Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous Update

It's almost time for the Second Annual Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous (WPASCR) on June 12-14, 2009, at Cooper’s Lake Campground near Slippery Rock/McConnell’s Mill.

The WPASCR event is for solo canoeists & the solo canoe curious public. Buy or sell boats or equipment, test paddle new and used solo canoes & talk to other solo paddlers.

Gear exchange, pick up trips, informal programs, demonstrations and more! The schedule is now available, see below. I'll be leading a trip on French Creek on Friday the 12th. Special thanks to the Portersville/Prospect Rotary Club for sponsoring this event. Please support the Rotary by registering for and attending their buffet dinner!

For updates as further arrangements are finalized, check the website at: http://www.wpascr.org/

Friday, June 12

Test Paddling & General B.S. ongoing all day

10:00 Paddle French Creek Meet at Bicentennial Park in Meadville See details under Trips on the Message Board Lee Ann Reiners trip coordinator

Noon - ? Dead Fish Polo – ongoing depending on interest, at designated area, check in at Wind & Water Boatworks tent

2:00 Ladies Only Clinic – with Becky Sheeler on the lake

3:00 “4 Elements of Seaworthiness” David Yost – in the lakeside pavilion, bring a chair

5 – 7 Open Paddling – no formal events, time for dinner

7 – 9 Jim Perrett, guitar virtuoso, voted one of the ten best blues guitarists by a national blues radio channel, plays acoustic gypsy jazz and more under the lakeside pavilion

Saturday, June 13

Test Paddling & General B.S. ongoing all day

Dead Fish Polo – 0ngoing, see notes on Friday

10:00 Ladies Only Solo Primer with Kim Gass, meet at the Instruction area beach

11:00 Paddle making demonstration – Marc Ornstein at Dog Paddle tent

1:00 Freestyle Exhibition – Marc Ornstein and/or friends on the lake at the Instruction area beach

3:00 “Efficient Paddling, Body, Blade & Boat” – Charlie Wilson at the Instruction area beach

4:30 “Modern Canoe Construction” – Dave Curtis in the lakeside pavilion

5:30 Beer Tasting (North Country Brewery supplying their award-winning beer) begins at the Big Barn directly behind the campground store

6:00 Catered dinner at the Big Barn directly behind the campground store: Chicken buffet, $15 for adults and $7.50 for children under 12; alternative for vegetarians--$8--vegan, gluten-free chili PLEASE register by June 8th cut-off date.

7:00 -? Beer Tasting Continues in Big Barn

7:00 – 9:00 Rick Bruening, singer/songwriter of contemporary folk music, plays and sings in the barn behind the campground store, following the dinner and during the beer tasting

Sunday, June 14

Test Paddling & General B.S. ongoing until whenever

Gear Swap in the pavilion tent by the lake starting at 9 -?

Noon -? Dead Fish Polo – ongoing depending on interest, at designated area, check in at Wind & Water tent

Other events may spontaneously erupt, listen for bullhorn announcements

Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous

Kayaks.
Okay, we got that ugly word out of the way. Doesn’t it seem that whenever you want to talk “canoe,” there’s always someone around who pipes in with “Oh, I kayak too!” Silly kayakers…don’t even know the difference!

(Serenity in a solo canoe on French Creek in northwestern Pennsylvania)

But seriously, do you yearn for a place where you can talk canoes, and only canoes? Specifically solo canoes? Then come to the Second Annual Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous (WPASCR) on June 12-14, 2009, at Cooper’s Lake Campground near Slippery Rock/McConnell’s Mill. There will be canoes a-plenty there, along with the people who love and paddle them, from rank beginners to some of the top personalities in the solo canoe world.

The WPASCR event is for solo canoeists & the solo canoe curious public. Buy or sell boats or equipment, test paddle new and used solo canoes & talk to other solo paddlers.

Gear exchange, pick up trips, informal programs, demonstrations and more! Members of Wooden Canoe Heritage Association will be there with some of their exquisite canoes; authors and wilderness trippers Dave & Beth Buckley will be on hand to share their experiences; Bob & Elaine Mravetz, freestyle canoe champs will demonstrate freestyle techniques, as well as Marc Ornstein, paddle maker and freestyler; (photo below)



& local canoe dealer Wind & Water Boatworks will also be present.

Presentations:
• Modern Canoe Construction – Dave Curtis
• The 4 Components of Seaworthiness – Dave Yost (DY & Dave Curtis, below)



• Efficient Paddling, Body, Blade and Boat – Charlie Wilson (below)




Plus:
• Ladies Only Paddling Workshop – Kim Gass
• Paddle Making Demonstration – Marc Ornstein
• SERIOUS Dead Fish Polo
• Freestyle programs and demonstrations
• Boats to paddle
• Friends to see
• LOTS & LOTS of good old BS!
New this year:
• Catered on-site dinner Saturday
• Live music Friday and Saturday evenings
• Designated Dead Fish Polo Area
Site Features:
• 10 acre lake on site
• Moraine State Park with 3,000 acre Lake Arthur minutes away
• Slippery Rock Creek whitewater and moving water sections minutes away
• Close to Prime Outlets at Grove City
• Easy access from I-79
• Camp store, showers, tenting or full hook-ups available
• 45 minutes North of Pittsburgh / 90 minutes South of Erie.

Camping is available at the event location. When making reservations, please specify that you are attending the Solo Canoe Rendezvous. Camping fee covers all charges for participants. The campground is charging a day fee for non-campers of $5 per person, per day. http://www.cooperslake.com/

The dinner will be held in the "barn" behind the camp store at Cooper's Lake Campground. My understanding at this moment is that it will be chicken with veggies, salad, rolls, etc. plus dessert, in a buffet setting for $15 per person. Reservations must be made in advance and can be made by emailing tidhouse@zoominternet.net. Dinner benefits the Portersville/Prospect Rotary who are the event sponsors. (If you are a vegetarian, let us know as we are trying to arrange for a vegetarian option.)

Friday night's entertainment will be Jim Perrett, guitar virtuoso, playing acoustic gypsy jazz under the pavilion tent by the lake. Saturday night Rick Bruening, contemporary folk singer/songwriter, will play in the barn following dinner. Both of these musicians are donating their time and "tip" jars will be available for those who wish to express their appreciation.
For updates as further arrangements are finalized, check the website at: http://www.wpascr.org/

Lazy August Saturday on French Creek

Seven of us (Sawyer George, Laura, Ed, Rick, Tom, Charlie and I, plus Maggie ) gathered yesterday to paddle from Cochranton to Utica on French Creek. Six of us put in on private property (with permission) a few hundred yards upstream of the access area. That allowed us to run the chute and standing waves before we picked up our new kayaker, Tom, at the access.

Immediately below the bridge in Cochranton, we saw an Osprey flying upstream. We speculated on how few of these birds we've seen this summer, and our expert birder Tom suggested that it might be because of all the rain and the muddiness of the water, which makes sighting the fish difficult.

The water level was as close to perfect as possible: high enough to move along at a good current but not so high as to be too pushy and dangerous in a strainer situation. Many of us love to paddle the back channels, which is where the strainers might be encountered on this section of the creek. At one point, several of our group took a rather shallow back channel and the rest of us went past it because we saw them out of their boats in the shallows. When we arrived at the bottom of the channel, there was no sign of the others. We paddled up the channel till we found them on the other side of a snag, loafing. Suddenly we heard a loud splash: Sawyer George took a swim! I knew he would stand up in his canoe one time too many! Once he was back in his boat, they headed down the other back channel and avoided the snag, meeting us at the convergence.

Among the birds we saw in addition to the Osprey were Rough-winged and Tree Swallows, Red-tail Hawks, Green (juvenile) and Great Blue Herons, many Cedar Waxwings, geese and others. Ed lives near the take-out and gave us an update on all the eagle nests in the area, including one that came down this year after the young fledged.

August wildflowers were in full bloom and included ironweed, Joe-pye weed, wild dodder, boneset, goldenrod, various milkweeds, phlox, jewelweed--both orange(Spotted) and yellow (Pale), sunflowers and coneflowers, virgin's bower clematis, stinging nettle, enchanter's nightshade and many more.

We stopped for lunch at Deer Creek at the scout camp. Ed led us on a short walk to see Guyasutha's grave, and I snapped a few photos of the wildflowers.

As we paddled along after lunch, listening to the silence....kersplash! Yes, Sawyer George was back in the water. I think this time it was on purpose because he mumbled something about its being so hot.

All too soon the take-out appeared. Laura voiced what we were all thinking: Will someone pick me up in Franklin so I don't have to take out yet?

postscript: Ed told us that the access area in Utica is no longer owned by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. They turned it over to the PA Fish and Boat Commission. So now you need a boat sticker to use this access area. Yet another good access falls victim to the sticker people.

Wildflowers Along the River

Although the primary purpose of our overnight canoe trip on the Allegheny River was to get into nature and camp, I quickly discovered that my personal primary purpose became botanizing. The summer wildflowers are in full glory now. And as the water slipped by quietly under my canoe, the changing scenery on shore frequently drew me for a closer look.

We put in Saturday at our house and set forth downstream. Of course the first wildflowers to catch my attention were in my own backyard. On the riverbank I found developing brown-eyed Susan, bedstraw, several varieties of wild sunflowers, lupine that I planted this spring, wild dodder and the horrid invasive, Lythrum--purple loosestrife. There are many others that I have yet to ID, but I'll get out there sometime soon with my Newcomb's guide and check on those.

As we moved down the river, we noticed many stands of smartweed. The white flower spikes tipping over at the tops, weaving in the wind, reminded me of a drunkard leaning wobbly against a light pole. Spots of black snakeroot dotted the banks. Water stargrass sent their leaves to the surface, floating and holding up the buds, soon to bloom. Monkey flower bloomed on the islands, their funny faces dancing on the breezes. And small groups of the ubiquitous purple loosestrife in various bays and inlets were insidiously weaving their roots into the quagmire. When I saw more wild dodder near some loosestrife, I began to wonder if the dodder would take a hold of Lythum and parasitize it, causing a decline in the robustness of this invasive. I'm going to experiment by placing some of my own dodder on my Lythrum and see what happens.

I was surprised to see goldenrods already in bloom, rather early this year--although they may have been a species that blooms earlier than the typical August and September varieties. Next time I will take my field guide along!

We also saw many birds on this trip, as is usual on the Allegheny River. Several eagles put in an appearance, many cedar waxwings danced out from the treetops chasing insects, red-tail hawks circling on the updrafts as were the turkey vultures, redwing blackbirds bringing life to the shoreweeds, common yellowthroats calling "witchity witchity withchity," great-horned and barred owls hooting at night. While investigating a rock formation on the riverside, Charlie saw two juvenile wood ducks who swam into a rock cave upon his approach. Although the photo is rather grainy because I had to push the speed to ISO 1600 to compensate for such darkness, we were able to get enough details to ID them using the Sibley Guide to Birds.

On Sunday as we moved on down the river, distant thunder quickly became an imminent threat. As we passed the Hunter's Station Golf Course, their horn blew, calling all golfers off the course. We headed to shore as the rain pelted us and took shelter under a deadfall tree. Unfortunately, the rain in our eyes blinded us to the stinging nettle we were rushing through. But, fortunately, there was an abundance of jewelweed under the deadfall and we were able to stanch the pain with the crushed stems of Mother Nature's first aid plant. It really does work!

The pelting rain put an end to my botanizing. I took out at the golf course and waited for Charlie to paddle the rest of the way to the car, parked in President, PA. He found me a couple of hours later, holding my saturated little dog and swatting biting flies in the parking lot (where were those cedar waxwings). Another good canoeing story to tell around a future campfire!

French Creek in the Summer

I simply cannot say enough to praise our wonderful French Creek. As a result of hard work by the French Creek Project and French Creek Conservancy, this treasure of a waterway is home to 27 different species of freshwater mussels and provides habitat for a myriad number of fish and wildlife.

We paddled a section of the creek again last Friday. A small group of us put in at Rt. 97 near Union City, PA, and paddled 9 1/2 miles to Rt. 6 near Mill Village. Along the way we caught a glimpse of a Northern Harrier, some deer and as usual, an eagle or two. I can never get enough of this creek, especially this particular section.

I first paddled a portion of this stretch back in the early 80s when my friend and canoe mentor, Jim Gardner, introduced me to it. With very few houses or cottages along the way, the creek meanders through woodlands and farm fields. The birdsong never fails to delight us, with warblers, cedar waxwings, various hawks and many redwings all contributing their various squeaks, squawks and trills. The cedar waxwing: what a great bird this is! They perch in the tops of the trees along the banks and flit out to chase down and grab a mouthful of insects, landing back in the trees to devour their catches. We usually see hundreds of them along the stream. Kingfishers often fly out and rattle their presence as they head along above the water, watching for a careless fish to swoop down upon. Merganser mamas swim along with their little broods trailing behind, trying their best to climb aboard mama's back to hitch a ride.

I'm going to cut this short...I suddenly have the urge to get out a canoe and go paddling!

Canoe trips this summer

For those of you who live in western Pennsylvania, I'm listing a few canoe/kayak trips that are scheduled for this summer. Contact me for further information.
Hummingbird

Saturday, July 12, Allegheny Canoe Club's Annual Paddle Day on the Allegheny River

This trip is usually from Tionesta to President (about 7 miles), but may be changed this year due to road construction along the shuttle route. The alternate is West Hickory to Tionesta, about 6 miles. (West Hickory access is PFBC, stickers required) In any case, we will meet at 11:00 at the public access area by the hunting museum/lighthouse/Cooperative Extension Office a few blocks downstream of the bridge in Tionesta. (note: NOT the PFBC access which is upstream)

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Sat. & Sun., July 19-20, Allegheny River from Warren to Tidioute, camping/paddling

Tentative plans: Put in at Betts Park, at the west end of Warren; have our lunch stop at Buckaloons and walk their mile-long "Seneca Interpretive Trail;" then paddle to an island downstream to camp, perhaps historic Thompson's Island. Second day, paddle to Tidioute where we will take out. Distance will be approximately 10 miles each day. This will allow for a leisurely paddle and hopefully a little more time enjoying the camping itself . We will take out at the "Tidhouse" in Tidioute, leaving most vehicles there. Total distance is 20 miles or so. Dogs are welcome as long as they aren't attack dogs!

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Saturday, September 13, Allegheny River from Tidioute to West Hickory--Allegheny Canoe Club

Meet at 10:00 at the West Hickory Access area (on the east side of the river just below the bridge, behind the Penndot lot.)