Canoeing the Millrace for college credit.

When I was a student at UO in the mid-1970s, there was still a PE (physical education) requirement, and one of the course offerings I enjoyed most was canoeing on the Millrace. I can still remember having to crouch way down in order to get through the long, dark culvert under Franklin Boulevard, which carried us into the portion of the Millrace that ran behind the Greek houses along East 11th Ave. The upstream portion was much wilder and somewhat overgrown. If you ever fell out of your canoe, you discovered that the bottom of the Millrace was at least a foot deep in slimy muck, supposedly consisting mostly of goose poop, and we were warned to avoid contact with the water if we had any cuts on our hands or feet.