August 16, 2009 – 2:33 pm
While at a bachelor party on Lake Cumberland, I snuck away on Sunday
to run Cumberland Below the Falls with some of the Viking Canoe Club.
This was after Jay failed to join me on Saturday for our originally
planned run. (Sorry to Kevin on that front. We’ll have to try again
soon.) The water level was up and the CBF was beefy. Screaming Right
was an auto mystery move, but didn’t suck you into the hole. Surfers
was pretty sticky, especially on river right. The paddle out was long,
seemed longer than normal. But it was a great run and a great addition
to relaxing at the lake all weekend.
Feasibility study being done on Salt River
With the plentiful rainfall this summer, Bardstown’s source of water, Sympson Lake, has been overflowing. But such was not the case last summer and the summer before, when dry weather had some wondering if the city’s water supply was sufficient.
To prepare for future droughts and to meet the demand for water in a growing community, the city has hired engineering firm Kenvirons to do a feasibility study on drawing water from Salt River near the Bullitt County-Spencer County line and pumping it to North Bardstown.
Bardstown City Council recently agreed to pay a $212,000 stream mitigation fee to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for harm the Corps believes will come to a stream during expansion of the water treatment plant. The Council, therefore, is conscious of possibly having to pay for any environmental impact perceived to result from a new source of water, Mayor Dick Heaton said. A reservoir or dam could be financially impractical because of fees that might be incurred, he said.
The Salt River study will be compared to previous studies on alternative sources of water to see which is the most feasible, City Engineer Larry Hamilton said. Sympson Lake is adequate at this point, but the city needs to plan for growth, he said.
The study will cost $21,000. The Corps of Engineers will have to review it, which will cost an additional $20,000. Congressman Brett Guthrie helped the city secure a grant to cover the Corps fee, Heaton said.
August 4, 2009 – 12:06 pm
Storm-fed flash floods hit Kentucky, Indiana
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Heavy thunderstorms fed floods in Kentucky and Indiana on Tuesday, shutting down a university campus in Louisville, closing highways and cutting power to thousands of people.
The storm shut down the University of Louisville, where about a dozen buildings were without power and a dozen more had some flooding on the main campus, said university spokesman Mark Hebert. Dozens of university of employees were evacuated, he said.
Floodwaters gushed over guardrails on Interstate 65, bringing traffic to a standstill in Clark County, Ind., across the Ohio River from Louisville.
National Weather Service hydrologist Mike Callahan said the Rubbertown area in western Louisville was swamped by more than 6 inches of rain in three hours Tuesday morning. Callahan said the slow-moving storm “went right into Louisville and just sat there.”
Craig Buthod, director of Louisville’s public library system, said 3 1/2 feet of water inundated the main library’s lower level. He said tens of thousands of books were lost and the library was forced to close. He said staff vehicles and bookmobiles were also flooded.
City officials said there had been no reports of significant injuries.
In Indiana, police and state conservation officers rescued several people, mostly stranded motorists caught in high waters, said spokesman John Erickson of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
Duke Energy reported more than 24,000 customers without power just after noon, including nearly 14,000 in western Indiana.
A flash flood warning was in effect into the afternoon for Louisville and other parts of the metro area, and forecasters said the region could be hit by more thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Whitewater boaters rejoiced.
Once again, Bardstown has been listed in a National Geographic publication as a great get-away. The July/August issue of National Geographic Traveler includes the town in a list of 46 places to spend a “great long weekend.”
Under the subhead “Sippin,’ Singin’, and Abe” and next to a photograph from the Kentucky Bourbon Festival is this salute to Bardstown:
“Decompress on the tranquil streets of Bardstown, second oldest town in Kentucky (chartered in 1790). Toast the past at the Bourbon Heritage Center or nearby distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Trace local history at the Kentucky Railway and Civil War museums. Sing along to Stephen Foster, who wrote ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ official song of the Bluegrass State; the composer is honored with a statue, mansion, and nearby state park. A few miles southwest of town, you can visit the birthplace of Honest Abe Lincoln, which is now a national historic site.”
Bardstown was also mentioned in the September 2008 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of 50 “next great adventure towns in which to live and play.”
In selecting the towns, National Geographic Adventure writers Sarah Tuff and Greg Melville lent their expertise as the magazine looked for innovative towns that weren’t just prime relocation spots now, but also smart choices for the future, Ethan Fried with the National Geographic Society said.
On Bardstown, Tuff and Melville wrote: “We ain’t gonna lie: Bardstown’s status as the world’s bourbon capital drew us in, but its rivers flow as freely as the whiskey. Paddlers convene at Sympson Lake, and a whitewater park is in the works downtown. Not in the liquor business? Lexington and Louisville are both less than an hour’s commute.”
Once again, Bardstown has been listed in a National Geographic publication as a great get-away. The July/August issue of National Geographic Traveler includes the town in a list of 46 places to spend a “great long weekend.”
Under the subhead “Sippin,’ Singin’, and Abe” and next to a photograph from the Kentucky Bourbon Festival is this salute to Bardstown:
“Decompress on the tranquil streets of Bardstown, second oldest town in Kentucky (chartered in 1790). Toast the past at the Bourbon Heritage Center or nearby distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Trace local history at the Kentucky Railway and Civil War museums. Sing along to Stephen Foster, who wrote ‘My Old Kentucky Home,’ official song of the Bluegrass State; the composer is honored with a statue, mansion, and nearby state park. A few miles southwest of town, you can visit the birthplace of Honest Abe Lincoln, which is now a national historic site.”
Bardstown was also mentioned in the September 2008 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of 50 “next great adventure towns in which to live and play.”
In selecting the towns, National Geographic Adventure writers Sarah Tuff and Greg Melville lent their expertise as the magazine looked for innovative towns that weren’t just prime relocation spots now, but also smart choices for the future, Ethan Fried with the National Geographic Society said.
On Bardstown, Tuff and Melville wrote: “We ain’t gonna lie: Bardstown’s status as the world’s bourbon capital drew us in, but its rivers flow as freely as the whiskey. Paddlers convene at Sympson Lake, and a whitewater park is in the works downtown. Not in the liquor business? Lexington and Louisville are both less than an hour’s commute.”
Here is shot of of Younger Creek before it runs in to the Rolling Fork
near Boston, Ky. Today had a good amount of precipitation. This creek
can partly be seen while driving on the Bluegrass Parkway from
Bardstown to Elizabethtown.
By drew
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Posted in Uncategorized
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From Spalding:
Since I was heading down to Florida for a family vacation I thought I would stop over at the Ocoee on the way down. I met up with Josh and we ran the Ocoee on Saturday and Sunday, the Middle and the Upper sections. It was very crowded this weekend, fewer options existed for kayakers due to the first week with out significant rain for the Southeast and the raft were in full swing. Josh and I felt pretty comfortable the whole time. Amber ran the Middle section with Josh in the ducky.
By daff
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Posted in Uncategorized
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From The Kentucky Standard
The Bardstown-Nelson County Fire Rescue Squad was called to the Beech Fork River bridge on New Haven Road Friday about 8:40 p.m. Friday to assist a man and woman whose boat had overturned.
The water was high and swift. The accident happened on the “Rubble Dam” rapids upstream from the bridge.
The woman was wearing a life vest; the man was not. Both made it to shore safely.
Joshua Seabolt has a discovered a local play wave runnable after heavy rains like the area had this morning (.5″). The wave is created by a low water bridge on Grundy Home Road in Fredericktown, Kentucky. This is the same road that leads to the famous “Donkey Tree”. It runs over Cartwright Creek before it reaches the Beech Fork. For a street view of the spot follow this link. The pictures below are from Monday of this week. Today it was reported to be, “much bigger than on Monday.”
By bobcat
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Posted in Uncategorized
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