Home >  Lifestyle >  Travel

Sunday, May 04, 2003

By Bob Batz Jr., Post-Gazette Staff Writer

As you plan your vacation time for this spring and summer, why not forgo a trip someplace far away and try a local sojourn?

The dictionary defines sojourn as "a temporary stay." A river sojourn is a multiday river adventure by canoe and kayak and raft and sometimes by bicycle along the banks. Signing on for the whole thing or just a day or two, participants partake of the scenery, educational programs about that ecosystem, and camaraderie, which includes camping, group meals and other local flavor along the way.

Having started in the mid-1980s as a way to foster appreciation of river resources, the Pennsylvania sojourn scene has grown. This summer, particularly during the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources June "Rivers Month," various agencies and groups are sponsoring a dozen sojourns, including several in this region.

Frank Raymond Cetera, who manages the sojourn program for the nonprofit Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds & Rivers, says he expects that all the sojourns will be filled to capacity, and he's heard from several groups considering starting new ones next year.

This season's headliner honors the 2003 River of the Year: French Creek. This biologically diverse waterway flows out of Western New York and through 117 miles of Erie, Crawford, Mercer and Venango counties in Pennsylvania before joining the Allegheny River at Franklin.

The French Creek Project and other friends are organizing this year's sojourn for June 5 to 8. Each day is marked by interesting programs and other fun.

Accompanying the entire trip, from just north of Cambridge Springs to Franklin, will be several experts, such as Darran Crabtree from the Nature Conservancy. The flotilla will be joined by other speakers along the way.

Day 1, the longest float of about 14 miles, will begin with a brief overview by project Director Brian Hill, and will include presentations such as Laurie Parendes from Edinboro University on the threat that zebra mussels present. The group will gather for dinner at the Wishing Well in Venango, where the Road Apple Band will entertain them.

Day 2 includes a lunch stop in Saegertown and culminates in dinner and music at Bicentennial Park in Meadville.

Day 3 includes a tour of Ernst Farms, which specializes in native plants, and ends with dinner and bonfires at the Custalogatown Boy Scout Camp.

The French Creek sojourn's final day focuses on intriguing flora and fauna such as the hellbender salamander.

All meals, camping, water craft and shuttles are included in various packages -- you just have to bring your own camping gear. Individuals pay $50 per day, or $135 for three days and $180 for all four. The family rate is $125 per day for up to four people (plus $25 for each additional child).

Participation is limited to 60 people per day, and registration and a 40 percent deposit is due before May 16. For details, visit the Web site frenchcreek.allegheny.edu or call 1-888-920-8699.

Other nearby sojourns include:

Clarion River -- Next weekend, May 9-10, organized by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Cost is $45 per day, not including camping at Clear Creek State Park or other accommodations. Register by tomorrow at 724-329-8501).

Chartiers Creek -- May 17-18, organized by the Chartiers Nature Conservancy (412-922-1770). The nonprofit Outside Adventures holds a special pre-sojourn introductory sea kayaking class in Carnegie on May 14 ($5 or $20 if you need a kayak; call 724-230-0237 or visit www.outsideadventures.org).

Juniata River -- May 22-25, organized by the Juniata Clean Water Partnership (1-814-506-1190).

The "Alle-Kiski-Connie Rivers Sojourn" -- May 30-June 1, organized by the StrongLand Chamber of Commerce (724-337-3722).

Kiski-Conemaugh -- June 6-8, organized by the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy (1-814-536-6615).

Youghiogheny -- June 15-21, organized by the Regional Trail Corp. (724-872-5586).

There also are sojourns on several rivers elsewhere in the state, including the Schuylkill (May 31-June 6), the Susquehanna (June 8-15; part of a week-long series on Chesapeake Bay tributaries), the Delaware (June 13-21) and the Lehigh (June 19-22). A sojourn on Swatara Creek near Harrisburg is being held this weekend.

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is helping to sponsor a different 170-mile Pennsylvania Greenway Sojourn, including bike and excursion train travel from the state's northeastern corner to Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Delaware River, north of Philadelphia (July 19-25; $350 per person; 1-717-238-1717; http://rtc.railtrails.org/field/pennsylvania/default.asp).

The state's sojourn season winds up Sept. 25-28 with an All Terrain Exercise, a riverside recreation party centered on the Yough's 18-foot-high Ohiopyle Falls, which will be open for running by paddlers (412-889-3147).

For more information and links to the various Pennsylvania sojourns, go to the POWR's Web site, www.pawatersheds.org/sojourn/.