A Swim and a Thought

If you follow the Instagram page, you know Jeff, my paddling partner. He’s (nearly) always up for a float and as we meander down the river, he loves to hang out on the bow and check things out. He especially likes the occasional deer sighting and there are times when he has spotted them before I have. 

Jeff is an adventure dog. He tends to chew on his PDF if he’s bored and especially enjoys a bit of action. Speed fits the bill - usually provided by steady paddling or the set of rapids near the end of our usual route. 

Though he sometimes tries to ride the rapids from his perch up front, he usually retreats to my lap or I scoop him up and bring him back with me. He’s pretty secure in the cockpit or between my legs if I kneel on a paddleboard.

A recent float provided an exception to this. 

While watching Leigh negotiate the rapids, I smacked a stranded log and he flew off the paddleboard. I sprung off the board, lunged for his tail and reeled him in. The river was too fast to stand so I held him aloft while I rode the rapids in a “seated” position. 

This non-standard trip over the rapids left me a bit bruised and Jeff a bit shaky, but our unplanned experience is one of many reasons why I find time on the river so captivating. 

We never know what we are going to find and we certainly don’t know what is going to happen. We may see an eagle soaring up the corridor; maybe an osprey will shrill at us before going alight with its most recent catch; maybe the mayflies will be on parade; maybe a deer (or a cat) will spy us from the banks; maybe the swallows will be catching food and feeding it to their young as they watch the enterprise from a powerline. Maybe we will go for a “swim.”

There’s always something awesome happening out there. Sometimes that awesome isn’t what one would choose (portage over ice, a cold driving rain, a swim), but the river provides a bit of an edge whose precipice is not too high to deal with. Jeff and I aren’t “send it” sort of folks but we try to take it all in and understand we are provided with a special opportunity to see beauty, watch the changes on the river throughout the year and participate in something primary and unfiltered. 

As I finish this piece up I am taking mini-breaks to prepare for a quick float. Jeff knows we are about to go out and is patiently waiting so he can get out there and see what is out there today.

Shortly before launch.

Yard Yak

A high-water June ended up with heavy rains throughout most of the Conestoga River watershed as the river breached its banks on July 1 and eventually hit 12.5 feet as measured at the Lancaster USGS station at Walnut and Pleasure Road. After an overnight recession, it was back up and it took a couple of days for the river to recede to near-normal levels. 

While gardens and other plantings may get beat up a bit by the river at flood stage, it is good for what my neighbor calls a yard yak - essentially a paddle out above our neighbors’ yards. The perspective one gets from the river is always awesome and being able to paddle in spaces that don’t usually afford the opportunity to do so is totally worth having to occasionally avoid a tree trunk or other items that have been captured by the current upriver. 

Also, the water is exceptionally fast. Sure, it’s also a bit swirly and down by the “rapids,” a bit bumpy, but for someone who looks to experience the river is all of its expressions, it's the bomb. 

It’s always the bomb, but, hey...

Yark Yak

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Water Week / Paddling Film Festival

A huge thank you to all of the folks at the Lancaster Conservancy for an awesome Water Week this year. Sure, the event was nearly a month ago, but there’s no harm in a retrospective look back in time, right?

In addition to collecting a few trees and shrubs from the Conservancy, I was able to attend a session on riparian zones (yay, Kestrels!), a tour of the meadowing efforts at Clark Nature Preserve and a walk in the proposed nature preserve and center on Sunnyside Peninsula which is a joint project between the City of Lancaster and the High Foundation. I also spent a morning with the Conestoga River Club cleaning up the river along Sunnyside. 

Part of the week was the Conestogia-sponsored Paddling Film Festival which featured a curated selection of the world’s best paddling films. The second year the festival has been a part of Water Week, this year’s films focused on adventure, the love of water, the environment and the way that our waterways bring people together. 

It was clear from the week that our rivers and streams have strong allies and tons of enthusiasts. So… what about a Lancaster County film for the Paddling Film Festival? If you were its producer, what would be the focus of your film? Recreation? Clean-up efforts? History? 

Leave a comment below about how you participated in Water Week and give us the title of your film!