99 CANOE DELAWARE RIVER

Hancock to Port Jarvis, NY

September 19 - 24, 1999

September 19, 1999   Sunday   Canoe Hancock to Buckingham Access, PA

Left home about 5:00 am to meet Ted Sanderson at the Park-n-Ride in Timonium at 6:00. Several cars met there and we caravaned up I-83 to I-81to US-6 east of Scranton to NY-191 at Honesdale northeast to Hankins. Went to the Red Barn Campground $7 phone 914 887-4995 in Hankins, NY arriving about 11:15 am. Set up our tents and ate lunch of ham, cheese, onion and tomato sandwich, oreos, grapes and Squirt. Caravaned to Buckingham Access, PA where we dropped a vehicle then to Hancock, NY where we put-in at 2:15. We are six canoes with Ted and Fran Sanderson in 1, Duncan Crawford and Marcie Mandato in 2, Bob Carson and Dal Bunker in 3, Jerry Lemonds and Vickie Woodward in 4, Don Forrest and Adrienne Shriner in 5 and Dan McQueen in 6. The river is flat, shallow and wide. There is an occasional rip. The current is good so we are moving quickly. The river sets in a valley with high steep mountains on each side. It is sunny with an occasional cloud. Its not too hot but pretty comfortable. We cover the 7.5 miles in one hour and a half arriving at our take out Buckingham Access, PA at 3:45. We averaged 5 miles per hour (mph). Drove back to camp. Showered. We have group cooking for supper and breakfast. Ate supper of vegetable soup, salad, chicken, rice, peaches and cake. Went to bed at 9:35.

September 20, 1999   Monday   Canoe Buckingham Access, PA to Hankins, NY

Got up at 6:39 am. Ate breakfast of an omellett with pepper, onion, mushroom and cheese and orange juice. Caravaned to the 9:40 put in at Buckingham Access, PA. The river is fairly fast with some pretty good rips. There are high wooded ridges on both sides of the river. It is mostly overcast with periods of sun. There is a gusty headwind that spun me around once. We always link together and float for a cookie break at mid morning. Around noon, we stopped for lunch of ham, cheese, onion and tomato sandwich, oreos, nectarine and Squirt. We saw a lot of birds included two bald eagles, a flock of turkeys, swans and Maraganza ducks (smaller than Mallards with rusty brown head). We arrived at the Red Barn Campground at 2:15. We traveled 15 miles. Counting the breaks we estimate that we averaged 4.5 mph. Shuttled back to Buckingham Access to pick up my car. Showered. Ate supper of chicken noodle soup, salad, BBQ sandwich, fruit and lemon cake. Went to bed early as most people went to the movies.


Waiting carriages...

The convoy underway...

September 21, 1999   Tuesday   Canoe Red Barn Camp to Damascus Access

It rained during the night. Got up at 6:20 am. Ate breakfast of orange juice, sausage, French toast and hot chocolate. Drove my car to the Damascus Access take out and shuttled back in Don Forrests van listening to Andrea Bocelli. Put into the river from the Red Barn Campground about 10:00. We have a tailwind, overcast skies and it is continually getting colder. We had a brief light rain. The ridges on each side of the river are getting lower. Stopped for lunch of 2 ham, cheese, onion and tomato sandwiches, Squirt, 4 Oreo cookies and an apple. We saw an eagle, beaver smack it’s tail right in front of canoe, swans, Maraganza ducks and a gray heron. Jerry Lemonds fell into the water at one point. Arrived at the Damascus take out at 1:20 pm. We covered 13 miles in 3:20 or 3 mph but that includes break and lunch stop times. Loaded canoes and drove back to the Red Barn Campground. Showered and it started raining. It was raining and cold so we drove to Club 97 for supper of salad, Cajun chicken, ice tea and peach crisp with ice cream for $16.40.

September 22, 1999   Wednesday   Canoe Damascus Access to Narrowsburg, NY

It rained all night. Got up at 6:30 and packed up in the rain. Drove to Narrowsburg, NY and the Cochecton Cafe for breakfast of orange juice and blueberry pancakes for $6.65. Drove to our 11:00 am put in at Damascus Access. It is cold and windy but a tailwind on the river. The rain stopped and we had no more. The current is still very strong. The ridges on both sides of the river are continually lower as we go south. Stopped for lunch of peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, granola bar and Squirt. We saw some large eel traps in the river, an eagle, a large flock of Canadian geese and many kinds of ducks. The water level is high so we ran Skinner Falls on the right next to the shore. All six canoes made it without mishap. Arrived at our take out Landers in Narrowsburg, NY at 1:20 pm. Shuttled to pick up our cars and checked into Landers Campground phone 914 252-3925 $10 in Narrowsburg, NY. The weather improved considerably and started warming. Set up tents and showered. Ate supper of salad, cream of chicken soup, BBQ beef, chicken and rice, hot chocolate and lemon cake.

Skinner Rapids...

September 23, 1999   Thursday   Canoe Narrowsburg, NY to Laxawaxen, PA

Got up at 6:20. Ate breakfast of orange juice, blueberry pancakes and hot chocolate. Drove our cars to Laxawaxen, PA and shuttled back to 9:53 put in at Landers Campground. It is sunny and warm but very comfortable on the water. The river is very scenic with many class 2 rapids. Stopped for lunch of 2 ham, cheese, onion and tomato sandwiches, nectarine, 3 Oreo cookies and Squirt. During the day we saw bald eagles, herons, hawks and deer from the river. We arrived at the Zane Grey Museum in Laxawaxen, PA for the take out at 1:00. We canoed 13 miles in 3:07 including a lunch break. That’s moving. Loaded canoes and gear then drove back to Landers Campground. Showered. Don Forrest and I walked to town for a root beer float for $2.34. It was a beautiful day. Don and I invented a game with the frisbee. Ate supper of salad, mushroom soup, peaches and coconut, ham with sweet potato, pineapple, carrots, rice, apple pie with whipped cream, hot chocolate and tea. Paid Ted Sanderson $61.05 for 5 nights camp sites and 4 suppers and 4 breakfasts. Went to bed at 8:20.

More rough stuff...

September 24, 1999   Friday   Canoe Laxawaxen, PA to Southern Terminus, NY

Got up at 6:05, struck tent, packed up and loaded car. Ate breakfast of ham, cheese, pepper and mushroom omellett, tea and orange juice. Drove to Laxawaxen, PA and dropped our canoes and gear. Drove on to Southern Terminus near Port Jarvis in NY then shuttled back in Don Forrest’s van to the now familiar Andrea Bocelli CD. Put in the river at Laxawaxen at 9:53. It is sunny and warm. We run many good rapids in the 2-3 range including Mongaup Rapid with it’s very big waves. We stopped to eat lunch of 2 ham, cheese, onion and tomato sandwiches, nectarine and apple. Saw many ducks in route. We reached the take out at Southern Terminus at 2:35. We canoed 22.5 miles in 4:42 including breaks. That’s moving. I had been using Dal Bunker’s kayak paddle and could really move. Loaded the canoe and gear on the car. Reluctantly said goodbye to everyone and drove away at 3:08. Drove through Port Jarvis to I-80 to Scranton then south on I-81 retracing my route to Columbia, MD arriving home at 7:35. Our six days of canoeing we covered about 90 miles.