West Branch Susquehanna Old Man's Trip

June 7-11, 2011

(Journal Recorded by Scott Clark)

Participants: Terry, Scott, Ray, and Peter

8:35 PM Tues, June 7th, 2011
We all met today at Renovo, left my car, drove on to Shawville, bought new river maps at McCracken’s where we left Ray’s car, and were on the river by 3 PM. We have the river to ourselves and enough water to float our canoes, sunshine on our backs, and no wind in our faces. What more could we want?

The answer turned out to be a good campsite. After passing up some questionable spots we finally found a great site 10 miles downriver on the right bank near Moravian Run known as Gallows Harbor (mile 153.5 by Ray’s GPS). Our patience paid off although we paddled farther and later than intended. Tomorrow will be a late, leisurely day to compensate.

Terry prepared for us a delicious supper of pork, mushroom soup, mushrooms, mashed potatoes, buttered peas, salad, and maple sandwich cookies. It is still daylight, the bear bag is hung, and we are all relaxing. Peter fits right in with the rest of us, having already tripped last September on the Delaware with Ray and me. We look forward to a pleasant five days together.

7:15 PM Wed, June 8th
We are ensconced in a really good campsite at Alder Run on the right bank, mile 145, 8.5 miles of travel today. This site is in a pine forest, lots of clear areas, no undergrowth, and even has a table and two log benches. The only real challenge was a suitable bear tree.

Our leisure day began with a hike at our old campsite, going uphill beside a stream with many small waterfalls. A late start on the river became even later while Peter searched in vain through his packs for his wallet, which he finally realized must be rolled up inside of his tent. I hope that assuaged his anxiety.

The river was fast today, gracing us with an endless series of class 1 boulder patches, keeping us on our game. Terry did not complain when our lunch break was near a Pennsylvania Fish and Game launch site where some shapely young women were swimming.

We found our present campsite early, thanks to Ray’s sharp observational skills, and were off the river by 3:30. The river enticed us for a refreshing dip, and the heavy shade was most welcome on such a hot day (upper 80’s?). So far the beer still holds out, keeping the troops happy.

This evening Peter was chef with his world famous chili over rice with a Romaine dinner salad and gourmet raisin oatmeal cookies for dessert. We are stuffed! Now all our ambition seems to motivate us to do is some light reading or a bit of walking exploration (Peter). What a life!

4 PM Thurs, June 9th
We made camp at a Pennsylvania Fish & Game site with 3 picnic tables and a clearing, unusual since these sites are normally just for launching. We again had time for a swim and a beer before the current thunderstorm moved in. We even had enough warning so that we could put up our tarp, under which we are now sheltering snug and dry.

We had another good series of fast water class 1 rapids today, including Moshannon Falls, a -2 rapid. The weather was hot and muggy, requiring a couple of cooling off dips in the river. Hopefully this storm will bring down the temperature. In the meantime we are enjoying a pleasant conversation as we sit at a picnic table.

5:45 PM Fri, June 10th
We have been in camp for nearly two hours at a spot just at the beginning of Sproul State Forest at mile 116. We did about 16 miles of paddling today through another good stretch of river, swift current and enough water that we have not had to “walk”. Ray is preparing Amatriciana and has just disbursed his extra wine, tasting a bit like oregano from the plastic container it was stored in.

Last night Terry served us a new dish, “Ursie’s goulash”, a delicious dish we will all want the recipe for. Since it was prepared ahead and frozen, Terry only needed minimal work to serve supper.

Tonight’s campsite is near a spring that a local senior on an ATV pointed out to us. That means water without iron, so our rinse water isn’t brown for a change. The chlorine always instantly oxidizes the iron and leaves a precipitate on the bottom of the dishpan.

We have been sitting around for over an hour telling college, work, and even army stories about pranks and jokes we were involved in. Now we have to get Peter to loosen up and share some incidents, “lawyer humor”. I can smell the onions and bacon cooking, and my mouth is watering.

Sunday, June 12th
We finished our canoe trip yesterday (Saturday, 11th), arriving in Renovo about 3 PM. There were no suitable camping areas the last few miles, and the 16 miles of paddling was not difficult with the good current this river has always provided us.

Our lunch stop even had entertainment provided by the “powerful” antics of some large black ants determined to carry off Pringle crumbs. A big black millipede added to the “show” as it crawled across the huge slab of rock we were perched on.

Even Renovo, a usually sleepy little former railroad town, was hopping with their volunteer fire department’s annual fun fair. Their rescue boat and crew were practicing by “rescuing” the local children who were swimming in the river. A couple of mobile food vendors added to the party atmosphere. All of this activity surrounded us at the boat launch as we loaded everything into my Forester for the ride back to McCracken’s. By 5:30 Ray had his car loaded and we were all off for civilization, just as the first drops of rain began to fall. Our timing was impeccable, avoiding 24 hours of thunderstorms, driving rain, and cool temps in the 60’s.

Copyright © 2011 Scott Clark