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Sand Creek / Shirley Gates' Memorial Paddle

When
April 12, 2025
Location
near North Vernon
Registered
23 registrants

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SAND CREEK

Please join us on Saturday April 12th for the annual HCKC Spring flatwater trip on Sand Creek (one of SE Indiana's premier float streams). As is the norm we will run the 12.1 mile section from Westport to the Brewersville Bridge. It being one of the clubs longest-continuous scheduled events for the last 40? years or longer. This alone will be my 20th year of sponsoring it. The late Shirley Gates before me had it on the trip calendar for decades. Our meeting time will be @ 10:30 AM at the Westport Dam access. It is located 2 miles east of SR 3/Westport on CR 1100 South just downstream from the two adjacent bridges (one concrete-one covered). It is on the (older) Delorme Atlas next to the covered bridge symbol page 52 B-3. Boats will be dropped off here and then a shuttle 18 miles total will be ran.

Streams can be quite moody in this part of the state and are very water dependent. Two years ago 5-6 inches of rain swamped the area on a Wednesday night but by Saturday morning the creek was at a good flowing level which made for easy paddling. Three years ago an April drought, an inch of snow and temps in the 30's caused a cancellation till the next day and the Vernon Fork Muscatatuck was ran with perfect flow and a sunny 80 degrees day. I have water gauges painted on several bridges and will check on Friday to make sure there is a sufficient volume of water to paddle. Temps can range from 30 to 80 this time of year. Throughout the years we have had paddlers from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. If the creek is suitable by mid-week I will go ahead and post a positive trip call otherwise I will have to make a decision to possibly change to another stream location by Friday. This is always the mystery of planning a trip in January not knowing the consequences in April but is part of the 'territory' of trip planning. Many have repeated this trip for several years and have come to know what to expect. On the positive side the stream offers numerous, scenic
limestone ledges and two old mill races dating back to the early 1800's. Contact me by 8PM Friday, April 11th at canoeindiana@yahoo.com or (812)767-1317 Sincerely, Richard Tekulve (trip leader since 2006)

2021 Sand Creek Trip Photos

Hoosier Canoe & Kayak Club

Background image provided by Karl Zemlin www.zemlinphoto.com