First Time's the Charm

Well, let's start this by introducing myself. My name is Brianna, and I live in Lancaster County, PA. You might ask, "Why is she doing a blog if her website goes over the basics of river kayaking?" Well, besides learning about river kayaking, I am planning a trip out on the Susquehanna River.

I am a recreational kayaker, so I am learning a lot about kayaking as I continue to do this project. It all started about nine years ago when I first started kayaking when my family went up to mountains during the summer. I was nervous getting in at first. As I started to slide into the craft, I wondered what I had gotten myself into; I had a dreaded feeling that I would tip the kayak over and roll out into the water. However, once I was in, it was a piece of cake. Kayaks are not as unstable as I first thought. The think what I loved most about kayaking was being able to quietly glide along the lake to places that I might be able to goes if I was swimming, and see some amazing sights. I was able to see a herring up close, as well as a few fish! Every year when we go up to the mountains, I try to go kayaking, however, I never had any kayaking lessons until this past year. I had the opportunity to study abroad in Scotland, and while I was there, I participated in an activity weekend, and one day the instructor took us out on a lake and demonstrated basic paddling maueuvers, which was really cool.

So you might ask, why the Susquehanna River? 1) It's close to me 2) We drive right along side it while going up to the mountains, and when I saw it, I kind of had my mind set on kaykaing the Susquehanna.

Now, one thing that I did not realize was the length of the river. The Susquehanna River actually starts in New York, and runs through Pennsylvania, where it finishes into the Chesapeake Bay. In total, the river is about 444 miles long! Now, average distance that a kayak can travel is about 15- 20 miles a day, so a trip would take me over 23 days to complete! Now, let me just say that I am going to be busy this summer, and unfortunately I do not think that I can take a 23 day trip. So I am going to start small, and plan a trip that is a week or less, and hopefully I can complete the trip next summer.

(Left to right- Myself, a family friend, and my brother a few years ago kayaking up at the mountains at a local lake.) *While doing this project, I noticed that I had improper sitting form in this photo. My knees are bent up and touching when they should be resting on the sides of the kayak for stabilization.*