May 26, 2008

May 26, 2008 – Memorial Day

Sue and I slept in. We got up about 7:30. The night before was comfortably cool and our neighbors were quiet by 11:00 pm last night. We ate cold cereal and hot chocolate for breakfast, then packed up everything and organized our kayaks and pushed off by 9:20. There was light headwind immediately. The ten miles to Danville were uneventful. The water was easy. There were occasional boulders. Once in a while we encountered a shelf that would run almost all the way across the river. Usually there was a good area to get thru along one edge or the other of the river.

We took a short break of about ten minutes, so by 12:30 we were on our way again. It was 11 miles to Shikellamy State Park in Sunbury. The headwind picked up substantially and slowed us down. The last 7 miles were very difficult. If we paused just to rip open a Slim Jim or to take a drink of water, we lost ground. Then it took such effort to get the momentum back and start moving forward again. As we got to within 4 miles of Sunbury the wind became so strong that we had sets of two foot waves rolling toward us. Some would catch us with the kayak nose down. Thank goodness we had the skirts on the kayaks. Sue did get one wave that went beyond the skirt and hit her, but she didn't take very much water. I think maybe the rear of my kayak was a little heavier because I had my sleeping bag and pad in the stow compartment there and I had the tent and tarp in a dry bag held with straps on top of the compartment area. I didn't nose into the waves quite as deeply as Sue did. The waves didn't ever get to the end of my skirt.

Shikellamy State Park is on the downriver end of an island that's about 1-1/2 miles long. It is almost in the middle of the Susquehanna. We were going to get out of the river on the right side of the island. Once we got past the beginning of the island, the waves weren't as bad. The water was just choppy. The wind seemed less there also. We still got some big waves but they were from boats.

We landed at the boat access at 4:30. It was the most physically exhausting day we have had yet. When we slid up on the ramp, my kayak was getting pounded with the choppy water hitting the downriver side. I was pretty wet by the time I got out and pulled the kayak up higher on the ramp. Then Sue's kayak got hit with the stuff my kayak protected hers from. She got out a little wet. Bill arrived within 5 minutes of my calling him on the cell phone. That was great!! Our arms and shoulders were aching. Once we got loaded into and onto the Jeep Liberty, our first stop was for hamburgers, fries, and a large drink.

Our continuation down the river will start June 7^th. On the night of the 6^th we will leave Forkston with Bill, his big truck, our camper, and our new Australian Shepherd puppy Jasper. We will go to the Riverboat Campground in Liverpool and stay a few days there while Sue and I paddle about 60 miles, and then we'll move south with the camper to a campground about 30 miles from Havre de Grace, Maryland.