Photographs and commentary

By DOUG POTTER Courier staff writer

OTTUMWA - They guided their kayaks and canoes into the Bonaparte landing and climbed off their crafts onto the wooden dock to rest their shoulders and grab a little lunch.

Canoe Van Buren hosted 111 canoeists and kayakers in 70 crafts that drifted the Des Moines River during Saturday's heat from Selma. After an overnight layover in Keosauqua, the miniature armada endured Sunday's light rains and ended the trip in Farmington.

"The old lock and dam down there by the bridge may give some of them trouble when they get ready to leave," Stacey Glandon, executive director of tourism for the Villages of Van Buren said. "It's got a little bit of whitewater."

The two-day trip flowed approximately 38 miles through prime Southern Iowa wildlife habitat. Those on the tour said they saw white-tailed deer, turkey buzzards and a few red-tailed hawks.

"We have some bald eagles that are living year-round in this area now," Glandon said.

Canoe Van Buren was open to experienced and novice paddlers. 

"We came down from Indianapolis just for this event," Ron Hagen said. "You've got a beautiful river here." Hagen and his wife are avid kayakers and try to get on the water every weekend.

For one Des Moines area man, kayaking was a new, but exhilarating, form of outdoor recreation.

"I've never been on a float before," Bryce Van Zee of Des Moines said. For Van Zee, drifting down the Des Moines River was a spur-of-the-moment decision. "A friend of mine said he had room, so I came along - I'm glad that I did."

Besides viewing Southern Iowa wildlife, the paddlers had an opportunity to see Selma, a city rich with American Indian history, and eat supper in Keosauqua, the Van Buren County seat.

Midwestern, Iowa and local river runners used the Canoe Van Buren tour as one of their tune-ups for The Courier's upcoming River Ripple 2000 (Aug. 12, 2000). 

This year's Ripple will begin in Eddyville, where canoeists and kayakers will paddle downstream 17 miles to Ottumwa.

The River Ripple will be held in conjunction with the Southeast Iowa Duck Races and Swiftwater festival, Aug. 11-13.

"I'm thinking about coming over for that one, too," Bill Collins of Bellevue, Neb., said, "especially if it is anything like this one."