CSO Canoe & Kayak Launch Gets an Upgrade

                                (Geoweb panel before limestone is placed inside)

In early summer, the Country Squirrel Outfitters canoe/kayak lunch received a little love.  The existing launch wasn’t much more than an eroded dirt footpath to the Clarion River.  It had been this way for many years under the previous ownership and it was time for an upgrade. 

The first step was to obtain the necessary permits from the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which came in the form of a General Permit #2 for boat ramps and docks.  This authorization was obtained in the fall of 2013.  The next step was to determine the method that would be used to stabilize the launch area surface.  Due to the steepness of the embankment, simply adding stone to the launch would not work.  Through his work in the conservation field, Steve the CSO owner, had worked with a product called Geoweb.  Geoweb is a cellular confinement system that has many different uses.  Its primary uses include; slope stabilization, storm water management controls, and pervious parking areas.  Geoweb was chosen for the new canoe/kayak launch application.  A local Ridgway area contractor, Bill Kinkead Excavating, was chosen as the contractor to do the job.  Construction began with grading the old launch to provide a level surface to install the Geoweb.  The plan was to establish a walkway that was approximately 8 feet wide and 30 feet long.  Once the new walkway was established to grade, a layer of geotextile separation fabric was installed.  This material is used to create a separation barrier between the subsurface soils and the new materials that will be placed on top.  The Geoweb panel was then installed.  We chose to use a single panel with a rise of 4 inches.  The panel was stretched to approximately 7.5’x27.5’ in size.  The corners and edges of the Geoweb panel was staked in place until the void spaces could be filled with stone.   Once in place, the Geoweb panel was filled with 2A limestone.  Limestone was chose over sandstone because of its durability and the added alkalinity that limestone adds to the water, which is an added environmental benefit.  Once the canoe/kayak launch was completed, the small disturbed areas were seeded and covered with straw mulch to minimize the potential for erosion. 

The whole project took about a half of a day to complete.  The new launch has been in place for about 2 months now and it is holding up very well.  It is a huge improvement over the old launch area.  There were certainly cheaper and easier ways to establish a new canoe launch, but we wanted something that would last a long time and would also provide some added environmental benefits.  With the methods and techniques used on our new launch, we were able to meet several primary goals:

·         Reduce erosion and sedimentation that was occurring at the old launch

·         Provide a stable and firm surface that would provide better traction for the users, which results in a safety improvement.

·         Utilize an innovative technology that isn’t common in our area, which may serve as an educational tool or demonstration project.

·         Utilize limestone to provide much needed alkalinity to the Clarion River watershed   

Pennsylvania Wilds "Small Business of the Year"

On May 15, 2014 Country Squirrel Outfitters was awarded as the 2014 "Small Business of the Year."  CSO was awarded this distinction from the many small business that are found throughout the 12 county PA Wilds region in north central Pennsylvania.  The annual dinner and awards banquet, now in its seventh year, is hosted by the PA Wilds Planning Team, a group comprised of planners from the region’s 12 county governments and other local, state and federal stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The Pennsylvania Wilds region includes the counties of Warren, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, Clinton, Cameron, Elk, Forest, Clarion, Jefferson, Clearfield and the northern part of Centre county. We are very proud our this distinction and we are happy that we can be a part of the wonderful outdoor opportunities that abound in the Pennsylvania Wilds region.

Midway's Tale of Hiking the AT

I suppose in a positive sense, one might say I was infected, inspired in a positive way. What I caught was  a sense of urgency, enthusiasm, a sense of purpose, motivation and desire, the need to hike, not just to walk, but to hike, get close to nature, and learn.  And Midway is responsible, in that regard, infectious for all that.. Anybody who missed meeting Midway this past Saturday at The Country Squirrel Outfitters store in down town Ridgway, missed out on her sharing the experience on the Appalachian Trail (AT). Midway did that, accepted that challenge and decided to hike the trail, started in northern Georgia and hiked, hiked with a backpack weighing about thirty-five pounds, hiked across thirteen states, hiked north to Maine and arrived as a new person or in her words, “a different person a changed person.” 

            One might think that “Midway”, a tall and lean woman of athletic build, a hiking machine with dark hair cropped short, a necessity on the trail, that the name  isn't appropriate for a lady, but it's her badge of honor, a name with which she was christened while on the 2,100 mile trek. It was a name given her by her fellow “white blazers”, people who followed the trail north, taking no short cuts, “NOBO's” northern bound hikers who were sharing the path identified by white markers. By now one might be asking what her real name is. I'm not telling. She likes her name, Midway, she earned it as she was approaching the halfway mark on the trail, and she decided it fit since it also matched her age, halfway to a longevity goal she established for herself. She earned the name, and she prefers it. Ask her   yourself if you bump into her walking down town. She's visiting, making new career plans involving hiking and supplying hikers with nutrition, partnering in planning with Abbi Peters, the director of Elk County Counsel on the Arts.

            At her age, most people start dreaming about retirement, but not Midway. She decided to challenge herself, leave the comfort of her situation in California, put her career on hold, and hike the AT. Don't mistake that as a casual undertaking, a 2,100 mile walk. She was never a serious endurance athlete and never attempted anything like it, but she did “walk” around her neighborhood, on exercise “trails” and managed to build up to seven miles a day before she started her adventure. She took a hike.

Once she got started and accustomed to the demands, her daily hikes averaged fifteen to twenty miles a day.

            There was a lot Midway hadn't considered, but she became a quick learner, and she learned the skills of coping with the challenges nature and the trail had to offer, from the simple to the demanding, from setting up her tent and finding water, to scaling boulders along the way, climbing with that thirty-five pound pack on her back. She learned about dealing with the weather, the rain and wind, the thunder and lightening, and she learned about staying warm. Midway learned. She learned to find her way on a trail that wasn't always marked as often as a city dweller like me would want, and she learned to deal with a scarcity of water, food and permanent shelters. Everything she needed, she carried in her pack, and along the way, the pack was modified. She learned about the essentials, and in Thoreau's words, she learned to “simplify, simplify, simplify.”

            Midway learned she didn't need more than one change of clothing. She learned that a baggie could be priceless, and she learned how to use garbage bags as insulation. She learned that make-up wasn't a necessity on the AT, and she learned that people can be “angels” providing something she could use and just at the right moment too. She learned that there are “magic” moments on the trail, finding or seeing sights that one wouldn't expect to find in a rustic or primitive setting. She learned to live sweaty, that showers and a roof over ones head could be a blessing, that a Snickers bar was better than money. She learned that she could be a warrior, stare down a bear, maybe just curious, maybe hungry, but she learned she could scare it off by herself standing tall, arms high and wide with her walking sticks and yelling for the bear to leave. She learned she could do what eighty percent of those who tried could not do, that is, finish the trail! She set her goal and would not be denied, one step at a time, her mantra developed, and she hiked the 2,100 miles and realized that she changed herself along the way.

            I've read Bill Bricen's book, A Walk in the Woods and Cheryl Strayed's true adventure, Wild, and I was impressed and started thinking about once again trying out some backpacking for myself. But they were nothing like Midway for neither of them had completed the entire trail. I'd done quite a bit of camping and hiking as a scout some forty-five years ago, and about seven years ago, I  even went out with a few friends, sorely prepared as I was, for an overnighter on the Quehanna Trail, not far from Ridgway. It was an experience that confirmed I'd never sleep on the ground again. But after my “Midway” encounter, my new found “infection”, I'm more convinced than ever, that backpacking is something I want to give another chance, a more serious effort. I already have most of what I need, now all I have to do is go, and every time I think of Midway's enthusiasm, the sense of glory in which she lives, I know I'm getting closer to starting that adventure every day.

-Submitted by Bill Granche, CSO Staff Member

Aronld Sports Festival 5K Pump & Run

I've come to believe that the arrival of spring is a hoax, or that it's eminent arrival has been greatly exaggerated. Since those of us who love to ride, swim and kayak have been put on hold due to the grip of the "polar vortex" nailed over PA, I've decided to share an alternative training routine.

     Five years ago my brother invited me to share a new experience, the Arnold 5K Pump and Run, held as part of the Arnold SchwarzeneggerSpring Sports Festival held every March for the past 14 years in Columbus, Ohio.

      A pump and run involves benching ones body weight as many times as possible to receive a time reduction on the 5 K held as a group race after all the participants have benched their weight or a percentage of it. (Every decade after 40 receives a 10% handicap. A 45 year old would bench 90% of his weight, and a 55 year old would get a 20% advantage benching only 80%.) It's a format that levels the running times as well as the lifts.  The reductions I've seen vary between being awarded 15 and 30 seconds deductions for the 5 K time the individual runs. If a person benches his weight 10 times with a 30 second handicap award, that runner would get a 5 minute deduction so a 25 minute 5K would actually become a 20 minute final time. It's a sort of biathlon, testing strength and endurance in two events, lifting and running, and the bonus, if that may be a consideration, is it can all be done indoors in a weight room and on a tread mill.

     I recently competed in the 14th Annual 5K Pump and Run this the weekend of March 2nd. There were 967 entrants, but with the "Titan Storm" hitting that day, I'm sure there were some no shows. Luckily, most of my runs were done outdoors with fellow Elk County Striders and CSO patrons, Ken Huey, Aimee Kemick or Steve Putt. On very cold days, (temps below 15-20 with high wind chills) I ran the "dread mill". After a weigh-in wearing running attire and shoes, I tipped in at 160, received a 30% deduction (being 64) and managed to bench my handicapped weight of 110 pounds 28 times. (Most competitions set 30 as the maximum.) I ran a 24:58 in a blizzard where I quickly determined that if I could avoid the sliding, tumbling, pirouetting and or skating runners, it would enable me to finish the race upright. The 28 reps gave me a 14:00 deduction which resulted in a finish time of 10:58, good enough to place 83rd in the field, and first (I think) in my age group.  

     This kind of training is perfect for all sport training as it builds strength, bone density and aerobics. Lifting helps to prevent the sort of bone injuries people experience from simply running, strengthens the core needed for cycling, paddling, swimming and running while it breaks the monotony of other simply endurance training. The weight room is also a good place to meet like-minded friends who appreciate the values of a healthy life style. If you see an ad for an up-coming pump and run, I'd strongly encourage participation, not only for the personal satisfaction, but for strengthening and variety in training for one provides.

- Submitted by Bill Granche, CSO Staff Member

15th Annual Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous

The 15^th Annual Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous was held February 22 through March 1.  The event features talented artists from all around the world and they converge on the small town of Ridgway, PA.  The artists utilize chainsaws and other types of carving/sanding tools to form amazing art from pieces of wood.  This unique event has become a featured event of the Pennsylvania Wilds Region and draws in thousands of people every year.  Possibly the highlight of the event was the large T-Rex dinosaur carving that was on display in the Country Squirrel Outfitters parking lot.  The event is capped off on the last Saturday with a public auction where a piece of art from each carver is auctioned off for sale.  This gives people the opportunity to bid on artwork and get great deals on one of a kind wooden carvings.  If you haven’t had the chance to see this event in action, you certainly need to plan to attend next February.