On a warm, sunny Saturday morning in June, fifteen middle school students from Marshall Math Science Academy in Harrisburg piled onto Susquehanna Outfitters’ iconic lime-green bus for a ride up to the Juniata River just west of Thompsontown. Harrisburg Inspiring Connections Outdoors (HICO) was about to embark on its 2018 Juniata River Paddling Sojourn. A little teamwork got our six kayaks and seven canoes ready to go, and after fitting ourselves snugly into our PFDs, we were out on the river.
Over the course of ten miles paddled that day, students swapped out of canoes and kayaks, trying their hand at each. More experienced paddlers partnered with newbies to teach them the basics (especially the magic power of ruddering). Along the way, students observed turtles, many nesting waterfowl, and even bald eagles soaring over the river.
As the morning wore on, the sun beat down on our heads, but one of our leaders came prepared with a solution: squirt guns! Nothing improves one’s canoe-maneuvering skills faster than wanting to get into (or out of) range of friendly, refreshing water combat. The students had a blast mastering control of their canoes and kayaks and getting one another (and several of their leaders) soaked.
We arrived at Pittman’s Riverside Campground by mid-afternoon, and after receiving a warm welcome from its proprietors and securing our boats and gear for the evening, we set about making camp. Students split into groups and worked together to pitch their own tents. There was some time to enjoy the camp playground and volleyball net before dinner, but soon it was time to get to work again preparing a cook-out style meal for the group. Teams of students cooked corn, hotdogs, and burgers in charcoal pits while others prepared fruit and veggies and mixed lemonade. Students assigned to clean-up duty learned how to set up a makeshift, three-step dishwashing process and kept the picnic pavilion spick and span.
After another round of volleyball and some well-earned showers, it was soon dark enough to gather around the campfire for spooky stories and s’mores. The night ended with a midnight “hike” around the campground, and then it was time to pile into our tents to rest up for another day of adventure.
We woke to the pitter patter of steady rain on our rainflies, forcing us to abandon our plan to paddle another five miles of the mighty Juniata. The rain may have changed our plans and dampened our tents and ponchos, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. In the shelter of the picnic pavilion, kids teamed up again to prepare a hearty breakfast and organize and pack all of our gear for our trip home. After our bellies were full, we reflected on our paddling and camping experiences with a journaling activity. Here are some of the memories our students made on this trip, in their own words:
“My favorite part about this trip is when me and my friends sat by the warm fire and told scary stories. The sound of the crackling fire and the children gasping made this dark cold night even scarier.” — Amori, 7th grade
“My favorite parts were going canoeing and kayaking because I could experience the water flowing beneath me, and time to talk to my friends in a peaceful environment.” — Michelle, 7th grade
“My favorite part of the ICO trip was when my partner and I were canoeing downstream on the Juniata River listening to everyone giggling and laughing. We saw many wild creatures like turtles and bald eagles. The sun was beaming down on us while we were blasting people with our water guns, laughing and having fun messing with other people and having our small races.” — Alberto, 9th grade
“There were a couple of obstacles me and my partner had to overcome while paddling the canoe, which made us work together to be able to communicate with each other. After we were finished it was all worth it [because] we had accomplished paddling 10 miles in our canoe without flipping over.” — Jonathan, 9th grade
The lime-green bus arrived to shuttle us home, and after loading up the canoes in the pouring rain, we were ready to go. HICO’s 2018 Juniata River Paddling Sojourn didn’t go exactly as planned, but with a little flexibility and a lot of adventurous spirit, another fun and memorable outing is in the books.