Outdoors Club Goes Canoeing

On September 10, the two pink, musty buses crammed with 35 excited students and parents with faded life jackets and yellow paddles, inched its way up every tiny hill and bump on the road of Cave Country Canoes. Every swerve, and every thrill had people cheering and thinking it was a bright roller coaster. Finally, with everyone anxious to start in their canoes, the buses rolled to a stop at the entrance to the Blue River of Milltown, Indiana. Everyone clamored out and saw, for the first time, the old, rusty canoes. Everyone got one, after waiting excitedly in line. Breathing in the mud and plants on the water, the brown turtles peeked their heads out from the trees. The yellow leaves fell from the wet trees that surrounded the river.

It was gray and drizzly, but no one cared. The water was brown and mucky, but no one cared. They weren’t here to complain. They were here for pure adventure.

There were generally 2-3 people per canoe, although a few people went in single-person kayaks. The weather was a little strange, with gray clouds one minute, sun the next, then random rain. It started to rain the hardest at the end, so some people got very wet. The water was generally slow-moving, although there were a few tiny rapids. It was very shallow, only getting up to about 3 feet as the maximum, and getting stuck was common in the parts where it was only a few inches deep.

There are some species of wildlife that are common there, such as the River Otter, who are known to be hard to spot. Also, Blue Herons and the endangered Hellbenders are common, too. The Hellbenders are the largest salamander in North America and the second largest in the world. Lots of people saw turtles as well.

#TessaStephens