A flotilla of bundled-up paddlers is ready to slide into northeastern Indiana’s Pigeon River for a chilly morning float trip. Image by Jessica Linder

MONGO, Ind. – “Heck, no! I’m NOT going on our kayak float tomorrow!”

That was the stand I took when the next morning’s temperature was going to be 42 degrees – and even before I learned about the outfitter’s Rule of 120.

Indiana’s Pigeon River is a slow-moving, shallow stream easy for novice paddlers to handle, and it is still a treat for all nature lovers. Image by Tom Adkinson

The outfitter, Andy Linder at Trading Post Outfitters in tiny Mongo in northeastern Indiana, said that he usually lets the Rule of 120 guide his own desire to float, explaining that he likes the combination of the air temperature and the water temperature to be at least 120.

Linder said he would put my group on the Pigeon River if we insisted, but 120 was out of the question since the water temperature was 56. Even if the morning temperature took off like a rocket, which it didn’t, 120 wasn’t in the cards.

The one obstruction on the last leg of the Trading Post’s shortest trip requires leaning back to slip under a low-clearance bridge. Image by Tom Adkinson

My group was exploring Indiana’s Amish country, and the kayak float was intended as a break from scouting for horse-and-buggy photos in the rolling countryside, carb loading at Amish-menu restaurants, and trying not to get carried away bidding on auction items at Shipshewana Auction in Lagrange County’s hub town of Shipshewana. The group was from Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Indiana, and Oregon, and they dismissed the Rule of 120.

The Oregonian in the group said she was well on her way to kayaking in all 50 states. Just getting to Indiana was a trek for her, and she wasn’t going to let a nippy spring morning keep her from adding Indiana to her paddling list.

No one tried to shame me, but the universal sentiment was, “We’re going, whether or not you join us."

I acquiesced.

Andy Linder stands beside a rack of his colorful kayaks that will float down the Pigeon River many times during a paddling season. Image by Tom Adkinson

The Pigeon River is a modest stream through relatively flat terrain. It is shallow and lacks any daunting rapids, making it an ideal recreational river for novice kayakers and canoeists during warm-weather months (generally late-April into October). It is one stop short of Lake Michigan, flowing 37 miles before joining the St. Joseph River, and that river’s glide into Lake Michigan.

Dogwood bracts – modified leaves rather than actual blossoms – provide a hint of a bigger spring season just around the bend. Image by Tom Adkinson

Linder and his wife, Jessica, put approximately 25,000 paddlers on the Pigeon River every year on the Trading Post Outfitters’ 200 kayaks and 200 canoes. They bought the business in 2018. It opened in 1971 as the original outfitter in Mongo, and Andy, who grew up nearby, was a customer. Andy – despite having left small-town life for Indianapolis after college – succumbed to the siren’s call of the river, bought the business, and moved back home.

The Trading Post and its affiliated general store carry miscellaneous items – including souvenir sunhats – to paddlers in need. Image by Tom Adkinson

The Linders arrange trips ranging from 4 to 16 miles (1.5 to 6.5 hours). The routes float through Indiana’s 12,134-acre Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area, so seeing ducks, geese, deer, beavers, and other critters is no surprise. Anglers enjoy the river for bream, bass, crappie, northern pike, and rainbow trout.

Trading Post Outfitters also offers 60 sites for RV and tent camping. The Linders’ Mongo General Store, a classic crossroads retail space for gas, sunscreen, pizza, beer, snacks, basic fishing tackle, and more, is nearby.

My group’s float was borderline perfect, proving that it’s better to seize the moment rather than let it slip away. The sky was blue, the air temperature rose into the 50s, a deer ambled by, we slid under a low-clearance bridge without incident, no one took a spill – and our Oregonian friend added Indiana to her kayaking list.

Trip-planning resources: MongoTradingPost.com, VisitShipshewana.org, and VisitIndiana.in.gov

(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at Amazon.com.