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 his younger brother and a friend to stay away from cliff edges during their trip to the gorge in May 2004. Read the entire article…

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 of the mooring hitch.

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 Canoe Association.

There are other guides available like the boat access ramp guide, approved trout water guide, baoting laws, safety tips for paddlers, Pennsylvania snakes guides and more.  

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/watertrails/trailindex.htm

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/promo/form/pubs_free.htm

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 Creek, and several others. 

This action makes me wonder if these gages really ever provided any relevant data to the USGS at all. Do these gages really provide any relevant data other than waterflow measurements for the paddlers and fisherman? For more info go to the Moshannon Blog USGS Gages being removed.

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 tying and quick release.  

Watch the video on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywqx_3TLSd8