Paddling the West Branch: Michael Kinney's field journal

Williamsport, Pa. — For those who like numbers, how about these:

227 miles9 counties19 river towns143 named tributaries21-28 days120 servings of dehydrated meals20 batteries12 memory cards

Naturalist and photographer Michael Kinney embarked on his solo paddle of the West Branch Susquehanna on May 1. Follow along here as he completes the miles from Cherry Tree, Pa., the headwaters of the West Branch, to Packers Island in Sunbury.

Follow his journey via updates he sends to NorthcentralPa.com!

WB Paddle Day 1

Day one started at Cherry Tree with a welcome off blessing from the Cherry Tree Recreation Association, including the Mayor of Cherry Tree and Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky, who dropped off a mobile BirdNet unit which will listen for bird vocals, identify them, and send them all to a database for the entire trip.

I only made it halfway to my day's goal. There were a lot of trees to walk around including one massive walk-around. I spotted over 30 fish including White Suckers, Smallmouth Bass, Fallfish and Brown Trout. One snapping turtle, few wood ducks, about a dozen deer and heard 2 turkeys.