Over the Dam
By Denise Janus

This morning we broke down camp and got ready for our second day on French Creek.  We met up with a reporter 10 miles in, and decided to canoe another 11 miles because things were moving so well and the weather was beautiful; hot, but beautiful.  While Mike, Laura, Chris and I canoed, Dr. Vogt and Tommy moved our camp to Bicentennial Park in downtown Meadville. Canoeing continued to go well except for all the extremely annoying flies that like to land on you and bite.  No matter how much bug spray we doused ourselves with they kept coming back!  We must have been quite a sight paddling a bit and then all of a sudden breaking out in a violent rage trying to swat away bugs!  It sometimes feels like we’re in the Amazon Jungle because of the lush foliage, the heat, the sweat, the sometimes stagnant water, and the bugs!!!  We’d be paddling along and actually feel pockets of hot and cold air along the way.

We had to get out of the canoe a lot because the water level was so low.  At about mile 19 we were all feeling really tired until we got to this sign that said “Caution-Dam ahead 500 yards.”  We got to the dam and giddily decided to jump it. (Don’t be alarmed. It wasn’t steep; maybe a two-foot drop.) Chris and I went first and got stuck on an angle because the back of the canoe got stuck on the dam. All of a sudden Mike and Laura come up on our right side and got stuck in the same position! Within seconds they tip over on the left and get dumped into the water!  As we started laughing we fell in on the right!  There were two people fishing a few yards away who looked at us like we were crazy! We were roaring with laughter. The water and the fall were so refreshing! We bailed out the canoes, Laura swam to get one of our paddles, and we laughed the last couple miles to Saegertown where Dr. Vogt and Tommy were waiting to pick us up.