Shall we gather at the River? Getting there part 2

To a degree, one thing that our group has somewhat in common with Samuel Maclay and company is how we get together at the start of the trip. Beginning on April 26, 1790, Maclay started his journey down the Susquehanna from his home in the Buffalo Valley. He passed Harrisburg, and travelled up the Swatara, eventually establishing his quarters in Millerstown(known today as Annville). Maclay made a few trips east to Lebanon searching for his delayed comrades; his journal belying some impatience. By May 8, Maclay's comrads had joined him and by May 17 they had arrived at Sunbury. His journal entries made it appear that the expedition made the distance from Harrisburg to Sunbury in one day; a feat that seems a bit too impressive...

Most of the paddlers on our excursions come from the Hanover/Gettysburg Area and from year one, we identified our first stop at the McDonald's. In theory, it provided the point at which Bill Campbell and Gary would join the group. It certainly made sense because from there, we cross the Susquehanna to pick up 322 North, past Duncannon and, you might think, straight on up to Snowshoe. Don't be fooled. From Duncannon, we travel along the Juniata to Lewisburg where a traditional stop for beer and ice occurs. Then, the band travels through the Seven Mountains Area, Past Centre Hall and onto Route 220 where we would stop at the Agway to top off the gas tanks.

From Route 220, one might imagine that we travel on to Shawville. While we now only stop at Snowshoe, we initially also had stops at Milesburg, the Truck Stop at Snowshoe and the Rest Stop on Route 80; a few miles west of Snowshoe, and once, we even stopped for lunch at exit 123 before we completed the last few miles from Route 80 to Shawville. Clearly, we have never felt rushed.

Just as Maclay had some difficulty connecting up with his cohorts, we have occasionally had the same problems. At the start of the Fifth Annual Voyage, we made our trek up the river without Dwight. He had an early sales meeting in Hanover but assured us that he would meet us at Karthaus by 3:00. Buddy and the drivers were there at the appointed time but there was no sign of Dwight. A few thoughtful moments passed and it became obvious that Dwight had undoubtedly arrived and we deduced his exact location: Fisher's Bar at the river's edge.

A 1912 view of the Potter House In Karthaus. This predates Fisher's bar(now known as Riverfront Bar and Grill) but the location is correct

Dwight often figured prominently into our transportation misfires but he was not the only wayward paddler. There was the year that Alan and Gary were late because they decided to take a tour of beautiful downtown Bellfonte. And another time they were an hour late; a result of a detour to Clearfield to replace a forgotten pair of absolute necessities. But those are stories for other days.

Getting there: Up the river with Samuel Maclay

Several years ago, when I was poking around the Pennsylvania State Library for books about the history of the West Branch, I came across a microfiche of the "Journal of Samuel Maclay while surveying the West Branch of the Susquehanna, the Sinnemahoning and the Allegheny Rivers" Written during Samuel Maclay's 1790 expedition, it was not published until 1887. We are lucky to have a new publication courtesy of the folks at Wenneawoods Publishing in Lewisburg. The book-actually more of a booklet- has been digitized and is available for free on Google books but if you are interested in the publication, it is very inexpensive and supports a publishing company that is keeping the very early history of Pennsylvania alive.

Initially, I was interested in comparing descriptions of Maclay's trip in 1790 with ours, but as I started reading, it became apparent that comparisons would be difficult since Maclay's expedition left the West Branch at the mouth of the Sinnemahoning creek. We never canoed downstream that far so I couldn't draw any comparisons. But as I read, Mr. Maclay's exploits captured my imagination in other ways.

In 1790, when Samuel Maclay was 49 years old, he and two others, Timothy Matlock of Haddonfield, NJ and York resident John Adlum were commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania to examine the headwaters of the Susquehanna and explore the streams of the newly purchased Northwest Section of the state. They were charged with determining whether there was a water route from the Susquehanna River basin into the Allegheny River. The Pennsylvania General Assembly had declared the Susquehanna a "Public Highway" in 1771 and at that time, using rivers was still a most effective means of travel. When our forbearers began constructing roads, they followed the rivers and when we travel up to Shawville, we follow the rivers for a great deal of the route.

A 1795 Map with the approximate route of the 1790 Maclay expedition
Click on the map to view a larger copy

Mr Maclay's trip was quite a bit more arduous than ours; at least two thirds of the trip required poleing the vessels upstream through the high waters of April and May. Then there was the matter of portaging their boats 14 miles from the Sinnemahoning to Portage creek. Imagine hefting those things through the woods: they were a far cry from the lightweight Kevlar and carbon fiber canoes of today. In fact, none of the equipment used on this expedition was as lightweight, waterproof or warm as what we carry. Though we "rough it" our experience is nothing in comparison.


The exploits chronicled in Maclay's journal, and the purpose of surveying water routes to the Ohio and to the Great Lakes are quite compelling. As you look at the 1795 map and Maclay's route, it is apparent that the expedition uncovered routes into New York and west, to Pittsburgh. The survey records tentative routes from Philadelphia and anticipates much of what would become the network of Pennsylvania canals in the 1800's thus giving rise to an entire new vein of investigation of our state's history.

Shuttle Logistics

Paddling, like hiking is a pretty linear endeavor. I suppose that lots of hikes are circular in nature and it is possible to raft "the loop" on the Youghiogheny River without driving back from the end of the trip, but on the West Branch, there is always a Shuttle. The longest shuttle was the trip back from Renovo and in 2006, we relied on Steve Hershey to run the shuttle and leave his Jeep at the put in at Shawville. For the majority of the trips, Harry's uncle, Harold "Buddy" Borger ran us back from Karthaus to Shawville.

Alan, Harry, Buddy, Chris

The other detail that Harry and Buddy worked out for the trips was where we parked the cars at Karthaus. A look at the well maintained Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Take Out might give one cause to wonder why we don't just leave our cars in the parking lot there. Well, the Take Out wasn't always located where it is now and it certainly wasn't even close to as developed. Combine the state of the initial take out location with stories of vehicle break-ins that Harry had observed on the Shenandoah River and it might be a little understandable why Harry didn't want us parking our vehicles where they couldn't be watched. As it turns out, Buddy has a friend in Karthaus named William Paul and Mr. Paul has been graciously allowing us to park in his yard since 1982.

Even though Buddy and Mr. Paul never paddled with us, they always were an integral part of our West Branch experience. Mr. Paul continues to help us out on the trip. Buddy passed away on New Year's Day, 2001. He had battled Scleroderma for many years and was acutely ill for several months in 2000. Buddy was a good friend to us and he was also a very active citizen in his hometown, Snowshoe. He was the Mayor for a few years, served as a Snowshoe Police Officer was president of the Lion's Club, was judge of elections and was scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 50. Buddy was also an active woodworker and shared his catalog of items that he would make for others when he drove our shuttle.

There have been others who have helped us with the shuttle over the years. In 1988, Buddy had a conference to attend so his friend Don Gillette drove us back from Karthaus. In 2002, we "base camped" at Miller's Landing so no shuttle was needed; but the logistic stories for that year are enough to take up another post.

With the exception of 2004, from 2001 to 2005, Harry's cousin Delbert ran the shuttle for us. 2005 was the most confusing of the shuttles. We had a small group put in at the Rolling Stone bridge and at Shawville, half of us loaded up at the Shawville Methodist Church and boat ramp on river left while the other half of the group felt energetic and carried their gear down the hill the the river bank opposite us. We had used the right side of the river for years but abandoned that put in due to the length and steepness of the hill leading to the river bank. The is not much space at that spot either and we are, after all getting older. To make a long story short, coordinating the three groups was problematic and resulted in a quite lengthy shuttle. I have a feeling that we drove Delbert a little crazy that year.

After the shuttle of 2006, when Steve bailed us out, we decided to pay a little extra and have the good folks at McCracken Canoe run the shuttle for us. McCracken's is located on 970, just up from our "old" put in. The can be reached at mccrackencanoe.com.

From Hyner View, looking back

This view has changed little from our first visit at the end of our 1981 trip till May of 2008, when I took this photo. Upstream a few miles is the site of our inaugural trip's take-out, Renovo and of course, upstream of that, lie the 41 or so miles that we paddled back in May of 1981.

When we put in at Miller's Landing that Friday, the weather had turned from the sunny morning that we experienced in Harrisburg, to a cool, cloudy day punctuated with periods of rain. A pair of paddlers in an inflatable raft passed us as we carried our gear to the riverbank. They had just come down Moshannon Creek and mentioned to us that the river lever was pretty high. Harry had checked the river level for Friday May 15, 1981 and informed us that the West Branch was running at 5.41 feet. As a reference, flood stage is 19 feet and the river is usually getting a bit too low under two feet. We are accustomed to running it between two and four feet.

As some us us shuttled the cars down to Renovo, the guys left in Miller's Landing loaded and lashed our gear in the canoes and drank the weekend's supply of beer. After we all regrouped, we shoved off: briefly because Harry and Dwight started taking on too much water over the bow when we paddled through a stretch of "riffles." A quick trip to shore, some reloading, some rearranging, and we were off again for the three mile paddle past the bridge at Karthaus and a brief take out at Mosquito Creek. Why we stopped there is beyond me but soon, we were on the river again, leaving even the most fundamental evidence of development behind us. I recall seeing lots of Gypsy Moth forest devastation during our shuttle but I can't remember and impact on the trees along the riverbanks as we made our way. I remember lots of forests and by that time in the day, lots of rain.

During the early years of our trips, we were rather Spartan in our provisions and in the gear we carried. Our luxury was Friday night's dinner: steak and baked potatoes cooked over an open fire. (Saturday, we had hot dogs and beans cooked over a fire... who needs pots and pans!) I recall us standing around the fire in our ponchos enjoying the camaraderie and the meals but the locations of either Friday or Saturday night's campsite is lost to me. As there were just the six of us, I am certain that we all pitched in with the fire making, cooking, and cleanup. Bob Hayes supplied "the Kitchen" for the two years he paddled with us and I distinctly recall his home-made combination paper towel holder/silverware drawer.... funny what memory files away as important.....

As the weekend continued, the weather cleared, the water remained high and we had a great time enjoying the scenery and the conversation. On canoe trips, it is not uncommon to group the boats together and chat as we hold the gunwales of our neighbors canoe. On this particular Saturday, we thought it a good idea to TIE the boats together at the thwarts. Fortunately, someone was looking downstream and noticed that our flotilla was headed strait for a rock. Avoiding the rock in three lashed together canoes was not possible but thanks to Dwight and his handy knife, the ropes were severed and we passed the rock uneventfully. The lesson was learned and to the best of my knowledge, we've never tied up like that again.

I also remember that Harry was basically the trip leader- he had the plastic laminated maps and was familiar with the river- but Bob assumed the role of keeping the trip moving. Bob seemed to set the schedule and insure that we broke camps and got on the river by certain times. In retrospect, I guess this was good because it afforded us the time to Visit Hyner View and stop for ice cream as we made our way back home.

More details than these are lost to me. I strongly remember having a great time, laughing a lot and really enjoying the camaraderie and the adventure. I think that from this first weekend, something was set in our hearts that we would always paddle the West Branch in the Spring and that it would always be a special event which we would relived throughout the years. Looking back, that's exactly what our voyages on the West branch have become.