This trip report is for canoers and kayakers that want to see where they're going before they go. Please visit Kohne Camera & Photo while on your way. We're a full service imaging lab and camera dealer operated entirely by photo enthusiasts ready to attend every photographic need you have.
Now, a paddling report from Pigeon River in LaGrange County, Indiana:
It's not entirely clear what my absolute favorite paddling place in northeast Indiana is, but this is clearly one of the tops.
As always, the first rest stop whether I need one or not is just past the mill pond upstream from Nasby Dam. If you've just joined us, this in the heart of the Pigeon River Fish & Wildlife Area in LaGrange County of northeast Indiana. This is a shallow area next to an island and small peninsula. Visit here during a hot July day and you'll enjoy cooling your heels in these clear water shallows over a sandy bottom. Put your cap back on after dipping it in the water. Take a nap here if you like; you'll probably not be seen.
The scene above is one of the many things that keeps me going through our long cold midwestern winters. This is about a 160-degree panorama view of my rest stop upstream of the millpond. The island is on the left, peninsula on the right. Straight up the middle, the river continues upstream. I'm standing in the water at calf-deep for this shot, behind me is a sand bar with heron tracks and loose wispy feathers stuck in the sand. Sometimes this is as far as I go. It's only about 1/2-mile from the boat ramp, but a terrific hang out, and worth the drive.
This day was fair & mild so I decided to paddle up to Mongo. Mongo is the next dam in the chain (Ontario-->Nasby-->Mongo). It's a 3-mile trip by car, a little farther by water. All along the way there are catbirds meowing in the trees. No houses or lawnmowers, no highways and no trucks; only the very occasional airplane interrupts the sounds of crickets and killdeer, herons and ducks. By the end of the mill pond, not even the rushing water from the dam can be heard.
There's a straightaway that seems to go on forever, but it never really bothered me. The river is only about 80 feet wide and you can see light dappling through the trees and across the natural debris all along the way. Soon you'd reach the second rest stop. You'll need this one because you've been paddling upstream for a good while. It's a forked log that hangs into the river. Normally it's a sandy area with plenty of dry spaces around but this year the water is high and the dry spots have disappeared. By the way, the picture of critter tracks on the Trip Hub page was taken at this rest stop during lower water.
Take your time, cool your heels, slosh around in the water a bit. Once in a great while you'll meet up with somebody on a canoe float trip coming downstream from the Trading Post Canoe Trip and Camping place in Mongo, but mostly there's, well, nobody around. Nobody except for the catbirds and maybe a muskrat or two.
A little farther upstream the water will have some bubbles in it. That means you're nearing Mongo Dam. Believe me, this is no white water area at any time of any year, but you've just been paddling upstream for an hour or two so now the current is noticable. You might be developing a blister on your thumb, a twang in a shoulder, and if you didn't stop at the forked log, your rump is shaped like a pancake by now. The river narrows to about 65 feet.
Eventually, though, you'll see it just up ahead. It's the Trading Post Campground you passed on County Road 300 near Mongo.
What you do at this point is up to you but the work is over. You can float without paddling just about all the way back to the first oasis. And if you want to see wildlife, floating silently is your only hope. This place is so remote, so quiet, even the sound of paddles bobbing in the water will scare away the wild ones for miles around.
Halfway between Nasby and Mongo there is an area of underwater grasses that the deer come out to graze in. If you so much as swat a mosquito from a mile away, they know you're coming and will disappear at once. Never mind trying to get a picture in this case, you'll just be lucky to see them. I think they're there every late afternoon since I've seen them twice in this area at this time of day.
These two ran off into the woods when I approached from 200 feet out. Then one of them snorted a warning to another group ahead of me on on the left shore. A second extremely loud snort caused the second group to run away before I got a shot. Keep quiet; it's your only chance of seeing them at all. It's easy to keep quiet; you're just floating downstream!
My day was done. I had the blister, I had the twang, my butt was flat. It was time to put the boat on top of the car and get on out. I'll go back to Nasby, you bet, but there are other places to go as well.
Incidentally, if it's a sunny day, keep away from the Mongo-to-Nasby run when the sun gets low in the late afternoon or evening (depending upon the season). The sun will be in your eyes on the way back to the ramp for a long time during low sun and it can actually get rather painful.
Location: About 10 miles west of Angola is a blinking yellow light on Route 20 at Route 327 [Roadhouse Restaurant on one corner, gas station on another]. Head north on 327 to County Road 300N (cemetary on corner - no traffic signs or lights here) and head west. By now you're in the Pigeon River Fish & Wildlife Area. While heading westward you'll soon (15-20 minutes) come to downtown Mongo, Indiana. Mongo is at the intersection of Indiana Route 3 and County Road 300N. There's a carry-out/gas station there and a restaurant or two. Mongo Dam and a boat launch is behind the house on the far left corner if you're facing west at the intersection.
Continue westward on CR 300N for almost exactly 3 miles. There will be a tiny little sign on the left that says, "Nasby Dam," and suggests a right turn. So turn right. In the old days (two years ago) this was a gravel road made out of rocks the size of potatoes but now that they've paved it, it's a much better drive.
