named that because a culture around 250 BCE made 60 ft. burial mounds all around that area that are still there. We made a stop then kept paddling until we noticed a storm approaching so we had to outrun it to get camp set up before the rain. We just barely made it to Fish Creek Island. More MREs and rain tonight.

Ohio/West Virginia Border

Hit the border yesterday morning. Made camp early, bathed in the river, then made good meal over the fire (steak, beans and potatoes). Found ourselves a decent rope swing today. We've seen a lot of them but no real good ones yet. We'll keep that updated. We did 25 miles today and stopped in Pier 12 in Wilksburg for beers and burgers. Paddled on to about 10 miles outside of Wheeling next to yet another coal plant. Gotta run errands in town tomorrow. More to come!

Day 11 - Dam near Ohio/ WV

Paddled all day for around 24 miles. You have to paddle for every inch down this way. Barge traffic is pretty heavy but they're not real fast so it's easy to get out of the way. Passed a coal plant right on the river. Did one lock and set up camp just 2 miles away from the Ohio/ WV border. Outta state tomorrow! Cool camp on another island around Georgetown.

Goodbye Allegheny, Hello Ohio!

We dropped back in where we left off in New Kensington on Tuesday. We got started late so we ended up camping practically under 40th st. bridge in Pittsburgh. Woke up early, snagged some food and hit the Ohio River within 30 mins! Finally feels like we're making progress. The Ohio is big, windy and littered with barges and industrial ports. We hit two locks and the second one was under construction and they told us we couldn't go through for another 2-3 weeks. Yeah right. We started carrying our stuff up the hill to carry it around the lock, which would've easily been a mile walk, when two guys from the lock came down to talk to us. They said they were "closet hippies" and did all that "stockwood stuff" so they could sneak us through. 2.5 hours later we got through and set up camp on a beach just after the lock. Beat. Around 1,960 miles to go.

Pittsburgh

On our way to Pittsburgh we found a private dock in New Kensington that would let us leave our canoes there for a couple of days so we could re up supplies and shower at our friends place in Pittsburgh. Our Buddy Greg picked us up and we headed to Pittsburgh for a shower and some Primanti Bros sandwiches. Thanks to Lodge, Chip and Buey for a place to shower and crash.

Locks and dams

We left East Brady and headed towards our first lock. Went through no problem. Five more to Pittsburgh. Camp stir fry!

Day 5 - River friends

We left Parker, PA where the Clarion River flows into Al. Finally hit East Brady after battling strong head winds and boaters' wakes. We were expecting to hit our first lock and dam today but we ran into a lady named Angie who was on the bank as we passed and she told us that the next two locks were closed indefinitely. Our plan was to portage around them but she said it would be a rough one so she insisted we set up camp with them and her husband Darwin would give us a ride around the two locks the following day! We were thrilled that someone would help us out like that. We learned that they were developing a mile or so of river front properties where we were camping at and Angie showed us around. If anyone is looking for property on the Allegheny this was by far some of the nicest land we've seen along the river. There are around 15 plots left! They spoiled us with food and cold drinks and we all sat around the fire chatting and relaxing. It's nice to know there are still people out there like them, thanks guys!

Day 4 - Solar Power!

We left Tootsie's Island early trying to rack up some miles with fresh arms. We have seen a total of 7 bald eagles so far, one of which happened to dive toward the river ahead of us and catch a fish right out of the water. We haven't been able to get close enough to get any pictures. We stopped in Emlenton to meet my parents who were bringing our solar charger for our electronic devices. Had a half hour wait so we stopped in at Otto's "home of the big women" Tavern for a drink. Fine establishment. Another great island campsite just past Foxburg. 37 mile day.

Day 3 - Tootsie's Island

We paddled to Oil City today and stopped in to refill water and charge our phones. We hit some class 5 rapids as soon as we departed but made it out unscathed. "What would Bear Grylls do?" was the motto (laughs). Later found out that there have been a few deaths in that spot. We had to stop early due to a lightning storm and LOTS of rain. Being in the middle of the river with aluminum paddles can be kind of dangerous in those conditions. Camped on Tootsie's Island just after Franklin. No fire. First MRE of the trip. Did 20 miles today.

Day 2 - Panther Hollow

We left Tionesta hoping to hit Oil City by nightfall but fell short and camped in Panther Hollow. Shawn nearly tipped his canoe trying to untangle his fishing rod after seeing a huge trout. He saved it from capsizing completely and only took on a little water and took a bath. We also ran into a lot of low water where we had to get out and walk our canoes. Our campsite was on a bank near some giant rocks that the hollow is known for. We made 32 miles.