The origin of the Susquehanna River began as a sense of wonder before turning into an 18-day adventure for three friends that began in Lake Otsego in Cooperstown, New York, and ended in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
Joel Witwer, one of the three that embarked on the journey, says the curiosity to kayak the longest river on the east coast began in college during his car drives along the Susquehanna between Harrisburg and the Shamokin Dam.
With a love of traveling abroad, Wiwer's usual outlets of adventure weren't an option due to the coronavirus pandemic. He now figured he'd begin an adventure in his own backyard.
Witwer then started tracing the river on Google Maps and reading stories of others who had attempted or accomplished the thru-paddle. He said the goal in mind was to kayak 444 miles in about 14 days based on what others had done. He says this gave the trio roughly 30miles a day.
"I figured now was the time to put the idea in the water and see how it floated," Witwer said in an email.
And so it began, he recruited his friends from college, who were novice kayakers, Zach Miller, a professional runner, and Michelle Christiance, a photographer in Denver, to attempt the thru-paddle. Witwer says the two also have their own ties to the river.
The journey spanned from Sept. 21 to Oct. 8.
Witwer says the biggest challenge throughout the entire trip was the lack of water because of the drought this year, resulting in a challenge to find the river's deep channels.
"We kind of adopted a coal canary system where the first person would use their best judgment to find a path through rapids or shallows, Witwer said in an email. "Based on their success or failure, the next person would try either the same route or another one. Sometimes it would work, other times, we'd all be out of our kayaks, walking them to deeper water."
Witwer says there were many trying moments on the trip and doing them alone would have amplified the struggle. They ultimately needed each other to make it to the end.
" I think all of us had low points over the 18 days where we just didn't want to go on. Some of us hid it better than others, but thankfully none of us had them at the same time so there were always two others to encourage and keep you going." Witwer said.
And, they kept going until the mission was accomplished. On Day 18, the trio was greeted by Witwer's parents with a drywall sign that said: "444 miles well done." Witwer says he felt relief now that they could finally rest.
"Paddling 444 miles as a novice kayaker is hard and I was hurting," Witwer said. "Exhaustion dogged us the entire trip, my fingers were contracted into claws after being curled around a paddle for 180+ hours, and my feet were horribly sunburned and cut up after the sunblock washing off early every day. " Witwer said.
Witwer says he doesn't think the trio will ever look at the river in the same way again — for the better.
If you are interested in kayaking the Susquehanna River or another body of water, Witwer says:
- Do your research and be aware of the dangers ahead such as rapids, holes and drops, among other hazards.
- Your plans will possibly fall apart but that's the fun of adventure.
- Have a mental support system for when you face psychological challenges.
