Hikenhunter
Well-Known Member
Got back yesterday from our annual "Almost Camping" trip and kayaking on the upper Delaware River. The weather was great, the river a bit higher than normal. We got some rain Wed. evening and cool weather followed. Day time temps were in the low eighties but night time temps dropped into the low fifties. Besides myself I was joined by my kayacking buddie Bill and my 13 year old Grandson Skyler. This was Skylers 3rd trip on the river. We arrived at Skinners Falls Camping area on 6/18/14 and settled into our adirondack style shelter. Did a little hiking along the river and saw an abundance of wildlife. Mostly song birds and squirrels. It rained wed. evening and the weather turned a bit chilly over night. Thursday morning after a hearty breakfast we took a shuttle to Callicoon, New York to start our trip. This section of the river is not frequented by the large crowds that gather downstream and the wild life along the river is abundant and undisturbed by many people. On this day we counted 12 Eagles, most were juveniles and a couple of them were still in their nesting tree. there were so many deer that we didn't even try to keep count of them. After a brief stop at the boat ramp in Damascus Pa. we headed downstream and encountered several large flocks of Canadian geese and several large groups of merganser ducks.I was especially pleased to see the mergansers as their population seemed to have dropped dramatically over the past 3 or 4 years. I hope they are making a comeback. About 1/2 a mile before our trip ended for the day we came upon a bed of fresh water mussels and, while didn't get to see them, there was much sign that some river otters were in the area. Friday we left the Skinners Falls campground and continued our journey. As we headed downstream The class 2 rapids were boardering on class 3 because of the higher, swifter water than normal giving us a few challenges we don't usually have in this area. On this day we spotted 18 Bald eagles 7 of which were adults and the rest juveniles. To my liking there were more mergansers and, again, there were more deer than we could count. After paddleing the 10 miles to the Ten Mile River take out we were shuttled back to the Skinners Falls campground were we relaxed and watched the river flow by our campsite. Thanks to God for 3 beautiful days to spend in one of the finest wild areas left in the East.