Kayaking on the Conemaugh

Jenny and I decided to have a bit of a kayaking adventure on Saturday. We decided that we wanted to go to do a part of the Conemaugh River, below the Conemaugh Dam. After doing a little bit of research, I figured that we would put in at Saltsburg, and then we would paddle upstream as far as we could. That would give us the ability to get a bit of a workout and also avoid getting into a fast-current situation where we might not be able to paddle upstream effectively.

Upon arriving at Saltsburg, we found all of the parking areas just about full, and lots of people trying to get into the river. After making a couple of rounds and trying to figure out how to make things work (we didn’t want to have to carry all of our stuff several blocks), we decided to punt and put in up closer to the dam. That meant that we would be paddling downstream first, and would then have to make our way back up at the end of our trip.

After getting the boats ready at the Conemaugh Dam canoe launch, we decided to do a quick current test by paddling back upstream a bit. It was a little fast right in front of the launch area, but we figured that we would be able to just portage there if we needed to do that, and we would be set. So, down the river we went.

Our first bit of excitement was an area under a bridge, not far from the launch, where a new bridge was being built. The workers had built a work dam so that they could move their machinery across the river to sink new piers. They installed portage areas on both sides of the dam for canoes and kayaks. The photo above is actually taken on our way back at the portage area.

It’s funny, really, that sometimes the places with the faster currents aren’t all that obvious. There were a few places we paddled through where we knew we would have to work to get back up through those areas. There was one place where it was pretty shallow and I figured it would be safer for at least me to portage there instead of trying to paddle back up through the rock field. We stopped for lunch at the last rapid above Saltsburg, which was a little bigger than anything else we had gone through, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to easily make it back up from there.

Here begins the period of time where our half-day paddle turned into seven and a half hours of paddling. We began to make our way back upstream. Things were fine for a little while, until we reached the first area of faster current. We were paddling like crazy, until I noticed that we actually were making zero forward progress. After trying (and failing) to see if there was a channel of slower current at some position in the river, we decided to portage past this area to slower water. We ended up having to do this several more times to get back up near the launch.

When we finally got to the launch area, the water was moving pretty fast. We had to portage again, but ran into an area where it was too deep for us to walk in the water, and the bank was too cluttered for us to make any progress there. I found a spot where I could scramble up through some evil quicksand-like mud to pull the kayaks up onto the bank. From there, we could pull them along the ground to get up to the launch area. I was in front and exploring this area to see if this was feasible, so I had Jenny stay put in the shallower part of the river until I could get my boat secure. Once that was done, I went back and took her boat, and had her get up on the bank and walk up to the launch while I pulled her boat out of the water and walked the same path. Both boats secure on shore and back at the launch, dusk began to settle-in. We were back. We were safe. We were muddy, bruised, and tired. But, oh, what an adventure we had!

My favorite Jenny quote from the trip:
blockquoteIf we were settlers, you would have gotten us scalped by indians by now!/blockquote
My wife is quite patient with me. For that I love her. 🙂

jonathan