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Old 04-11-2019, 10:18 AM   #11
KenM
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Default Oil Creek Paddle 4-7-19

Oil Creek Paddle 4-7-19

__K & C really enjoyed this paddle. It was our first opportunity to paddle Oil Creek and I think that was true of many of the other club members. A warm spring day with some overcast clouds made for a very scenic trip. The trees were not yet leafing out so the white barked sycamores really popped out against the dark green of the hemlocks. We had some occasional light breeze but probably only the solo canoes noticed.

__With the water level at 3.20 foot the "crick" was low but still enough water for an enjoyable paddle. We occasionally bumped some rocks as in the shallow ripples. A few folks got hung up. With a swift current and ripples it was easy for the gravel bars to sneak up on you. Mostly though, you didn't have to pay much attention.

__Over the trip length of 9.6 miles Oil Creek dropped about 94 feet in elevation. In river terms, this would be a gradient of 9.8 feet per mile. A gradient this much makes for a great current for us recreational paddlers (but maybe not for the white water folks). I've been on streams that had a 5 ft/mile gradient and thought there was a nice current. For comparison... the (very slow) Upper Cuyahoga River has a gradient of only 1.4 ft/mile. As I almost always have a GPS running I was able to watch the speed of the river. Just floating through the pools the water was flowing 4+ mph. Through the ripples where the river dropped a bit more it was running 5 to 5.5 mph. Nice.

__TCT has accumulated a great group of folks to paddle with. If you need help with a carry or anything else (on or off the water) there's always someone willing to give a hand. At the takeout, we took our paddle gear up the short distance to the cars and before I could go back to get our boats someone was already carrying them up. Wow. And thanks.

__Oil Creek was a really nice day of paddling. -- Ken & Cheryl

OilCreek_209.jpg

ps... Jessica, you had some really nice photos in the album.

Last edited by KenM; 04-11-2019 at 12:37 PM.
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