[JPTolson]

Six TCT paddlers in five kayaks and one canoe enjoyed a nearly 10-mile run down a beautiful section of Little Beaver Creek’s middle fork on Sunday, May 21, 2023. After a week of steadily falling water levels, rain fell Friday and Saturday right on cue, raising both water levels and paddlers’ hopes that there would be enough water to make it from Elkton to Beaver Creek State Park without dragging boats over the creek bed. Hopes turned to fretting by early Saturday evening when the gage reading at Grimm’s Bridge, 20 miles downstream, appeared to be peaking short of what seemed to be a minimum level for an enjoyable float.

Enter the low-water back up plan! As the trip leader shuddered at the thought of paddlers dragging boats an unknown number of times over an unknown distance, the back up plan began looking better and better. Shortly after visiting the put in early Saturday evening, the trip leader flipped a coin and guessed that the creek would not hold its water overnight. So he switched the trip to the Mahoning and Beaver rivers, the site of last week’s club trip.

Soon after notice of the change in location had been posted on the club’s Facebook page, a fellow named Adam re-posted a comment from another paddling page that the Mahoning River was closed at the railroad bridge where a train derailment had occurred about ten days earlier! Dave Manevich saw the comment and alerted us. After several calls to police departments and the Pennsylvania Boat Commission, no one could confirm the river closure.

Enter club member Stan Shiderly! Stan, who lives not far from the alleged closure, sprang into action and drove to the site. He confirmed that there was a barge in the river beneath the railroad bridge and bank to bank cabling blocking the river. Suddenly, the choice of walking boats now and then along a creek bed looked much better than paddling down river several miles and not being able to easily get around the obstructions or paddling UP RIVER back to the put in!

So we fell back to the original plan to paddle the Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek regardless of what the river level might be. And we are happy that we did! It’s a gem of a run down an intimate (narrow) creek with lots of class 1 and a couple class 1+ rapids. We saw a heron rookery shortly after the put in, a bald eagle (several times), a brood of wood duck ducklings, and a pileated woodpecker. We enjoyed a chorus of bird songs along the way. And we chatted with a fellow who was working to maintain Lusk’s Lock, part of the old Sandy Beaver Canal, a couple miles from the Elkton put in.

Though the creek was low and we bumped bottom occasionally, there was plenty of water for a very pleasant run. The low water gave everyone a chance to practice their river reading skills. We were on the creek for four hours and 20 minutes including lunch and leg-stretching breaks. It was another great day on the river!

Paddlers were Stan Shiderly, Dave Manevich, Dirk Doverspike, Jim Keenan, Brenda Walko, and JP Tolson.

Footnote: There is a tree down in the creek, river left, about one-half mile from the put in, where the channel turns sharply to the left. This could be a problem at higher water levels since the current was flowing directly into the strainer. We were able to get by on the right.