This is a long post but it is necessary to describe how spectacular the creek and caves are. I had never before paddled in Southern Kentucky near Somerset. Not knowing what to expect I drove out to take a solo eight mile run down Buck Creek from Stab Road to the Bent Road bridge. I stashed the mountain bike at the take-out. There I met a father and his son and daughter as they completed their trip. I helped them carry a kayak up the hill and they told me to watch out for a fallen tree across the creek a few miles upstream. I then drove up to the put-in near Stab where I unexpectedly met Stephen Dykes from Buck Creek Outfitters,LLC who was waiting to pick up some paddlers. We had a good chat and he helped me carry the kayak down the steep bank. On this steamy day I spent a lot of time splashing in the water. I placed over 15 geocaches but grew tired and just settled back to enjoy the paddling. Several times the air would change from 95 F to 55 F. Looking around I found a number of cave entrances. I climbed out to explore four very different caves. The first was in a cliff face about 35' up. There was a ladder at the base so I climbed up. It was attached to a rope which allowed me to hoist it up so I could climb up to a second level. I found a small but nice cave that had some flow stone. Climbing back down was a bit dicey so I took my time. The toughest part was lowering the ladder to the bottom level and trying to position the feet where they were stable. That took about ten minutes but I made it down fine. Along the creek I met Andrew Hansford and a friend paddling their yaks. We found another cave that he and I explored for at least 100 yards. It was low and muddy and finally got too tough to navigate. For a couple hours storm clouds were rumbling but we stayed dry on the creek. After some hours I encountered the fallen tree the earlier paddlers had warned about. On one side there was about 18' clearance so I did my best limbo dance and squeaked through. At the take out I was dreading the hilly bike ride in the heat but it was not needed. Stephen had spotted the storm and came on his own initiative to give me a free lift. That was greatly appreciated. Of course I gave him a good tip. I highly recommend using their services on this gorgeous stretch of creek. The water was running 2.5' at the USGS gauge and that level is great. I scraped a few times but it was not bad. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ky/nwis/uv/?site_no=03407500&PARAmeter_cd=00065%2C00060 Both Stephen and Andrew recommended that I visit the nearby Short Creek. I was not sure what to expect but I drove the half mile and found a 200' pool that flows from one cave to another. Andrew told me that he had hiked through it so I took my paddle, light and dry bag and set off. It was very nice walking through the knee deep rapids. After 500' the water slowed but kept getting deeper. I used the paddle as a hiking stick and as a sounding rod. With the water chest deep and 50 F I was considering turning around but then I spotted light. I kept going and it got shallower until I found the exit. Interestingly, the exit was totally dry and the water flows underground at that point. I then waded back through and got to the car as the thunder started rumbling. I was almost done for the day but I became curious about the upstream cave. It did not look high enough to enter but I shined the light and it went back quite some distance. I waded a few feet but the water got very deep. Hmm, what could I use to enter a flooded cave? Oh yeah! That orange thing on top of the van. I went back and grabbed the yak and paddled inside. The ceiling was about 2' above the water but if I leaned back I could push my way along. After about 100' the ceiling rose a few feet and I could paddle comfortably. It was really neat especially since the storm was rumbling outside. I finally ran out of ceiling about 150 yards inside. The water was much deeper than the length of my paddle and was a chilly 50 F. Returning to the car it was pouring but I quickly got the yak loaded and headed home with a smile. It was a very enjoyable day for paddling and caving. Paddling map: https://fw.ky.gov/Education/Documents/BlueWaterTrailbuckcreek.pdf