Column: The appeal of a rainy day on the river
Within moments after launching our kayaks onto the Stonycreek River in Johnstown’s Hornerstown neighborhood, the rain began. Not that it mattered.
For kayakers and canoeists dress for the eventuality of getting wet. Plus, this was a day when rain was predicted, so on went the rain gear and into the water went the paddles.
While soggy, the day was far from uncomfortable with the temperature hovering around 70 degrees. Despite the dismal-gray sky, this day glowed, for it was the first day of the annual Stony-Kiski-Conemaugh Rivers Sojourn — and my first sojourn in about 15 years.
River sojourns are unique events: organized paddling trips that show off a watershed from the river’s point of view, an environmental point of view, even a cultural point of view.
Sojourners experience the life of a river basin while living on and along the river for three or four days. Organizers provide on-river guides, shuttles, meals and programs; sojourners pick the days and can either camp or find their own lodging.
Paddling experiences can range from mild to challenging, depending upon the desires and skill levels of the boaters, and the characteristics of the river basin. Safety is paramount. Experienced river guides present safety briefings each day before put-in, lead and follow each group, and are ready to deal with any on-river problems.
Sojourn sections of the Stonycreek, Kiskiminetas and Conemaugh rivers all are Class I with the exception of a small Class II rapid on the first day and an optional Class II-III rapid near Robinson on the second day. (Wildly embellished stories still are being told of my failed attempt to run the Robinson rapid 15 years ago.)
While SKC sojourners vary in age and boating experience, most participants on this first day, which was a weekday, were retirees. Each year’s Saturday paddle is popular with families because all are encouraged to dress in costumes, interpreting the year’s theme, and spend a couple of hours at Saltsburg’s Historic Canal Days Festival.
Simple breakfasts, packed lunches eaten along the river, and hot catered dinners are provided each day. Following the evening meal, a program explores some environmental, cultural or recreational feature of the river basin.
Our first day’s paddle was 11 miles in length and followed the lower Stonycreek and upper Conemaugh rivers through Johnstown and the Conemaugh Gap — one of the deepest river gorges in Pennsylvania.
To experience my everyday sights from the river’s perspective was fascinating. As the cluster of jelly-bean colored boats flowed underneath the Inclined Plane bridge, I studied details of the rehabilitation work being done on the Incline — the angled black-and-yellow work platform on the tracks and anchored screening underneath — that can’t be seen from the street.
As we entered the Conemaugh Gap, steep verdant sides of Laurel Ridge angled high and away from the river course. Sheer curtains of mist rose undulatingly from the forest canopy all along the ridge line.
Out West, such a view would have been a tragic scene of smoke from ravaging wildfires. Here, where we are blessed with so much rainfall, the sight was an impressive display of evaporation on a grand scale.
Rainfall was with us off and on, occasionally with some intensity, for the entire 11-mile paddle. Appropriately enough, once we’d taken our boats off the river at Seward, the rain stopped.
Soggy but satisfied, I spent some time with old boating friends, helping to load boats, catching up on each other’s lives and recalling paddles of the past. These same boaters, along with a similar number of on-land volunteers, were helping with this sojourn 15 years ago — a real tribute to their passion for and commitment to this river basin.
All of which is why such a wet, gray day on the river still can be a glowing one, especially when it’s part of a sojourn.
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This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Dave Hurst column about kayaking in the rain
