Last night I camped at the mouth of Beaver Creek, near Bridgewater. Tonight it will be at Little Beaver Creek, near Glasgow.
In Bridgewater PA tonight. Across the Beaver Creek from Rochester. Saw a little riverfront park about a mile back in Rochester, probably go back and sleep there. Docked my boat at a friendly marina (not all of them are friendly to kayakers) and walked to a Giant Eagle store. Sort of their version of Walmart, sells everything. Bought soup, G2, soap, rubber bands, coffee creamer, ramen noodles, and a cold, cold diet Pepsi. Aaaahh !!
Well, no paddling today. With storms threatening, I decided to stay at Groveton marina another day and leave tomorrow morning. Glad I did. I walked about a mile to Coraopolis and had breakfast at Rea's, sausage gravy on toast (SOS for you military people), two fried eggs, two sausage links and coffee, $8.43. Did some shopping at the hardware store who had everything, and got some things at the convenient convenience store.
Left Pittsburgh this morning. Didn't get to see much of the town - river access to all these towns, including Pittsburgh is very limited. So I paddled down the Ohio at last. I have a very good guide book to the Ohio so it may be easier to find places to camp and places to eat.
Had a hotel reservation in Homestead, just a couple miles up river from Pittsburgh, but when I got there I couldn't get out of the river and up to the hotel. Bummer. So I have paddled on to Pittsburgh and looks like I will be bunking down in a little riverfront park across the Mon from downtown Pittsburgh. Rained for a couple hours, stopped now. Walked up to a convenience store, got a pepperoni wrap. Mmmm-mmm, good.
OK, let me back up and get the chronology straight. For a while I wasn't able to post every night and I got confused about where I was and when. Actually on Jul 11, I stayed at a marina at New Eagle, a private marina I was referred to by Don. They had a big grassy area where I set up my tent and were close enough to town to let me walk to a store for resupply. Soon after I got back to my tent, a fellow named Dave came by with a cooler full of beer and some Greek meatballs his wife had made. Beer was good and meatballs were excellent.
I an sitting on a little knoll overlooking the Youghiocheny River, across from McKeesport, PA. Don' know anyone here or have any contacts, so will just have to wing it tonight. I found a city owned boat ramp and I doubt anyone will bother me here - I'll wait till dark to set up my tent. Supper will probably be beans heated on my little Coleman stove.
The American Legion marina turned out to be a good place to set up a tent. I'd been there a couple hours and some old vets (like me) came down and invited me up to the bar for a beer. So we sat around and told outrageous war stories, as vets are wont to do.
Been out three day and finally got to a place where I have a signal on my phone.
The first two locks downriver from Fairmont are closed to recreational traffic, so I had to start my paddle in Uffington, WV. Two miles to Morgantown, where I met Steve Selin, a professor at WVU and his wife Jennifer, who is the mayor of Morgantown. They are active in Mon River issues so were very interested in my trip. Took me to lunch and gave me a number of contact phone numbers at places I would go through later. Great folks.
Had quite a few questions about the boat, how many miles I'll cover per day, where I'll stay.
The boat I'll use is a 16 foot Wilderness Systems Tarpon, a real workhorse, comfortable, rugged. And, yes, it has a rudder. A very reliable kayak.