Susquehanna River Trip

Day 1, Wednesday, June 27
After a quick breakfast at Mary & Pops' place in Binghamton, we drive upriver to the put-in location, a Fish & Game access point on the west side of the river near Sidney, NY. Accompanying the Old Men this year is a trainee, Sheila, whom we may trade to native Americans for the right number of pelts. The river is somewhat high from recent rains to the north, and carries a good bit of sediment. Our first campsite is made at 4 PM under silver maple trees on a long island on the west side of the river on which hay has recently been cut. We have paddled about 12 miles with intermittent pools and occasional ripples. A lawn mower & barking dogs take away some of the wilderness experience. Scott prepares a dinner of potato onion soup, fresh salad, with cukes & tomatoes, kilbasa, rice, & carrot stew. This was later followed by freshly baked, banana cake. During the day we observed Downey Woodpeckers, ducks, Great Blue Herons, and hawks.

Day 2, Thursday, June 28
Jimbo starts the day with coffee & we are up shortly after six. Scott prepares buckwheat cakes with Jimbo's homemade, light, maple syrup. There is much dew & fog on the river, which has dropped about six inches according to Terry's scientific measuring devices. We changed partners, (not in the tents but in the canoes), departing after 9 AM. Weather is hot & clear - Jimbo predicts possibility of thunderstorms. We had a difficult time, finally finding a good campsite at 3:45 PM. We saw very few boats, fishermen, and only one other canoe on the entire trip. There were several large pools on which were moored a variety of sketchy watercraft, with one or two water skiers in action. Our Flower Campsite was again on the edge of a mowed field, in somewhat of a backwash which was prolific with bullfrogs. We were about 3 miles upstream from Windsor. Rain threatened, but did not interrupt the celebration of Sheila's 15th wedding anniversary.(we have no clue how husband Pat was celebrating) Scott prepared chicken noodle soup, fresh salad, ham / cabbage stew, washed down with a California cabernet, and later, a freshly baked lemon poppyseed cake. (It should be noted that it is only for environmental reasons that we drink boxed wine in plastic liners to avoid glass, and to recycle the liners for water storage.)

Day 3, Friday, June 29
Up at 6:15 AM for Scott's omelet of eggs, cheese, and corn with whole wheat bagels and washed down with Starbucks. Change paddle partners again. A break for grapes at 10:30; it is still hot with no rain yet. PB & J for lunch by a small stream. The river has cleared in the past two days. By 2 PM we had found the perfect campsite, near Lansdale, on a gravel bar on the east side of river. We have traveled 36 miles in 3 days. Terry & Ed walk across the soybean fields to the property owner's shop ( Mr. R.G. Barns) and successfully negotiate permission to camp under the (Silver Maple) trees at water's edge. We did not tell him about Sheila or he would certainly have insisted on her staying. Later Terry, Ray, & Sheila, walk across the fields to get photos and a closer look at the largest stone (railroad) viaduct in the East. It appears to have 10 arches, about 150 feet high and two active tracks. Near here we saw several bald eagles, blue herons, a white bodied duck, and orange flowers which were either tiger lilies or stargazers. While enjoying a bath in the swimming hole we were visited by some curious boaters who would have preferred we were not there. Scott prepared a cheddar/ broccoli soup, crispy, fresh salad, steamed broccoli, and turkey with dressing & gravy. Later we enjoyed freshly baked pumpkin cake. As usual, Ray fired up his espresso machine.

Day 4, Saturday, June 30
The day dawns clear & dry with Jimbo once again making coffee as well as excuses for his weather prognostications. After buckwheat cakes, we are off by 8:45 and shortly pass into Pennsylvania. We reached the 10 foot dam just downriver from the town of Susquehanna by 10AM and made a short portage on the left. We hope to find more ice - for the beer- soon, but not here. Onward to the town of Great Bend where we pick up the noise of Interstate 81, some junk food at the McDonald's, and ice. We spot a large, dead, carp in the water, along with our regular, winged, fellow travelers as well as an interesting mating get-together of yellow butterflies. We make a lunch stop on a bar for tuna wraps, carrots, and apples. We stopped early along a steep bank for the last night - Ray goes to get permission to camp. Interestingly, there are no parks or good, canoe camping spots along these 50 miles of river. We called Pops to test the cell phone & make sure that he was available the next day if necessary. After hors d'oeuvres, minestrone soup, and chicken 'n dumplings, the sky opened up with Jimbo's long predicted thunder showers. Later we enjoyed the best desert yet - raspberry cake. The mosquitoes came out in force.

Day 5, Sunday, July 1
Up at 6 AM to a cooler, cloudy, day. Oatmeal pancakes for everyone but Ed, who had to be content with imaginary pancakes & syrup - an important lesson learned.. We had camped near the end of an airpark runway with two railroads, a local road, a state highway and interstate 81 in close proximity - a logistician's dream location, but not so great for wilderness camping. We passed back into New York and, at 11:30 AM we arrived at Sandy Beach, east of Binghamton where a resident informed us of the weather advisory of an approaching severe storm. Heeding his advice we dialed up Pops who promptly picked up the crew who left to get the cars. By this time, Sheila had passed all requirements to participate in future Old Man's trips