The Route

The route… 

Imagine a “U.” We live at the upper right of the “U-bend” that the river makes. The take out is at the end of the upper left part. By river, it is around 1.4 miles to the take-out from our house. 

Depending on conditions, what boat you have and how you decide to paddle, it can take from 13 minutes to three hours. The 13 minutes came when the river was around 9 feet (3.2 is normal). I also took the fastest boat and paddled the whole way. The slowest was a tube float in the middle of the summer when the water was super low. That trip took so much more time than what is normal, we began to think that they missed the take out. These days, with the water around 2.9, a slow paddle/hang is taking an hour or so. Again, faster if I paddle. Because the rocks at the end of the route are exposed, I’m limited to the stubby, slow boats since the fast ones are really long and harder to weave in the rocky part. 

Anyway…Because of the bend, it only takes about 10 minutes to walk from the take-out to the house. Grab the truck. Pick up the boat and you’re done. 

The convenience of getting the boat back is a huge factor in my ability to go out as much as I do. I go out a lot and if it were a pain in the neck to make it happen, I just wouldn’t be out there as much. Even having to shuttle or deal with two cars would be enough to put a damper on everything. In the years that I lived close, but not on, the river, I only went out a few times. 

I will say that paddling our stretch has inspired me to check out other places around here. I’ve done parts of Mill Creek, Pequea Creek and the Little Conestoga. Oh, and the Susquehanna and Speedwell Forge. So much more to check out. 

This stretch pretty much does it though. It’s the bomb.

Little Conestoga Creek

The Township & River

So the Township…

I guess Lancaster Township has at the very least some say in what happens along the river. They also own a lot of land along the Conestoga’s banks as it goes through the city and as far as I can tell the people in charge there are committed to doing right by the river and figuring out ways they can improve access. Has to be about the river. 

After meeting with the Township Manager yesterday with our class, my impression is that Bill wants to make the world’s best township ordinance. I imagine that he doesn’t have it as a priority (time spent rewriting the thing) since he, no doubt, has other things to deal with like potholes and managing employees and liasoning with the Board of Supervisors and a whole mess of things the normal person doesn’t even know, but is he a policy/ordinance nerd? I think so. 

He wants, even encourages, residents to rewrite the ordinance in order to loosen or tighten the thing so it works for the folks who live in the Township. He seems to have an awesome philosophy about municipal governance that, if summarized, would be like this: let common sense dictate the codes by which individuals, residences and businesses can come together to shape a community. In that, people can have the freedom to do what they want with the understanding that they live around others. 

This approach seems like a good one to approach the management of the river and the spaces along it that are controlled by the Township. I’m not saying that there is anything pending that needs to be dealt with, but if something arose, I’m confident that as far as the Township is concerned, it has the people and systems in place to do good. 

On the way home

Access

Access on the Conestoga River is a tricky one ‘cuz you hear the boat people moving to improve boat access, etc. but, really, if you are a boater you’re going to figure it out. What’s really needed is access for folks who just want to hang out and enjoy the day. I saw this guy one time down by Pavillion 3 in County Park and he and his wife (?) were just chilling on the rocky shore. They had their chairs, she was in a bright green skirt with yellow and orange detail, and between them was a huge hookah. I mean… they get it. The river as it flows through Lancaster - and its whole length, really - is a marvel. That couple had a trifecta - they were together, sitting by the river and they had their hookah. Hookahs aren’t my thing, but whatever does it for you. Right on. 

What the river is missing (pains me to say it’s missing anything) is a collection of public access points where it’s easy to wade in and fish and you can have a picnic with your people. If you can drag a boat down, cool. If not, there’s probably another place nearby. Or, reach out and put your boat at our place. 

Went out with the moon last night and was going to write about that, but maybe next one.

Moon on the Conestoga