PART 1
Following extremely helpful input from this group, my friend Justin and I had planned to do the Clarion River together. We were coming from a day's drive in opposite directions and had to take off work, so we were committed to the dates. Heavy rains leading up to the trip had us a bit worried. I expected the lows in the mid-40's for a May trip, but the highs in the mid-50s with rain and wind were a little concerning, as were water levels. We started driving from our separate homes a day in advance, banking on the waters receding by the time we got to the put-in.
The plan was to do 44 river miles from Ridgway to Cooksburg, spending the first night on Allegheny National Forest land and the second night at Cook Forest State Park campground, where they have 2 dedicated canoe campsites. The Clarion River Water Trail maps (Upper and Middle) were extremely helpful in planning the trip.
I'd called ahead, and the State Forest office explained that we'd need a free permit with our info to leave a car overnight in the state office parking lot by the take-out at Cooksburg. Lazy River Canoe Rental in Ridgway allows overnight parking in their private campground for $10/night. We did not locate an outfitter in the area that was willing to shuttle us at a reasonable price, but worse, in a way that worked for our timing. It seems that the local outfitters are heavy into day rentals and really only want to shuttle from their take-out to their put-in on their timelines. Fair enough, but didn’t help us. Justin had reserved the state campsite online ahead of time, given the holiday weekend. I secured a launch permit online - I don't think we really needed it but I'd rather pay $15 ahead and not have to stress when we landed at the state campground. I figure the cost helps support conservation and outdoor recreation anyway. I could not find the 7-day option at check-out in the website to buy the launch permit - guess I should paddle in PA again this year to get my money's worth for the annual pass. The online pay system asked for a SSN but I didn't put it in, and checked out fine anyway.
In the lead-up to the trip we were hemming and hawing about boat selection. I wanted to take 2 boats, maybe my Phoenix and Morningstar, or Heron and Morningstar so I could teach Justin some poling. Justin had gusts to 25mph in his forecast (mine only showed the 15mph steady wind), which made him want his kayak or a tandem, not solo canoes. In the end we opted for one boat, my Old Town 16ft Penobscot. I was extremely glad we did in the end - more on that later.
On the morning of the 23rd, we left Justin's car at the Cooksburg take out. At the state park office, they gave us paper versions of the water trail maps (they're behind the counter, you have to ask for them but they’re free) and had Justin fill out some paperwork for his permit – it was quick and easy. The staff informed us that the state launches were closed as the gauge reading was above 6ft. I told them I knew it was dropping pretty fast and that we were hoping it'd be below 6ft by the time we drove to the put-in and had lunch. They looked skeptical; I waited for a rebuke, or some safety advice, but they'd said their piece at left it at that. They probably knew they didn't have jurisdiction at the private put-in we were headed for. Maybe I convinced them we’d at least done a modicum of informing ourselves before getting in over our heads.
We headed to Ridgway and had lunch at the Brew Bank, a nice brewery in an old bank. Cool spot, you can see both their brewing apparatuses and the inside of the old bank vault door. Service was very friendly, and what food we had was good although we ordered pretty light since it was only 11:30am. I didn’t sample the brews either, due to the early hour and our impending time on cold unknown waters. We sat eating, glumly staring out the window at the showers that kept stopping and starting up again, refreshing the weather forecasts and the water gauges, and the forum post above, on our phones. After both @NoelCanoeDad and @MichaelMerry said folks had done the river safely as high as 7.5ft on the Ridgway gauge, and the gauge went down below 7ft, I suggested we head for the outfitter and chat with them with an eye to getting on the water (or being talked out of doing so by the outfitter).
Lazy River is a funny little place, operating out of a prefab shed behind some warehouses. It was hard to believe Google Maps when it told us to turn into what looked like a private driveway, but it was right. When we got there, there were no customers on hand, and the only guy on hand said he’d just moved back to the area and couldn’t provide much info, but offered a number for us to call someone for more info. We decided to go have another look at the river. We drove down to the put-in; it was through a campground with several RV pads and tent sites in a big open field. There was a portapotty and dumpster at one end. We first walked, then drove my car, over the grass down to the water. The put-in was muddy; the water looked swift but ok to me. We started unloading the car and loading the boat. It started raining again. We finished loading the boat. It started raining harder. We got back in the car and refreshed the weather on our phones. We clutched our pearls some more. The rain stopped. We decided to go for it.
We finally put on the water around 2pm with the Ridgway gauge at 6.70ft. We took it easy at first. The Water Trail maps said to expect 4-5mph in spring flows, and that was presumably below 6ft on the gauge, so I figured we’d be flying at higher flows. We were checking out the river, getting a feel for the boat and the current. We were loaded pretty heavily, with a big 55gal cooler with two-inch thick sides, filled to the brim with ice, food, and beverages, plus two packs full of gear and the various other paraphernalia (ditch kit, thwart bag, fishing rod, waterproof ukulele, etc.). We’d both packed enough extra layers to have warm, dry clothes in at least two dry bags each, in case of a capsize. It was a little tight in the Penobscot, but it all fit and if we didn’t have 6in freeboard, we were close to that much. I was glad Justin convinced me that we could get by with one tent. Still, the boat felt heavy and slow to respond in the rushing current. I hadn’t tripped in a boat loaded that full/close to weight capacity in a long time, never mind in a spring flood on an unknown river. At one point the river split around an island, with the right channel forming an exaggerated loop (not sure if I found the right spot on Google Maps below, but I think so). We took the left side, but as we passed the island we got caught in the swirl of eddies and boils where the current came back together, and were pulled in behind the island. We just went slack and let it happen – can’t fight the river. It was an indication of the forces at play at those water levels.
About an hour after launching, I was surprised to find we’d only covered about 2 miles. Admittedly we were doing more floating that paddling. We picked up the pace, not paddling hard but reasonably and consistently, and started hitting that 5-ish mph we’d been promised. I’d been on some river trips where you had to drift and assiduously avoid paddling so as not to run your whole trip too fast. Not this time. I think part of the issue was the wind. With the major weather system (which dumped 1-2in of rain in the area) still trying to clear out, winds were consistent out of the west, and were funneling upstream. Those gusts that Justin’s phone had foretold came to fruition and more. We were frequently battling the wind, at times it felt like a fight just to make downstream progress. We had one squall blow through with a heavy downpour and howling winds. It was bad enough we couldn’t see well, and pulled over into some bushes hanging on the bank to wait it out. I need new rain pants.
It became pretty clear pretty quickly that we had to keep our wits about us; again, not a drift and day dream sort of trip. After having been warned of crowded conditions on holiday weekends, there was no one else on the river (indicative that we shouldn’t be either? Or just that we were more dedicated to canoeing in miserable weather?). The river was bank-full; banks above water were steep, muddy, and mostly heavily vegetated. Not a lot of places to land. There were enough rocks and logs just under the surface but shallow enough to tip a complacent canoeist who runs their bow up on one unexpectedly. With cold water, cool air, on-and-off rain, and wind, we were determined not to have any incidents.
Our first real challenge was at Trestle Rapid. It’s around a sharp bend to river right. The rail bridge has a large pilon in mid-stream. In the stern, I was having trouble confirming that the left channel was clear around the corner since there were some trees hanging out from the right bank obscuring my view. I could see the left side was clear, and declared we’d go left. I underestimated the strength of the current around the bend…soon we were headed straight for the pilon and I didn’t think we’d clear it into the left channel before hitting. I yelled “RIGHT! RIGHT!” and we both paddled hard on the left and cleared the pilon in time to encounter the wave train in the left channel. All ended fine, but it felt like a closer call that we wanted by far. If we hadn’t been paying attention before, we were now. We continued on down the river.
As far as I could discern online ahead of time, the Allegheny NF only allows camping in designated sites, but Justin thought he’d read that dispersed backcountry camping was also legal. We kept our eyes peeled for potential spots but it was clear they’d be few and far between with the steep banks and vegetation. We started seeing a couple trails leading up from the river, indicating backcountry camp sites. We weren’t far past the Portland Mills put-in. Given the time of day, Justin suggested we start stopping and checking them out to pick a good one. Ahead of the trip we’d worried about campsites all being taken, but that clearly wouldn’t be an issue. But with the banks as they were, we weren’t sure we’d find a suitable spot to land and camp before dark. I did the math on reaching the marked sites on the map below XYZ Rapids that day and agreed to start checking out spots as we saw them. We passed by two that went by before we could make a decision to eddy out. We spotted a third one on a tight bend, and barely managed to make the landing before getting pushed into some flooded trees along the bank. Though the landing was soft and muddy, the site itself was quite nice, with a fire ring, log bench with a couple low planks, and a couple good flat spots for tents up on a rise. We set up camp, and I took the opportunity to set up my newly made table a la @kahel and @PortageW/Cerberus . Took some fiddling but I finally got it set pretty well. Firewood was wet and hard to come by, but we ranged away from camp a bit and found enough dead and down to get an after-dinner fire going. We decided to cook on the stove instead of the fire though.
Day 2 dawned grey and rainy. We muddled through breakfast under the tarp, waiting for the rain to fully abate before we packed up the tent and our gear. This was another trip where I was infinitely glad to have packed a kitchen tarp. While we were waiting out the rain, there were three sets of catamaran-ed canoes that went past. One catamaran had a guy in each canoe, the others had 2 per boat/4 per catamaran. They were all fishing – some looked like they were fly fishing. We were surprised they were able to stay back in some eddies out of the current enough to stand and cast. The catamarans were made with aluminum cross-braces between the canoes. They seemed to have no overnight gear and seemed relaxed about the water levels and rapids. Locals? An outfitted party? We pondered whether this style of boat is preferred in the area given the lack of put-ins suitable for a trailered johnboat, but we could only speculate.
We ended up getting quite a late start, finally hitting the water around 11am. We walked the boat up a few boat-lengths along shore before it got too soft and the bank brush would have pushed us to top our boots. Then we paddled up along shore a little more before ferrying to mid-stream, away from the flooded young sycamores that almost got us as we landed the night before, and far enough out to see the rapids just below our camp and set up a good line. We continued downstream in off-and-on showers, lighter and less frequent than the day before.
XYZ rapids came and went, and while it was pretty easy to pick a line and stick to it, the haystacks were quite large and we shipped a fair bit of water as predicted by MichaelMerry. Again, it was cold and lonely enough that I was intent on staying upright and as dry as possible. There were plenty of smaller obstacles with eddies big enough to play in. On a hot summer day with more company and a less laden boat, I would have wanted to play more. As it was, it was a little white-knuckle for us getting through the bigger rapids, but we made it through each without incident. I’d be very curious to see all these rapids at lower water levels. We stopped at Irwin Run on the National Forest for lunch. It had a parking lot and a bathroom (nicer pit toilet, no running water). The ramp there was concrete slats about 4 ft wide, not suitable for a boat trailer. Better than most put-ins we saw, but still muddy and not ideal.
Following extremely helpful input from this group, my friend Justin and I had planned to do the Clarion River together. We were coming from a day's drive in opposite directions and had to take off work, so we were committed to the dates. Heavy rains leading up to the trip had us a bit worried. I expected the lows in the mid-40's for a May trip, but the highs in the mid-50s with rain and wind were a little concerning, as were water levels. We started driving from our separate homes a day in advance, banking on the waters receding by the time we got to the put-in.
The plan was to do 44 river miles from Ridgway to Cooksburg, spending the first night on Allegheny National Forest land and the second night at Cook Forest State Park campground, where they have 2 dedicated canoe campsites. The Clarion River Water Trail maps (Upper and Middle) were extremely helpful in planning the trip.
I'd called ahead, and the State Forest office explained that we'd need a free permit with our info to leave a car overnight in the state office parking lot by the take-out at Cooksburg. Lazy River Canoe Rental in Ridgway allows overnight parking in their private campground for $10/night. We did not locate an outfitter in the area that was willing to shuttle us at a reasonable price, but worse, in a way that worked for our timing. It seems that the local outfitters are heavy into day rentals and really only want to shuttle from their take-out to their put-in on their timelines. Fair enough, but didn’t help us. Justin had reserved the state campsite online ahead of time, given the holiday weekend. I secured a launch permit online - I don't think we really needed it but I'd rather pay $15 ahead and not have to stress when we landed at the state campground. I figure the cost helps support conservation and outdoor recreation anyway. I could not find the 7-day option at check-out in the website to buy the launch permit - guess I should paddle in PA again this year to get my money's worth for the annual pass. The online pay system asked for a SSN but I didn't put it in, and checked out fine anyway.
In the lead-up to the trip we were hemming and hawing about boat selection. I wanted to take 2 boats, maybe my Phoenix and Morningstar, or Heron and Morningstar so I could teach Justin some poling. Justin had gusts to 25mph in his forecast (mine only showed the 15mph steady wind), which made him want his kayak or a tandem, not solo canoes. In the end we opted for one boat, my Old Town 16ft Penobscot. I was extremely glad we did in the end - more on that later.
On the morning of the 23rd, we left Justin's car at the Cooksburg take out. At the state park office, they gave us paper versions of the water trail maps (they're behind the counter, you have to ask for them but they’re free) and had Justin fill out some paperwork for his permit – it was quick and easy. The staff informed us that the state launches were closed as the gauge reading was above 6ft. I told them I knew it was dropping pretty fast and that we were hoping it'd be below 6ft by the time we drove to the put-in and had lunch. They looked skeptical; I waited for a rebuke, or some safety advice, but they'd said their piece at left it at that. They probably knew they didn't have jurisdiction at the private put-in we were headed for. Maybe I convinced them we’d at least done a modicum of informing ourselves before getting in over our heads.
We headed to Ridgway and had lunch at the Brew Bank, a nice brewery in an old bank. Cool spot, you can see both their brewing apparatuses and the inside of the old bank vault door. Service was very friendly, and what food we had was good although we ordered pretty light since it was only 11:30am. I didn’t sample the brews either, due to the early hour and our impending time on cold unknown waters. We sat eating, glumly staring out the window at the showers that kept stopping and starting up again, refreshing the weather forecasts and the water gauges, and the forum post above, on our phones. After both @NoelCanoeDad and @MichaelMerry said folks had done the river safely as high as 7.5ft on the Ridgway gauge, and the gauge went down below 7ft, I suggested we head for the outfitter and chat with them with an eye to getting on the water (or being talked out of doing so by the outfitter).
Lazy River is a funny little place, operating out of a prefab shed behind some warehouses. It was hard to believe Google Maps when it told us to turn into what looked like a private driveway, but it was right. When we got there, there were no customers on hand, and the only guy on hand said he’d just moved back to the area and couldn’t provide much info, but offered a number for us to call someone for more info. We decided to go have another look at the river. We drove down to the put-in; it was through a campground with several RV pads and tent sites in a big open field. There was a portapotty and dumpster at one end. We first walked, then drove my car, over the grass down to the water. The put-in was muddy; the water looked swift but ok to me. We started unloading the car and loading the boat. It started raining again. We finished loading the boat. It started raining harder. We got back in the car and refreshed the weather on our phones. We clutched our pearls some more. The rain stopped. We decided to go for it.
We finally put on the water around 2pm with the Ridgway gauge at 6.70ft. We took it easy at first. The Water Trail maps said to expect 4-5mph in spring flows, and that was presumably below 6ft on the gauge, so I figured we’d be flying at higher flows. We were checking out the river, getting a feel for the boat and the current. We were loaded pretty heavily, with a big 55gal cooler with two-inch thick sides, filled to the brim with ice, food, and beverages, plus two packs full of gear and the various other paraphernalia (ditch kit, thwart bag, fishing rod, waterproof ukulele, etc.). We’d both packed enough extra layers to have warm, dry clothes in at least two dry bags each, in case of a capsize. It was a little tight in the Penobscot, but it all fit and if we didn’t have 6in freeboard, we were close to that much. I was glad Justin convinced me that we could get by with one tent. Still, the boat felt heavy and slow to respond in the rushing current. I hadn’t tripped in a boat loaded that full/close to weight capacity in a long time, never mind in a spring flood on an unknown river. At one point the river split around an island, with the right channel forming an exaggerated loop (not sure if I found the right spot on Google Maps below, but I think so). We took the left side, but as we passed the island we got caught in the swirl of eddies and boils where the current came back together, and were pulled in behind the island. We just went slack and let it happen – can’t fight the river. It was an indication of the forces at play at those water levels.
About an hour after launching, I was surprised to find we’d only covered about 2 miles. Admittedly we were doing more floating that paddling. We picked up the pace, not paddling hard but reasonably and consistently, and started hitting that 5-ish mph we’d been promised. I’d been on some river trips where you had to drift and assiduously avoid paddling so as not to run your whole trip too fast. Not this time. I think part of the issue was the wind. With the major weather system (which dumped 1-2in of rain in the area) still trying to clear out, winds were consistent out of the west, and were funneling upstream. Those gusts that Justin’s phone had foretold came to fruition and more. We were frequently battling the wind, at times it felt like a fight just to make downstream progress. We had one squall blow through with a heavy downpour and howling winds. It was bad enough we couldn’t see well, and pulled over into some bushes hanging on the bank to wait it out. I need new rain pants.
It became pretty clear pretty quickly that we had to keep our wits about us; again, not a drift and day dream sort of trip. After having been warned of crowded conditions on holiday weekends, there was no one else on the river (indicative that we shouldn’t be either? Or just that we were more dedicated to canoeing in miserable weather?). The river was bank-full; banks above water were steep, muddy, and mostly heavily vegetated. Not a lot of places to land. There were enough rocks and logs just under the surface but shallow enough to tip a complacent canoeist who runs their bow up on one unexpectedly. With cold water, cool air, on-and-off rain, and wind, we were determined not to have any incidents.
Our first real challenge was at Trestle Rapid. It’s around a sharp bend to river right. The rail bridge has a large pilon in mid-stream. In the stern, I was having trouble confirming that the left channel was clear around the corner since there were some trees hanging out from the right bank obscuring my view. I could see the left side was clear, and declared we’d go left. I underestimated the strength of the current around the bend…soon we were headed straight for the pilon and I didn’t think we’d clear it into the left channel before hitting. I yelled “RIGHT! RIGHT!” and we both paddled hard on the left and cleared the pilon in time to encounter the wave train in the left channel. All ended fine, but it felt like a closer call that we wanted by far. If we hadn’t been paying attention before, we were now. We continued on down the river.
As far as I could discern online ahead of time, the Allegheny NF only allows camping in designated sites, but Justin thought he’d read that dispersed backcountry camping was also legal. We kept our eyes peeled for potential spots but it was clear they’d be few and far between with the steep banks and vegetation. We started seeing a couple trails leading up from the river, indicating backcountry camp sites. We weren’t far past the Portland Mills put-in. Given the time of day, Justin suggested we start stopping and checking them out to pick a good one. Ahead of the trip we’d worried about campsites all being taken, but that clearly wouldn’t be an issue. But with the banks as they were, we weren’t sure we’d find a suitable spot to land and camp before dark. I did the math on reaching the marked sites on the map below XYZ Rapids that day and agreed to start checking out spots as we saw them. We passed by two that went by before we could make a decision to eddy out. We spotted a third one on a tight bend, and barely managed to make the landing before getting pushed into some flooded trees along the bank. Though the landing was soft and muddy, the site itself was quite nice, with a fire ring, log bench with a couple low planks, and a couple good flat spots for tents up on a rise. We set up camp, and I took the opportunity to set up my newly made table a la @kahel and @PortageW/Cerberus . Took some fiddling but I finally got it set pretty well. Firewood was wet and hard to come by, but we ranged away from camp a bit and found enough dead and down to get an after-dinner fire going. We decided to cook on the stove instead of the fire though.
Day 2 dawned grey and rainy. We muddled through breakfast under the tarp, waiting for the rain to fully abate before we packed up the tent and our gear. This was another trip where I was infinitely glad to have packed a kitchen tarp. While we were waiting out the rain, there were three sets of catamaran-ed canoes that went past. One catamaran had a guy in each canoe, the others had 2 per boat/4 per catamaran. They were all fishing – some looked like they were fly fishing. We were surprised they were able to stay back in some eddies out of the current enough to stand and cast. The catamarans were made with aluminum cross-braces between the canoes. They seemed to have no overnight gear and seemed relaxed about the water levels and rapids. Locals? An outfitted party? We pondered whether this style of boat is preferred in the area given the lack of put-ins suitable for a trailered johnboat, but we could only speculate.
We ended up getting quite a late start, finally hitting the water around 11am. We walked the boat up a few boat-lengths along shore before it got too soft and the bank brush would have pushed us to top our boots. Then we paddled up along shore a little more before ferrying to mid-stream, away from the flooded young sycamores that almost got us as we landed the night before, and far enough out to see the rapids just below our camp and set up a good line. We continued downstream in off-and-on showers, lighter and less frequent than the day before.
XYZ rapids came and went, and while it was pretty easy to pick a line and stick to it, the haystacks were quite large and we shipped a fair bit of water as predicted by MichaelMerry. Again, it was cold and lonely enough that I was intent on staying upright and as dry as possible. There were plenty of smaller obstacles with eddies big enough to play in. On a hot summer day with more company and a less laden boat, I would have wanted to play more. As it was, it was a little white-knuckle for us getting through the bigger rapids, but we made it through each without incident. I’d be very curious to see all these rapids at lower water levels. We stopped at Irwin Run on the National Forest for lunch. It had a parking lot and a bathroom (nicer pit toilet, no running water). The ramp there was concrete slats about 4 ft wide, not suitable for a boat trailer. Better than most put-ins we saw, but still muddy and not ideal.
