The Bicentennial Raft Adventure

It sure was a long winter in central Pennsylvania. But with Spring approaching and the Clearfield County Bicentennial Celebration on the way a group of folks put their heads together and decided to have themselves an adventure. In the spirit of the 200th anniversary of Clearfield County they stepped back in time! They decided to build a raft - a replica of one that was used in the early logging days - and kick off the bicentennial by floating it from Curwensville to Clearfield. With a lot of help from their freinds they constructed the raft and at 9 am Saturday morning, March 13, 2004, they were ready to set sail. Although the water level was a bit lower than desired they launched their raft. The photo above shows the launch underway.



		This is a photo of the raft tied down at the launch site and the crew preparing for departure. The temperature was in the 20's with a wind chill in the single digits. This did not seem to deter the group.



		And they were off! With a crowd of spectators cheering them on the crew set to work navigating the treacherous waters of the Susquehanna. As the raft hit the current and passed by a shout was heard "Next stop Hogback!". This would be the site where they would pull ashore and take on more passengers for the cruise on to Clearfield.



		But trouble was just around the bend. The first obstacle the rafters would encounter was a railroad bridge. As they tried to navigate to the left shore of the river to make the pass under the bridge the vessel hung up in the shallow water. Not discouraged the crew sent a rope to the shore and were quickly free. But this caused another problem - now the raft was sideways in the river and the bridge pier was just ahead.



		The crew sprang to life. With the raft captain shouting orders the men worked in harmony and cleared the bridge. But in the struggle they snapped the rear oar. It can be seen here floating in the water behind them.



		The crew seem unconcerned with the events and continued on. With the captain shouting the orders the men fought on against the mighty Susquehanna.



		The photo on the right shows the crew struggling to maneuver the raft through the current just below the railroad tressel.



		They seemed determined as they passed by. They had fished the broken oar from the water and were already attempting to make repairs. It seemed if they couldn't get the vessel straightened out they would run it down the river sideways.


		But that would prove disasterous as less than a mile into their adventure the raft hit a snag. Despite hours of valiant effort the men could not free themselves from this predicament and decided to tie up there and wait for high water. Even though they failed to complete the seven mile trip to Clearfield, this group gave the natives a very exciting late winter morning. The banks of the river from Curwensville to Hogback were lined with folks trying to shake their bout of cabin fever. Thanks for the effort!



		FAST FORWARD ONE WEEK
			After just one week to free and repair the raft the crew was back on the river again. Their journey began at around 8 on Saturday morning, March 20, 2004. Everyone knew they were more determined than ever to complete their mission. It had been published in The Progress, the local newspaper, that the captain had observed that the crew was more experienced now and "there were no more rookies." The trip started as it had ended with multiple collisions with the Hogback bridge. But after a short stop to repair another broken oar the crew pushed of f. The phot o on the left shows the crew hard at work moving the raft to the current as the crowd cheers them on.



		With the rain pouring down the raft passed under the Hyde bridge without incident. The captain stood on the point guiding the way.

The crew received a large ovation as they emerged from underneath the bridge. As they gestured to the crowd the applause grew louder. This seemed to be the point where the y realized that the folks lining the banks of the river were as hopeful as them to see the adventure a success.



		With just a few more bends in the river to navigate the vessel floated on toward its destination.

With the mission almost complete and the craft trimmed up to pass under the Market Street bridge the crew takes a pause as it passes by Upper Witmer Park. You could almost sense that they were sorry that the adventure down the river was coming to an end.



		SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 3, 2004
			The crowd begins to gather to witness the departure of the raft from Lower Witmer Park on its voyage down the river to Karthaus. The photo on the left shows the raft tied down at the dock. The cabin has been removed in preperation for the attempt to breach the Raftsman's Dam.

But the launch was cancelled due to the low water level. The photo to the right shows the Raftsman's Dam which is just a short distance downstream from Lower Witmer Park. This is the obstacle that proved impassable on this morning.