GO WITH THE FLOW
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flyer the organizers put up months be-
fore the trip, announcing when they’d
be coming through the area and inviting
everyone to join their adventure. This
woman used to paddle in her younger
years, and she was encouraged to do it.
And so she does. She ends up as one of
the older paddlers in the bunch.
Just before our boats get to the Mark-
land Locks and Dam, we notice a group
of men yelling something at us from
shore. We finally make out that they’re
yelling, “Chris!” But there are no Chrises
in our group. Then Kristin, the woman
from Chicago, looks up from paddling
and over at the men. They’re her broth-
ers, who have flown in from all over the
country to see her pull into Vevay, and
she’s completely surprised. We all have
tears in our eyes.
Our equipment trailer driver helps
lead crisis response missions in disaster
areas across the world. We have a Louis-
ville city councilman aboard. Two people
work at summer camps for children with
disabilities. We take turns being captain,
when you sit in back and keep the canoe
going as straight as possible while eight
or nine people try to paddle in sync. It can
get frustrating. More experienced pad-
dlers offer advice and words of encour-
agement to us novices.
We’re all ages and genders, including
one transgender member, but one thing
connects us all: admiration for the Ohio
River. We end up with strong bonds to
one another and to the places we visit.
Tracy and I have lunch a few months
later in Cincinnati before she catches
a flight out of CVG. I ask her what her
most memorable experience was from
this summer trip, and she says the pov-
erty she saw in some of the towns be-
tween Portsmouth and Cincinnati. She
hopes a fully developed river trail will
1 0 2 C I N C I N N AT I M A G A Z I N E . C O M F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0
help those local economies and the resi-
dents she met there.
ON OUR LAST NIGHT, THERE’S A RO-
bust discussion about how to make the
Ohio River Recreation Trail a reality.
The group agrees that, at this point,
it’s irresponsible to say to just any-
one, “Hey, go try this!” Most people
wouldn’t do the whole thing at once,
sure, but they also wouldn’t have a
safety boat or an equipment trailer car-
rying gear, water, and food. Most of the
places we stay—with public restrooms
and warm restaurants nearby—aren’t
normally open to campers.
The river isn’t well marked. Disre-
gard for barge and motorboat etiquette
and rules can get you killed, as can the
roads without berms that hug the river-
banks, a danger for cyclists following the
water trail. And so much is dependent
on the weather. We luck out, really, but
previous paddlers on this trip have found
harsh conditions, with wind, lightning
storms, and glaring sun.
Still, can’t the group start talking
to landowners along the way to iden-
tify places to camp safely? Can’t they
strengthen relationships with folks in the
barge industry to be sure everyone plays
well together? Can’t they raise money
for navigational signs, small docks, and
welcome signs for people coming off the
water to a river town? The group starts
to prioritize.
We launch for the last time the next
morning, and Mother Nature gives us a
reminder of why the river’s majesty is
worth sharing. In a light rain, a rainbow
springs out of the water next to our boats
and arches over our path to Louisville.
In November, the group received news
it had been waiting for: It was accepted
into the National Park Service Rivers,
Trails, and Conservation Assistance
Program. The relationship will provide
technical assistance to help create the
trail that the group wants to be fully op-
erational in 2021.
Organizers plan to build on their mo-
mentum with another trip this summer
to continue visualizing a trail that’s safe,
accessible, and fun for all. I’m sure it’ll be
epic. I might do it again.