Skull Island

Mark Loefler, Scouting Glen Park Falls on the Black River

Homegrown Locals held its first official, all hands on deck gathering in two years. The boys flew into upstate New York a few days before the wedding so we could paddle the Black River, and camp out on a small island in the middle of the St. Lawrence named Copperas.  We renamed it Skull Island in the wee hours of the morning when we became pirates and were trying to defend our turf from a wild pack of invading cousins.

Billy arrived on Tuesday night.  He had not slept in days due to celebrating his birthday.  He sounded a bit stressed on the phone, so I put his mind at ease and ordered him a limo.  He stepped off the plane and met the limo driver Neil who was holding a sign that said STRONGARMS. 

Neil dropped Billy off at the Black River and we enjoyed a long playboating session at Hole Brothers.  Afterward we went and picked up Mark and Lauren and took them back to Tip Camp.  Mark, Billy, and I took the boat out to cruise around the islands for a while.  When we got back to Tip Camp Billy promptly passed out. 

In the morning we woke up and drove back to Watertown to meet the rest of the crew.  Ian, Curt, and John pulled up in Ian's Subaru.  We had to move quickly so we didn't miss the release.  Unfortunately, Scott was still en route and we had to hit the river without him.

the whole crew getting ready to hit the Black River

The Black River is an awesome run.  The river starts off a bit slow, but picks up the pace when it starts to gorge up after Glen Park Falls. 

Mark Loefler, Glen Park Falls

Curt Joyce, Styling Glen Park Falls

Ian Buckley, Glen Park Falls

Billy Armstrong, Glen Park Falls

Glen Park Falls was a nice start to the gorge section.  We hit a few nice quality class three rapids before pulling off to hit up a fifty foot cliff jump.  A few local guides were paddling down river with us.  They were super cool and shared the local beta. 

Mark Loefler, Backflipping the Fifty Footer

The river kept getting better.  The next big rapid was called the Poop Chute, and we all found out why.  The rapid is kind of like a sloping waterfall into an offset seam, hole thing, that sucks you down to the bottom and spits you out after a few seconds. 

The Poop Chute is Kind and Lets Strongarms Go

The river soon came to an end and courtesy of the local guides, we had an entire shuttle bus waiting just for us at the bottom.  It was an amazing day on the river, and a special moment to have all of us on the water together again.

Homegrown Locals

Mark Loefler and his daughter Lillian in Clayton

We hopped in the cars and headed north toward the St. Lawrence.  We arrived at Rockledge and picked up some firewood for the night's bonfire.  Scott joined us in Clayton, and the entire crew was in one piece.  The boat ride out to Copperas Island was really slow, but no one cared. 

Landfall on Copperas Island

We arrived on Copperas and immediatley built a fire.  As the fire burned, we hopped in the water for a swim while the sun was going down.  Things began to get a wee bit foggy after the swim.

Skull Island Revelry

Just when we thought no one else was showing up, fireworks exploded overhead.  Kerry's cousins were on their way.  At this point we declared ourselves pirates and prepared to defend the island while they tried to make landfall.  After a bunch of nonsensical grumbling, we greeted them in merriment. 

Apparently the cooler kept moving in the middle of the night.  All of us tried to wrestle it, but we lost.  We woke up in the morning to a smoldering fire and heavy eyelids. 

Just like old times. 

Homegrown Locals, French Creek Marina Docks