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| Location: Date/Time: Conditions: Water Temperature: Flow Rate: | French Creek from French Creek, NY to Wattsburg, PA (Leg #1) April 18, 2004 · 11:15 to 19:40 EDT 83° F, Unbelievable canoeing weather. Record high temp and sunny too! 57° F 155 ft³/sec, 28 year average for this day, 205 ft³/sec |
What a trip! Unseasonably hot, a new record high, sunny, five canoes, 12 people. It doesn't get any better than this. Hard to believe that two weeks ago we were canoeing this exact leg in a snow storm with about 6" of snow on the ground. | |
 | Me, Jen, Ray and Paul at the Marvin Rd. bridge ready to launch. The wine was going down nicely. |
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 | Better late than never, huh guys. The patriarch in his Old Town Discovery 174. Here we are approaching the rapids and concrete wall. |
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 | Definitely want to stay to the left of these rocks. And here's the wall. I have to give my wife tons of credit, because she's keeping us out of danger single-handedly while I'm busy snapping pictures. She takes it like a trooper and always keeps us upright. Right on, right on. |
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 | Everyone made it through unscathed. Yes, they're paddling backwards downstream. Makes things a bit more interesting. |
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 | Just one of many hazards on this leg. Bah, looks like we're about to get run over. |
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 | Ok guys, why are you going sideways? The scenic cliffs of insanity. |
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 | Goofing around. Jess thinks twice about swimming today. Water was 57 degrees, but it felt good on a sunburn. |
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 | Yet another canoe-sucking tree. Niiice horsey, goood horsey, just stay right there horsey. |
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 | Ah yes, THE record holding canoe-sucking tree. Adam and Ray are guaranteed to dunk here but they were in separate canoes today. Absolutely no room for error with this grand-daddy. He'll chew you up and spit you out not unlike a manure spreader. |
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 | Everyone decided to ride the creek like a water slide here. Jen tried it over here too but there just wasn't enough current. |
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And if grand-daddy tree doesn't get you, his younger brother, 'stump', usually does. No casualties today I'm happy to report. |
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Nice action shot of Jen executing a left to right paddle switch. Jen's dad and brother Gary splitting the goal posts, we followed them through. |
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Wicked series of turns with masses of canoe-sucking trees just to keep you on your toes. That is the exact spot we dunked our first year. The water was so much higher and there was no room to duck like that. |
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What a fun trip, only one dunk, Adam and Missy, but they were ahead of us and around a corner so I didn't get any action shots. Perfect canoe weather, wish they all were like this. A shot of some of the typical commotion at the end of a long canoe trip. |
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