July 9, 2021
Mile 40 – Mile 63.5
I woke up sometime after 5am, right as there was some light showing. I was really tired. I did not get much sleep. I was not particularly motivated to get up, nor was I even motivated to get on the water. It was pretty dreary. There was also occasional thunder and flashes of lightning off in the distance. However, I had to consider the later I get on the river, the later I get to my camp spot that day. I thought it would be good to get going before it potentially started raining. Even though I slept like crap, for what it was worth, it was a good decision to stop there.
Around the town of Jeff, I came across what I presume was a father and son fishing in the river. He said hi when I passed by. I told him they were the first people I had seen on the river in over 50 miles. He looked surprised. He asked where I was heading to. I told him the Ohio River. He said that was a long way go but thought it was awesome and wished me luck.
My left shoulder was really bothering me today. The same with my left elbow. This was most likely due to not being able to do proper strokes because of not having a fin on the board.
When I got into Hazard, I came upon a small dam. It was only a couple feet drop. I took my water bottles off and put them to the side. I just slide the board down while keeping everything on it. Too easy. I got about a 1/4 mile down river, decided to do a map check to see how far my camp spot is. I was going to get some water when I realized I left my water back up river. Annoyingly, I paddled back up and got my water. A necessary but unnecessary waste of time. Right past downtown was another dam, maybe a 6ft drop. I took the pelican case off and lowered it down with my 550 cord. I left everything on the board and also lowered it with the 550 cord. At mile 63, I stopped to get some ice and some drinks. The store was just up the bank from the river. From there, it was only a 1/2 mile to my camp spot at Perry County Park. I found a nice spot in a gazebo. It had an electrical outlet so I was able to charge my phone and computer. I also took photos off my camera and put them on my external hard drive. Service was pretty spotty but better than nothing. There was a really cool remote control car track right there. It was a serious thing with official racing. Really cool to watch. After a few races, I went back to my stuff. I called Heidi. Finally got to talk to her after 5 days. When it got dark I went to sleep.
Kentucky River SUP 