River Reflections: A Ghost River Adventure

The rain shortage continues and the downward level of the river slowly advances. New river obstacles are exposed to force advancement of our individual paddling skills. Hazards are migrating closer together while the watercraft lengths remain the same. The turning radius to avoid obstacles is becoming smaller with each trip. Still, new and hardy souls come out each month to enjoy the “Wonders of the Wolf.” I was fortunate enough to have such an individual, Ms. Kimaya Nandhakumar, paddle down the Ghost River section with me on August 7^th.

Kimaya arrived shyly with her parents, Nandhakumar and Lavanya, and ten year old brother Taman. Along with them were a large number of friends. All were first time paddlers. Kimaya and her father were placed in a tandem canoe and joined the others on our First Saturday paddle. Nandhakumar quickly adapted to paddling but the long canoe length would present a control problem. Often, he and Kimaya would approach too closely to the vegetation on the banks and insects would be disturbed. Upon seeing these, Kimaya would loudly announce “Spider! Spider!” and move around in the canoe making boat control even more difficult. With each encounter, we noticed that Kimaya would be more agitated and could not fully enjoy the trip. Our guides discussed it with her parents and they agreed to allow her to ride along with me (Jim Gafford). Typically, I usually have an open seat in the bow of my canoe and this was true on this trip. With some hesitation, she agreed to the arrangement and we were able to continue the trip downstream with fewer insect or spider encounters. As the trip went along, I was able to communicate to her a more pleasant side of the natural world of invertebrates and hopefully relieve a little of the discomfort she experiences about them.  

During August, river guides were able to conduct two additional paddles assessing river conditions. The first of these was the section from Michigan City MS to LaGrange TN. Over this 6.4 mile section, there are 20 downed trees and the section is too congested to support a guest paddle. Only experienced paddlers should attempt this section in anticipation of a very difficult day. Attempts to clear some of the obstructions will occur during the fall of 2024. There is no anticipated date on when the section will be navigable.  

The second was a trip down the Ghost section to assess its status in anticipation of our September 7 First Saturday paddle. We encountered four portages between the put-in south of LaGrange and stop #1. There is also a second portage past the lunch stop at #3. If the low water levels persist, we will encounter all 5 of these on the next paddle. Our guides will be standing by to assist our guests as needed. We are looking forward to an interesting and slightly more difficult paddle on September 7.

September expectations include:

The leaf and stem structure of the spatterdock (Nuphar lutea) will slowly die back allowing for better visibility of submerged obstacles and slight clearing of the river channel.

Our native Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) has now fully emerged in time to support the southward migration of the hummingbirds. Its other common name (Spotted Touch-me-not) refers to the plants ability to “shoot seeds” from the seed pod when touched. This action allows for greater seed distribution. Jewelweed reseeds annually.

·                  Participant Comments:  

John and I had another good time on the Wolf River with WRC.  Knowledgeable guides offered me great advice to improve my paddling.

This section of the Wolf River is exceptionally beautiful.  The light filtering through the trees, the sun reflecting off the water, and the birds singing their songs kept me enthralled throughout the trip.

Thank you for this experience.                      

Cindy M.

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Hi Jim,
It was really a nice trip and we got a great support from you. You took care of my little one Kimaya in a remarkable way. Don't have words to express. You really done a great job and provide a fabulous support which I never thought of. Your complete river guide team is good at handling and helping everyone. My sincere thanks to you, Jim. You are really amazing.  

Lavayan S.

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My wife and I had a great time and would recommend this adventure to everyone.  It was very family friendly and all of the river guides were quite helpful and friendly; always ready to jump in (literally) to help anyone having trouble.  We definitely plan on doing this again sometime.  Couldn’t just pick one of our pics, so I’m sending several.

Thanks for the fabulous time,            

Kent and Shelley T

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