World Rivers Day

September 28th marks World Rivers Day, established in 2005 to promote a greater awareness of the role rivers play in our lives. Unfortunately I won't be out on a river tomorrow, since I've already made plans to attend the Ohio Renaissance Festival with friends, but I did paddle the mighty Muskingum River for sixteen miles last weekend with a good friend (pictured). The village of Dresden, Ohio held its first annual Melon Festival last Saturday along with the first annual Paddlefest.

The Muskingum River flows 111 miles through Ohio, joining the Ohio River at Marietta. The river begins at Coshocton, which is where we put in and paddled down to the historic suspension bridge at Dresden. In this section it is a broad, sleepy river, tree-lined and peaceful if one overlooks the power plant at Conesville. Bald eagles are known to nest along the river, though I didn't spot any on this trip, we were lucky enough to watch an osprey dive and catch a fish while we were having dinner later that night at Muddy Misers in Zanesville.