[Ambridger]

Mike and Ken forgot to mention that there was carnage on the Shenango . . . Much of the stream was twisting and turning with deadfalls littering the path, however there is some obvious maintenance that is done to maintain a channel. We never had to portage, however one particular narrow bend in the river was shallow to the inside and had a bit more forceful current and depth to the outside of the bend. There was a tree stump at the apex of the outer aspect of the bend. One had to fight the current coming out of the bend to make a quick adjustment so as to not be pushed into the stump, nor the deadfall forming a strainer coming out of the bend. Well . . . trying to avoid the inside of the bend, so as to not run aground, I let myself get pushed against the stump on the outside of the bend, and was unable to paddle, being up against the stump and the bank of the river. As I tried to move my paddle and push away from the stump, I quickly found myself tea cups over tea kettle in the water. I held onto my paddle, for better or for worse, and thanks to my PFD I promptly resurfaced. Mike and Ken had turned around and paddled back up to assist me, and the ladies were downstream collecting the belongings that fell out of my boat. My hand was throbbing in pain, and I'm still not exactly sure why; if trying to hold the paddle bent my thumb backwards or if I struck it against something . . . At the end of the trip I took my glove off to find that something had punctured my glove and I had a gash about my thumb. It's been three days, and I'm healing but still sore. Now that darn upper Shenango has gotten me twice. Any who . . . thanks to Mike and Ken for the assist, and to Cheryl, Jess, and Jodi for gathering my stuff. Jess got a post carnage pic that I will try to share soon. Dagnabbit! The Shenango got me again! And as they say, we are all in between swims.