As a continuation of the Marden E Cobb- I picked up the Allegheny River in Starbrick late one afternoon- found a nice Island to camp on. Turns out the state of PA has a number of state owned islands on the river for public use. The up side to this- it’s actually easy to find a camping spot. The down side- humans are terrible- leave trash everywhere, which attracts animals.
The Islands are nice- as long as you can find a stealth camping spot or go before July. As the summer hits- the river gets a bit crowded with folks floating between the various towns. The upstream dam provides a nice constant flow to the river, which is helpful- but again, attracts more people.
There’s a lot of vacation homes along the way too. There isn’t much in terms of cell phone service, but you’re almost always a few feet from someone’s house in case you run into problems. Overall, this is a great starter river for folks looking to get into overnight kayaking. If you don’t have your own, plenty of outfitters near Warren PA who will rent you the gear, drop you off and pick you up after.
Lessons Learned:
- Make sure you really know which island is which.
- When there’s nothing open- grab a beer and float down the river.
- Black flies are the worst.
- Sunblock + Knees == MUST HAVE.
- Paddling 30mi in a day, in the rain… hurts.
- There’s NOTHING like a morning cup of coffee- by the river.
Barely3am 