{"id":23530,"date":"2020-08-25T18:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T01:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=23530"},"modified":"2022-01-06T09:33:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T17:33:06","slug":"lessons-from-a-backyard-float-on-the-susquehanna-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2020\/08\/25\/lessons-from-a-backyard-float-on-the-susquehanna-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from a Backyard Float on the Susquehanna River"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was meant to be a big adventure, the type you pack up every ounce of camping equipment you own, hit the road and drive for a solid ten to twelve hours. You leave the house and navigate through cities, before starting to see more trees and poorly maintained roads. Those dusty grey roads with tire-sized potholes from the harsh winters. I had high hopes of taking my wife, Ashley, and dog, Che and returning to the West Branch of the Penobscot in Maine<\/a> this year. Guess what shattered those hopes\u2026<\/p>\n

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Lesson 1: Be flexible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had the perfect campsite picked out. We would watch the sunset while fishing for trout. Twenty-twenty had other plans for us all and my great summer adventure. Instead, I needed to retract my imagination back from the faraway space of vacationland and focus on something closer to home. After browsing the internet for a while, I stumbled upon a 2017 map of the Susquehanna River. It offered some very descriptive information about the area and river access. And get this, the Susquehanna River is one mile from my house.<\/p>\n

I dug a little deeper and found take-outs and put-ins I didn\u2019t know existed. Doing my best to be respectful to the restrictions of COVID, I came up with an alternative to the Penobscot. I walked into the kitchen and announced to Ashley, \u201cWe are going to float the Susquehanna River for our summer river trip this year!\u201d She didn\u2019t seem super impressed, but I could see there was a bit of a smile on her face. She knew I was serious! I\u2019ve dragged her onto some rivers most people dream about. With a healthy dose of enthusiasm, I mapped out our route and devised a plan. Having a flexible mindset on the expectations I had for the trip made it feel like we could still achieve a summer float trip.<\/p>\n