Adventures with Mike and Nature

Spring is here and it's time to get adventures on the calendar!

Details:

I've reserved the South Shelter at Hardy Lake. It's above and overlooks the beach area while being beside the Sunnyside ramp. The plan is for everyone to bring their boats (I'll be bringing a few of mine for people to try out), bring some food to share (if you'd like to), bring any excess outdoor gear that you may have for a swap, and to have an awesome day and potentially meet some new friends.
I'll make a couple of posts on my Facebook page so people can advertise any gear they're bringing and let people know if and what food you may be bringing.

While we're hanging out, sharing some grub, and telling tall tales, we'll also have our swap meet. Bring any outdoor gear that you have and may want to sell or trade to someone else. This is not a flea market or yard sale. Outdoor equipment ONLY! If you have a lot of stuff, you may want to bring a table.

WARNING: This is GEAR SWAP ONLY! You can trade goods onsite. If you wish to purchase an item from another individual, please make arrangements to do it off state park property. I don't want to run into any problems with DNR regulations and risk getting us shut down. Thank you for your understanding!

After we get done hanging out, we'll head down the lake. I'll be bringing a bunch of boats and they will be available for people to try out. The best part is that it's FREE! Hopefully, other people will be willing to allow others to try out their boats. I'll also be giving some basic instruction for those of you looking to try out kayaking for the first time and you're not sure how to get started.

You do not need to own a kayak to attend this event. The purpose of this event is to give people an opportunity to paddle a variety of kayak types (I'll bring sit-on and sit-in kayaks) and to, hopefully, help some people out that are trying to break into this sport. It's also a chance to hang out with likeminded people and potentially coordinate some events for later in the season.

After we're done hanging out and trying out some different boats, we'll go for a paddle around the lake.

Hardy lake has a campground, hiking trails, a large lake with beach, marina, and tons of other stuff to do. If you're coming from farther away, you may want to consider camping out for the night.

I hope to see a ton of people out there. This will be a super fun event!

Mother's Day on the Blue river has become a tradition for a lot of us. Bring Mom down one of the prettiest streams in Indiana.

THE PLAN:

We'll meet at Rothrock Mill public access. We'll unload our gear here and then run the shuttle. Once the logistics have been taken care of, we'll start our paddle down one of the most beautiful sections of river in Indiana.
We commonly see eagles, Great Blue heron, hawks, deer, cormorants, and various ducks and geese. Others have seen beaver and otter (I haven't been that lucky yet) This time of year, we'll likely see some baby ducks and geese. There are also tall rocky cliffs along this section of the Blue. Along with the views, we'll enjoy the company of some pretty cool people. We generally stop on a gravel bar for lunch around 11:00am or so. There is some great rockhounding along this stretch of the river (if you're into that sort of thing). Don't be afraid to look down on occasion. We've found lots of coral, some geodes, pretty chert, and various other fossils and pretty rocks. I wouldn't be surprised if people find an artifact every now and then.

This is a 10 mile paddle to Blue Chapel. There are some slow spots that you will have to paddle through and there will be a few spots where the water moves pretty quickly and can be a little winding. As always, please know your abilities before joining in. If you have any questions, ask me.

WARNINGS!!!

Even though it's SPRING, the SUN and DEHYDRATION are still factors that need to be considered. Please consider them and take appropriate action.

Afterwards, we'll be heading over to one of our favorite places to eat after a paddle, Rita's Taco Shop. This place has great Mexican food, drinks, and they have picnic tables outside.

If there are any questions, post 'em up in the comment section, send me a message, or give me a call.

I hope to see a bunch of you out there!