A Week of Gifts

It’s been a week of subtle gifts on the river. 

The mayflies (stone flies?) were out two days ago and traced wave-like paths as they traveled upstream. They appeared to glide in an upward trajectory and then fall back down only to climb again. I tried to find a video of this behavior online, but nothing turned up. There was this super cool video on insect flight and mayflies and stoneflies are featured along with a whole collection of other awesome fliers. Check it out. Yesterday, these flies were nowhere to be seen despite going out around the same time of day.

We shared the river with an osprey during a float. It tree-hopped ahead of us; calling out on a couple of occasions. 

I have already mentioned the catalpa tree and its stripping by an army of catalpa moth caterpillars, but I found a polyphemus moth cocoon floating on the river - another gift. Likely dead, this was a huge specimen and while it had separated from the leaves it was constructed around, these left an imprint of their venous patterns. 

There was the usual collection of heron, osprey and eagle sightings and a particularly vocal red tailed hawk also made for a moment on the river.

But that’s what the river does. It surprises. It moves. It holds so many awesome things.

As I write this, we are forecasted to get some rain this afternoon. This will be a welcome element as the trees at the house are ready for a drink and the river (low at the moment) could use a bit more volume and a little flush.

Can’t wait to get out on it. 

And sun!!!

Brownstown to 71 - 11 miles

In preparation for the Conestoga River Club’s 2026 two-day sojourn, I paddled what will be the first day of a two-day journey along the entirety of the Conestoga River Trail. Starting at Sylvan B. Fischer Park in Brownstown, I took out at our house just east of Lancaster City for a recorded distance of 11.6 miles - 21 miles short of Safe Harbor where the sojourn will end.  

It was hot. 

I put in around noon in what turned out to be a six-hour trip and it seemed like the sun was high the whole time. Sure, there was some shade later in the day, but by that time I had had enough sun exposure.

I’ve done this stretch numerous times and each of my previous experiences took nearly two hours less. Some of this was due to current water levels and the fact that the river was as much as three feet higher when I have done this trip before. On the day, I also stopped a few times to pick up trash (feed bags, styrofoam, water bottles, etc.) and on one occasion I ran a portion twice to check out multiple routes on a section. 

Overall, I love this section of river. There are tons of farms, mostly wild stretches and some pretty wild set ups along the banks; one of two stilted riverside structures is on this section and this one is a cabin complete with a wood stove. Pretty sweet!

There are three portages on this stretch, two are 100 meter walk arounds and the third under the train trestle off Walnut Street is just a carry over. No big deal. 

Wanna take a trip on this section? Let me know. Let’s go out!

Pinetown Covered Bridge

Ceratomia catalpae Can Eat

Broken record time…

I swear to you that there is something new every time I hit the water. 

Yesterday, it was a tree that was absolutely (well, almost absolutely) stripped of all of its leaves. A tree without any leaves isn’t exactly rare as there are plenty of standing dead trees without leaves along the Conestoga River, but this one had green branch-tips. I think it was the color in the branches that helped make this specimen stand out and I stopped for a while to figure out what was happening. 

On a high branch there were still some leaves and I could see what appeared to be black worm-like objects. Caterpillars!

There was another leaf within reach on a lower branch and sure enough, there was a caterpillar present.

Turns out what I was looking at was the larval stage of a catalpa sphynx (Ceratomia catalpae) and as the name suggests it was on a catalpa tree, in this case a southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides). 

Known for stripping catalpa trees bare, not only are these caterpillars valued by anglers as bait, but they are super cool looking. Unfortunately, this visual appeal does not translate to the adult stage as catalpa sphynx moths are smaller than what one would expect and are a drab brown. 

According to Stephen Peele of the Florida Mycology Research Center, catalpa trees might be completely defoliated a couple of times during a season, but still survive and come back healthy. Crazy! “I have tried to understand the possible symbiotic relationship between the worm and the tree. There surely must be one,” writes Peele. (wikipedia)

Ahhh... science.

Catalpa sphynx moth larvae

Southern catalpa tree - no leaves