Drying Out in Scranton

Despite heavy rains and potential flooding, soggy socks and blistered hands – Expedition Susquehanna continues on their 30-day journey from New York to the Chesapeake Bay via the Susquehanna River.

With the first week of the journey under their belts, Team Susquehanna sees these rainy days as an opportunity for exploration and to learn more about the surrounding towns and communities in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton region.

“Safety is our first concern on this trip, so we will wait until the river returns to a safe paddling level before getting back out onto the water." said Don Baugh, CBF’s Vice President of Education. "In the mean time, students took advantage of a teachable moment and visited a waste water treatment plant that was experiencing sewage overflows due to flood waters. They plan on conducting additional water quality tests, interviewing residents that have been affected by the flooding, and have offered to roll up their sleeves and volunteer to assist some of the relief efforts helping flood victims.”

“While this wasn’t in our original plan, it provides us an additional opportunity to learn about how communities connect to their local creeks,” said Deidra Cervenak, CBF Expedition Trip Leader. “The students are very resilient. I’m amazed at their ability to adjust and just go with the flow.”

The first week of the Expedition was a tremendous success. The students set off in Cooperstown, New York after two days of camping, paddling, and safety instruction. Once reaching Pennsylvania, the group paddled into Sayre and was greeted by the local FFA chapter.

Spending two days in World’s End State Park proved to be a big hit – the students snorkeled in the Loyalsock Creek, learned about and even touched Hellbenders, a prehistoric salamander that lives in only high quality streams, got a lesson on fly-fishing from nationally-known experts, learned about stream systems, and how to determine water quality by studying macroinvertebrates.

As part of their learning experience the students are writing daily journals and taking photos to document their journey. These materials are then uploaded onto a web server for CBF staff to use on the Expedition website and to share with the public.

The following journal entry was taken from Day 4, June 22, from Jerikah Hite:

“As my mother always says, “You learn something new everyday.” Well today, I did learn something new, something prehistoric. As we went under the pavilion to eat our breakfast, Deidra, our group leader, was waiting for us with an excited look on her face and a small stack of papers in her hand. It was right then when she announced,

“Today…we are …hunting for hellbenders!” At that time we were all wondering what hellbenders were so we read the article. The article said that hellbenders are prehistoric creatures that can weigh up to 5 pounds and grow to be up to 29 inches long. What kind of creatures? Salamanders.

“A few hours later we arrived at the Loyalsock River. Waiting for us was a professor from Lycoming College, ready to introduce us to hellbenders. All of the sudden, he pulled a towel off the top of a fish tank sitting on the shore. In that fish tank floated 5 hellbenders.”

Upcoming Expedition events include two public “Connecting Communities to Creeks” Watershed Expos/Cook-outs.” The first will be held at Shikellamy State Park, July 1 from 4 to 7 pm.

The second will be held in Harrisburg on July 6th from 4-7 pm. These events are free and open to the public. Please check the expedition website for venue information.

To follow the journey and find out what the students are learning, visit the Susquehanna Expedition website.

NewsClip: River Trekkers Moving Toward Sunbury Location

Expedition Susquehanna Continues

High Water Keeps Paddlers Off River

Flood Adds Element of Excitement to River Expedition

7/2/2006