As Marc noted in his last post, our annual trip took us to the Allegheny River, in western Pennsylvania. Four of us met in Cleveland the night of 7/21, and then headed to PA the morning of the 22^nd, where we met up with Kevin, who came from eastern PA. With one canoe among us, we had to rent two more to accommodate 5 people and our gear, food, and sundries. We spent two nights on the river, and

found a nice little camping area for the third night in the Allegheny National Forest before heading back home on Sunday. While the weather was less than ideal with several downpours each day, we also had some nice long stretches of sunshine while we were paddling the extra-long weekend away.

The folks at Indian Waters Canoe and Kayak Livery were more than hospitable with the canoe rentals. I made the reservations about three months prior, and had to change the dates at least once due to our ever-changing schedule. They have a variety of trip options for various durations. If you find yourself in need of a canoe on the Allegheny, I recommend checking them out at: http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com. We took the trip from just below the Kinzua Dam back to the livery – about 26 miles total, over three days. They offer the same trip in a two-day format for those who are looking to do a little more paddling and a bit less floating. We opted to float as much as paddle, which let us camp on different island each night.

We headed to the launch point first, and dropped off my canoe, gear for the four of us, and left Eric to guard it all while we made the rendezvous just in time with Kevin at the canoe livery. Once we got Kevin’s gear and the two canoes loaded up, we headed back to the dam. Our livery host was kind enough to stop off at a bait shop on the way back to the dam so we could stock up on some night crawlers for fishing.

As usual, we had all the meals planned out ahead of time. This trip turned into a bit of food improvisation, though, due to a couple of factors. Namely: 1) an unplanned hour delay to get fishing licenses at Wal-mart, which meant no time to eat lunch at a Podunk bar and grill before hitting the river, and 2) creative grocery shopping and packing by yours truly (forgot the two-dozen eggs for two different recipes and the canned tomatoes for the chili). Whilst I was apologetic to the group, and replaced a dozen of the eggs during an impromptu stop in downtown Warren, PA, we didn’t end up using the eggs and the chili turned out surprisingly tasty sans-tomatoes!

Several of us had new gear to try out on this trip, and we’ll be posting reviews over the next several weeks, including: a jetboil stove, White Sierra convertible pants, several “dry-wick” shirts, coffee singles, Cabela’s hiking boots, and an authentic canoe tipper! (a.k.a. Eric)

We all agreed that even though we were a bit moist all weekend, a couple of pieces of gear were lost in a single canoe tip, and the meals did not go quite as planned, it was still a very successful adventure. That’s one of the things that keeps me coming back for this annual trip. Five guys who’ve known each other for nearly twenty years (or more, for some), and no matter what happens, we stick together, watch each other’s backs, and continue to make new memories each year!

Check back regularly over the next few weeks for more tidbits about the trip, gear reviews, and recipe results. Highlights will include a double batch of Bacon Explosion, and the actual ingredients in the tomato-less chili!