June 15
Our 2026 River trip has started off with wonderful opportunities. Starting in Addison, New York, on the Canisteo River, a tributary of the Chemung, the river was flowing fast with a number of fun rifle areas that challenged our ability to get around small rocks and not capsize. Karen continues to be great at navigating around those kinds of obstacles. Because the river was flowing so fast, we moved along much faster than expected and so we took a rather leisurely amble in Corning and explored the Market Street shops and, of course, found our way to a bakery and coffee shop. We don’t usually succumb to such treats that early in our adventures. We also happened upon Karen‘s friend Beth’s art studio. Beth was our transportation to our put in ramp this morning so it was fun to see her again. It may have been about a mile walk into town, which was nice as our legs seldom get exercise on these trips. And while it’s been a chilly day, the sun pops out every now and then to give us a little cheer.
Photos above: starting out on a gravel bank in Addison and finding a bakery not so many miles away in Corning. We don’t usually succumb to “real” food that soon into a trip, but the opportunity presented itself and we do like to go with the flow. We had a bit of a walk from the canoe, but it was worth it. We also happened upon Karen’s friend who delivered us to Addison and we had a tour of her studio in Corning! We have seldom had the leisure time to go in and out of stores in a community. Always pushing toward a goal. This was a pleasant sojourn in Corning.
Addison New York is on the Canisteo river, which eventually joins the Tioga and the Cohocton Rivers to make the Chemung River. Beautiful rivers with interesting wildlife in and around them. We saw adult eagles, juvenile eagles, cormorants, heron, osprey, a deer, geese and goslings, all a part as a natural beauty of the Southern Tier of New York State.
The water levels are pretty good most of the way though we did get hung up once on gravel and Karen had to push us out. Because we are moving so fast, we think about 4 miles an hour, we will be in Elmira midday tomorrow. Will be met by our new friends at the Friends Of The Chemung River Watershed in Elmira and they may paddle with us for a while. They have been very kind to provide us guidance, and we learned today that they had weed whacked around the portage area so we can get through and around the small damn in Elmira pretty easily.
Karen and I discussed today that we both have a little anxiety before each trip that we will be unable to find a suitable place to set up our tents for the night. Generally, we have found that to be unfounded anxiety and have almost always found a perfect place. Except for the sounds of interstate 86 nearby we have a nearly perfect campsite that is secluded and beautiful along a stream flowing into the Chemung River.
We have enjoyed a dehydrated dinner, a small campfire, and will now fall asleep, hopefully, to the sounds of the babbling brook.
Always a treat to have a fire in the evening.
June 16
Last night I slept very poorly and finally fell asleep perhaps around 5 o’clock in the morning. It was in the mid 40s, and my sleeping bag is not good enough for that temperature, so I was cold all night. At around four I was desperate and took out my charcoal activated hand warmers and warmed up my legs as much as I could. I slept for a couple of hours before Karen woke me up as we had a timeline for today. We needed to be in Elmira by around noon in order to meet our new friends at the Friends Of The Chemung River Watershed. We arrived almost exactly at noon and were greeted by reporters from both of the TV stations in Elmira. They wanted to interview us, and we wanted to promote the Chemung River as a beautiful recreational area.
It is exactly that. Karen and I paddled this morning from where we had camped on a little side creek, and we made our way through riffles and still water with no wind and a warm sun to make up for the cold night.
As we told the reporters, we really encourage people to get out on all the rivers, especially this river. It is a great river for beginners as it has a little excitement as the elevation drops, but it doesn’t pose any real danger if you’re careful.
It was a sentimental trip for me today as we paddled through Elmira and I saw all the familiar sites from my childhood. (Click here for link to my post about that.) I subjected Karen to stories that she pretended to be interested in. The Hills around Elmira are particularly special. It’s hard to describe them, but they rise up from the Chemung Valley in a very majestic, rippling way, testaments to the shifts in the earth’s crust over millennia.
In Elmira, we had one portage to make around the dam that is right downtown. The dam creates a small pool that feeds water into the water supply of Elmira through the water board.
The portage included a few cement steps and several hundred feet, so we used the wheels that we carry with us when we expect to need them.
In addition to the small riffles to entertain us, we’ve had opportunities to go around small islands to see more eagles and osprey and cormorants and geese and ducks, turtles, and some deer. We even saw some large fish in the water along with tiny fish and cray fish.
It continues to be amazing to paddle the rivers of these lands, and we are grateful for all we meet, for all we learn, and for our abiding friendship.
June 17
Since we had no deadlines today, we ate a leisurely breakfast and packed our gear. We are careful to respect the land and always carry out anything we carried in. The photo below shows how we left the campsite this morning. No trace that we had been there.
Again, the guidebook that we had and our gps were not always in agreement today as we tried to figure out when we would arrive in the Susquehanna River. We overestimated the hours at first and ended up at our destination sooner than expected. Given the headwinds on the Susquehanna after we left the Chemung, we were not unhappy at this miscalculation.
After the excitement of human interaction yesterday, today took us back to the wilds of the river. Our third beautiful day of paddling (though I was once again a tad cold last night) and amazing scenery. This stretch of the river, as it descends into the Susquehanna, afforded us some fund riffles and even what felt like flumes going down the river amongst the islands. So outside of Elmira, however, we bogged down in the gravel bars and had to drag ourselves out. We recommend this time of year for paddling this river which can be side and shallow later in the summer and fall.
The photos above show off our little inlet on the second night. We had to drag the canoe in shallow water to get to a place to pitch tents. The ATV tracks near by worried us a bit but we saw no signs of vehicles.
We took our usual break for lunch on shore and a break for our daily Snickers bars, a tradition dating back to almost the beginning of our paddling together. People often ask if we lose weight because we are paddling all day. Unfortunately, while paddling can be hard at times, it is not an aerobic exercise and, I can only attest for myself, generally gain weight on these trips…especially when we conveniently find restaurants and bakeries along the way. The Chemung is not known for spots to paddle to eat so at least that temptation was not there. Except, of course, for that first day in Corning when we walked to a bakery on Market St.
Another thing to note about this trip. Because the river winds back and forth across the border of NY and PA, and under many bridges of I86, it is not as remote as some areas we have paddled. We were never far away from road noise even though we only saw the highway when we passed under one of the many bridges. There are also train tracks following the route. While this was especially hard the first night near intersections of highways near Corning and Painted Post, the overall experience on the Chemung was stellar for many, many reasons. If you are inclined toward canoe camping and want a short run of it, this is the river for you. Two nights of camping were all we needed for this 60-mile stretch of water. If you live anywhere near it, take advantage of its beauty, the wildlife, the wildflowers, the gently flowing water, and the occasional excitement of riffles and dodging boulders.
It took me 70 years to get onto the Chemung River flowing through my hometown. I’m glad I finally got to know these stomping grounds from a different perspective!
The Susquehanna at the end of the journey. We completed 45 miles on the Chemung.
Kim from Big Flats picked us up in Ulster, PA. We were in school together starting in the 3rd grade through high school. Only the third time I have seen her since graduation.
Our third night’s accomodations were much more comfy!
And the food was not dehydrated for our last dinner.
Paddle With Us 