Category: Kayaking/Fishing

Expedition Team:  Jacque Kelly, Nick Kelly, Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Expedition Date:   August 2017

Many of you have visited the history & the mystery of this castle. We first saw “Chateau Laroche” as we kayaked down the scenic Little Miami River.  Instead of bringing our own we rented kayaks at Loveland Canoe & Kayak.  We began eight miles upriver from Loveland and kayaked on a beautiful summer day.  After a couple of hours we saw a portion of a medieval castle semi-hidden by the trees.  We kayaked over to the bank and hopped out.

There it was this stone replica of a tenth-century Norman-style European Castle. World War I survivor Harry Andrews (who had an IQ of 189) began building the castle in 1929 and almost single-handedly completed 99% of the castle when he died in 1981 at age 91. He started the Knights of the Golden Trail, a sort of boy scout/Sunday school class. Teaching young men to live by good ethics, morals & the Ten Commandments, the Knights are caretakers of the castle today.

Andrews built the castle using 56,000 loads of rocks in five gallon pails taken from the Little Miami River and 32,000 buckets of concrete. Harry lived in the castle, working on it daily until he died. The quaint old castle definitely alludes European charm.  There are several paranormal claims associated with the castle so see our investigation writeup (under the Paranormal category) that we did two months later.

After a brief stop at the castle, we ate some cliff bars and hoped back into kayaks to finish our journey.

Expedition Team: Rosie Miller, Marylee Dunphy, Maria Dunphy, Daniel Dunphy, Dave Miller      Expedition Date:  August 2017

We kayaked on Twin Creek, my first time there. Our group of five put in at the base of the Germantown Dam at Germantown Metropark and headed south for 2 ½ hours. It was a cool, beautiful morning, with a clear sky. The sun did not crest the trees during first half of the trek. I was surprised with the twists and turns of the creek which created frequent fast water. Saw lots of fish and took a close-up photo of an eastern river snake sleeping in a fallen tree oblivious to my presence. Looking forward to returning to Twin Creek and kayaking all seven miles south to where it joins the Great Miami River.

Expedition Team:  Rosie Miller. Jacque Kelly, Dave Miller
Expedition Date:   August 2017

Rosie, Jacque and I participated in the 2017 Ohio River Paddlefest, the nations largest paddling celebration.  We were part of over 1,600 kayaks and canoes that participated.  We paddled 10 miles beginning in eastern Cincinnati at the Schmidt Recreation Center ramp and ended four miles west of the Cincinnati Reds Stadium at Gilday Riverside Park on the Ohio River.  Weather was perfect, 70 degrees, a cloudless sky and a smooth river.  It took us 4 ¼ hours to complete.  For safety, all river traffic (barges, steamboats and powerboats) were not permitted on the river until 12noon. 

We saw dozens of historical and city sites along the way.   Many people canoed with their dogs or were dressed up.  Several large boats had bands or singers serenading us as we paddled by.  Docked across the river from the starting line was the infamous USS Nightmare boat.  Around the six mile marker we turned north into Mill Creek and paddled an extra mile up and back on this famous waterway.  Near the ten mile finish line I feverishly paddled across the river to the Kentucky side to investigate and take photos of a large wrecked boat whose identity is unknown.