Last Monday’s rainy weather didn’t dampen the mood for more than 100 kayakers and canoeists as they launched into the Schuylkill River, writes Steven Henshaw for the Reading Eagle.
The annual weeklong, 112-mile Schuylkill River Sojourn began at Jim Dietrich Park in Muhlenberg Township and follows the river down to Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row. Cutting through Montgomery County, the journey celebrates nature and history. This year’s bicentennial theme: Canals and Campfires.
Among the paddlers were Montgomery County’s own Sara Lindmont of North Wales and her father, Steve Montgomery of Lansdale. “This builds character,” Steve joked about the rain.
Now in its 200th year, the Schuylkill Navigation System’s history was front and center. Participants passed through canal remnants, such as Kelly’s lock. Along the way, speakers told of the river’s past and the future of the Schuylkill River Trail.
The sojourn draws about 75 full-trip paddlers, including 83-year-old Donald Hendricks of Pike Township, who’s joined by three generations of his family. Their journey continued through Gibraltar to Pottstown Riverfront Park, stopping at the historic Morlatton Village in Douglassville.
Read more about the Schuylkill River Sojourn in the Reading Eagle.
