The Canoeing and Camping Blog


Written for people who love to paddle and have a passion for the outdoors.

Red River Gorge – A Place of Beauty and Danger

December 19, 2008

Darkness gripped the Red River Gorge. The sandstone rock was slick. And what Dave Scheller thought he was holding on to was not a sturdy tree limb but a weak bush. “It kind of bent over,” he said. “I lost my footing and I kept going.” The experienced camper from the Cincinnati area had warned [...]

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Mooring Hitch for Paddlers

October 4, 2008

An easy and very useful knot for common use in the outdoors is the mooring hitch. It’s more secure than other knots such as the slippery hitch and easier to untie than the typical square knot most of us use. There is a great animation of the mooring hitch on the Website Net Knots.   Here is a Youtube video link [...]

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Pennsylvania Water Trail Guides

October 3, 2008

Many Pennsylvania residents think the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is only responsible for stocking our rivers, lakes and streams with trout. But the Commission provides us with services and information beyond trout fishing. For example, the Pennsylvania Water Trail Guides are guides of Pennsylvania’s most popular canoeing destinations, and several trails like the West Branch Susquehanna Water Trail are even recommeded by the American [...]

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USGS Removing Stream Gages

September 20, 2008

The USGS announced they will be removing several stream gages from rivers in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. This action is due to the lack of funding. The rivers being affected in Pennsylvania seem to be located on the upper Susquehanna River, the West Branch of the Susquehanna and its tributaries such as the Sinnemahoning, Clearfield [...]

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How to tie the truckers hitch knot

September 13, 2008

Knot tying is something many of us neglected to learn because the basic square knot, or our own adaptations of the square knot, are usually adequate in most cases. But the truckers hitch knot is one good knot to learn because it is useful for securely latching down canoes, kayaks and other objects on top of the vehicle, it’s quick [...]

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Fall Paddling Opportunities

September 11, 2008

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time for a change in my paddling habits. This summer I mostly did canoe fishing trips on local lakes such as Nockamixon and Beltsville. And I really neglected my kayaking this year, but that’s alright because I generally do slow down on the kayaking throughout the dog days of summer, then [...]

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West Branch of the Susquehanna River Video

August 31, 2008

So I went canoe camping on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River over Memorial Weekend 2008, and I took along my new Sony DCR SR45 HandyCam for a test run. Below is one of my first videos taken with the Sony. It is a short clip taken from my canoe while floating through one of the calm sections [...]

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