Maumee River "Fort to Port" - Fort Wayne, IN to Toledo, OH

Trip Overview

This was my first attempt at a real youtube video, so I admit it can get a little long-winded at times. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTesOqXM-qI I started downtown Fort Wayne on the St. Mary's so I could officially start the Maumee at its start, the confluence of the three rivers (St. Marys, St. Joseph, Maumee) Going into this I joked (and knew deep down) it would be about 20% fun and 80% a straight up endurance test. By 11am on Day 2, it was immediately apparent that the weather would be the biggest obstacle on this trip. The full June sun was absolutely punishing. Then the humidity kicked in. I literally could not drink enough water. My body held up great. Surprisingly my arms were not the slightest bit sore; the same as any day sitting in an office all day. That was very strange, but obviously not a complaint! I popped an Advil the first night and second night just in case as a preventative measure. With very little current (dead still most of the time) it made for 7-11 hour days of hard paddling with just a few short breaks and a long one here and there. Longer days included portages. The last day's push towards Toledo was sickening. The sun was stronger than ever, hot, no shade, straight wide runs of river and no apparent flow whatsoever. I found myself hiding under I-90, I-280 and whatever else was on the way for shade. They don’t call it the Muddy Maumee for nothing. It was a pretty dirty trip. Right from the beginning I was on all fours clawing at a 45° slope trying to portage the first dam (Hosey Dam) in Fort Wayne. Regardless of the water, it was very refreshing getting a bath most nights. “Reset the clock” I like to call it. Mosquitoes were bad one night, but it didn’t matter because I retreated to the hammock for sleep in the broad eight o’clock daylight. The rapids. I’d be lying if I said they didn’t have me worried. Two weeks prior the river gauge at New Haven, IN went from 4.28’ to 18.52’ in a few days after heavy rain. Moderate flood stage. That’s what I got after doing rain dances nightly since the entire 137-mile stretch of river was exceptionally low all of early May. So way TOO much…then it started falling…TOO fast! My eye was on the Waterville, OH gauge. The “magic number” is 2.2’ there. Any lower and it’s just not runnable with exposed rocks and dry patches through 7 miles of rapids. So I hit that area at 2.8’. I was pushing it and the hull of my kayak would agree. I’ve heard of some others doing this trip, usually in March, April or May. I’m envious. Running this river at 8000cfs, 6000cfs or even 4000cfs (depending on location) would be an absolute cakewalk. Basically paddling for course-correction in a sense. But of course you don’t want much higher or you’re looking at Class III rapids…or do you? It was a lot of fun hitting those when the rocks were far enough below the water. I don’t know a lot about white water but I’m sure I had mild Class I. I couldn’t have asked for a better kayak than the Wilderness Systems Tempest 170. It’s a bullet. And the retractable skeg is absolute magic. I occasionally found myself playing around in the wind with that up and down…just amazed by that tiny plastic fin. It never really got windy, but one day those 10mph gusts started getting annoying. With the skeg down it was like paddling on glass. A 17’ wall of plastic on open water catches more wind than you think. Approximate mileage: Day 1: 21 miles Day 2: 24 miles Day 3: 41 miles Day 4: 26 miles Day 5: 25 miles