Now that was an adventure! We took off for Pennsylvania the afternoon of Thursday, July 21 in an atmosphere of warm weather, blue skies and high anticipation. The caravan of cars had no trouble reaching the Laurel Highland campground ahead of schedule. We had plenty of time to set up camp, make a fire and bring out refreshments. It was really a beautiful group site, right under a high canopy of pine trees, and the thick needle bed was good for sleeping (How we hate sleeping on those rocks!). With the minor exception that some of the ladies in our cohort didn’t like the healthy sized spiders in the bathroom, conditions were perfect for camping.

Friday started out with a great breakfast, and an easy camp pack-up, and we headed out in shifts of Canoers and Rafters to the Wilderness Voyageurs Outfitter Store. The canoe group put-in to a foggy point in the Middle Yough at around 10:30am, and the rafters were dropped off below the Ohiopyle Falls, in the Lower Youghiogheny River around 11:00am. The weather was beautiful. The canoe trip had some spills early on, and we temporarily lost DJ and Mr. Landoll’s canoe, but otherwise things proceeded fairly uneventfully until the rapids at the end. The group will never forget Nate tormenting his mother by threatening to capsize, Nick and Mr. Dzurnak valiantly paddling a submerged canoe, and Kevin and Mr. Krymowski learning what “up the creek without a paddle” meant. Bumps and scrapes occurred, but mostly everyone had fun on the 9 mi trip, and no permanent harm was done. Hauling the canoes up the hill at the take out was perhaps the hardest part. Helpful Hint from our party: don’t wear flip-flops while you go canoeing, or you might be walking back to town barefoot.

Justin, Jared, their mom, sister and friends made up the bulk of the rafting team, and they claimed to have an awesome time on their 7.5 mi adventure. Joey P. and his dad also seemed to have had fun. Some of the canoers thought they might give it a try next time. After a short stop at the Dairy Queen for ice cream and snacks, we headed home for a well-deserved rest. (All, that is, except for Mr. Durda who had to go to work that night.) Scouts at the paddle were Jake, DJ, Kevin, Alan, Alex, Nick, Nate, Justin, Jared, Ryan, David, Kyle, and Joey.

Ohiopyle Rafting and Canoeing Photo Album

Trip Plan for Ohiopyle Rafting and Canoeing