The Schuylkill River Sojourn: 112 Miles of Paddling, Stewardship and Friendship

In early June 2017, the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area hosted its 19th annual Schuylkill River Sojourn, a guided paddle down the river through southeastern Pennsylvania. The theme was "I Protect the Schuylkill River." It drew 220 paddlers from 12 states, and 70 of them completed the whole 112-mile trip from Schuylkill Haven to Philadelphia's Boathouse Row.

Who runs it

The Schuylkill River Heritage Area is both a state and a national heritage area. It links five counties and several National Park Service sites along the river, including Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Valley Forge National Historical Park and Independence National Historical Park; the Park Service supported the area even before its national designation.

Its management entity, the Schuylkill River Greenway Association, has worked on environmental restoration and recreation since 1974. It founded the Sojourn in 1999, when the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources — still a managing partner — named the Schuylkill its River of the Year. Since then, more than 4,000 canoeists and kayakers have joined the annual celebration of the watershed and its communities.

On the water

About 100 paddlers take to the river each day. At noon and evening stops in historic river towns, trailheads and riverfront parks along the Schuylkill River Trail, programs in 2017 covered:

• how water quality affects birds and their habitat;
• landscaping that protects rivers and streams;
• current work by the Philadelphia Water Department and the Schuylkill Action Network on the river's challenges.

The Schuylkill Action Network also sponsored a Sojourn Steward, who monitored water quality along the way and blogged about it. There was music, local food, and campfires when the weather allowed.

The approach is deliberate. "Heritage areas build emotional investment," said Elaine Paul Schaefer, executive director of the heritage area. Rather than warning people of disaster, "invite them to enjoy it and participate… All of a sudden they become ambassadors."

A community of its own

Participants sometimes call it a "staycation," but for regulars it is more. "It's like going to summer camp," says Carl Raring, one of two people to have paddled all nineteen. He met the other, Jim Showalter, "in the first hour of the first day" of the first Sojourn in 1999; they have kayaked together ever since, and the first week of June marks their friendship's anniversary. Their neighbor at camp, David Kohler, praises the camaraderie — and laughs that he's "only been on 18."

For locals like Jay Kudach, the draw is a new view of a familiar place: he lives ten minutes from the river but rarely sees it this way, camping "in these little neighborhood places you wouldn't normally get to otherwise." In only his second year, he was already planning to return.

About three-quarters of the 2017 paddlers were returning Sojourners, according to communications director Laura Catalano. Many go on to join watershed groups in their own communities, and bring their families: Raring's and Showalter's daughters are Sojourn veterans too. Time on the river, among friends, turns people into the river's caretakers — and passes that on to the next generation.

Sources

Based on "The Schuylkill River Sojourn: Fostering Environmental Stewardship and Community," National Heritage Areas program, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.