Canoeing, Kayaking, and Rafting the Delaware River -- An Elderhostel program

This Elderhostel program is an active outdoor paddling program hosted by the Shawnee Institute and held at The Shawnee Inn on the banks of the Delaware River...


...located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in the Pocono Mountains. The Inn is located a few miles north of I-80 in Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pennsylvania. For 40 miles, the Delaware River flows between lushly forested low mountains until the river makes a tight "S" curve. Over the eons, it forced itself through the ridge at Kittatinny Mountain forming the eponymous Delaware Water Gap. The Delaware River is being preserved as a wild and scenic river, uninterrupted by dams, and the river serves as the dividing line between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

On day one, we floated a calm section of the river on rafts, reveling in the beauty and solitude..


On day two, we kayaked 8 miles or so on another section of the Delaware, enjoying all the scenic islands along the route and passing our Inn (top photo.) When we returned to the Inn, we had a delicious BBQ lunch in the riverside pavilion. On the topic of food, there was plenty of it, good variety, and all very tasty, and the final evening's supper was at the nearby Sam Snead Tavern.


After kayaking, people split up to do activities on their own, and Andy and I hiked 6 miles on the Appalachian Trail to the top of Mt. Minsi more than 1000 feet above the river segment we had just kayaked. In fact, we spotted the take-out where we had ended our kayaking a few hours earlier. Ellen treated herself to a facial in the Spa and then attended a yoga class. After supper, Ellen and I golfed the free 9-hole par-3 course (my first-ever golfing experience) and then caught the last half of a wonderful live concert by "The Three Tenors," one of the Wednesday evening free concerts The Shawnee Inn hosts these free weekly concerts for Inn guests as well as for the community.

On day three, it was time to canoe 10 miles on yet another section of the Delaware, complete with a sack lunch stop at one of the 100+ campsites available to paddlers on the New Jersey side of the river. Today's river segment included several riffles and minor rapids which made the paddle even more interesting...



...and many of us availed ourselves of the opportunity to body surf in one of the rapids, as demonstrated here by Ellen...


All our river trips were through the auspices of Shawnee River Trips which proved to be a wonderful company to work with.

The program ended Thursday morning with a 60 minute tour and lecture of the area aboard the Delaware Water Gap Trolley.
Here's our happy, adventurous group of active Elderhostelers...



This Elderhostel program was one of the best organized and run programs of the 20+ I've attended, thanks to the two co-ordinators, Doyle and Virginia, and I recommend this program highly. Ours was the first running of this offering, and they are considering adding a fourth day of paddling for next year, which would make it even better!

Here's a brief video summarizing the trip...



For more photos, go to my album (from which you can download photos and/or upload some of your own.)