Report and
Images by
Dave Grant

Tioughnioga River
Truxton to Cortland
Saturday May 9, 2009

      Seven paddlers met in Tully ready for the annual 12 mile trek down the Tioughnioga.  Bob, Jerry, Larry, Dave L., and Dave G. were joined by Brenton from Cortland and Leanna from near Cazanovia. With 28 years of college education and 15-20 minutes of discussion we eventually figured out a plan to transport cars to begin our trip.  After dropping off cars in Cortland and transporting boats to Truxton, we hit the water at 11:20. It was warm and breezy with rolling clouds as we began our adventure. The liquid sunshine was predicted to arrive around 2. With the water levels high enough to navigate the shallow spots we meandered and snaked through the fields and hills. A steady current and the occasional rapids kept us steadily moving toward our destination. We stopped after a few hours at around the halfway point and had some lunch. Brenton used the opportunity to repatch a hole in his boat. After getting recharged we continued, thankful that the weather continued to cooperate. Bob entertained us with some good old rock-and-roll; therefore, we avoided the rock! At the dam Brenton went over the drop off side with his short boat and came up smiling. The rest of the group chose the rapids route. As we continued the wind was beginning to pick up and the clouds were getting thicker. The heavenly percussion section began their performance and the paddling pace picked up. We arrived at the take out at the park in Cortland with an intermittent light rain falling. As always, the Tioughnioga was an exciting and memorable trip.