Familiar as the philosopher was with the wild rivers of Maine and Massachusetts, he never experienced the pleasure of paddling down the Brandywine.
On a steamy August day, a 41/2-mile trip that Brandywine Outfitters offers from Mortonville to Embreeville on the Brandywine's West Branch in Chester County was an idyllic way to beat the heat.
The Brandywine might be regarded as the Nile of Chester County, but the other day it was more creek than river - benign and serene, so shallow in spots that one could reach out and scoop gravel from the bottom.
Still, the current was forceful, and after a torrent, the Brandywine can rage. In June, it claimed the lives of two brothers after their kayaks plunged over a dam.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the banks of the Brandywine were dotted with mills. Today, the waterway is primarily pastoral, passing meadows and horse farms, snaking through woods of towering trees.
As the sun gathered strength, the blue sky surrendered to a flotilla of schooner-like clouds. Gliding hawks patrolled for prey. Along the banks, brilliant yellow wildflowers reflected the sun's radiance. In shady eddies, ducks and geese supervised their young. Goats and alpacas wandered down for a drink. Water bugs etched evanescent graffiti on the surface, and fish could be seen playing tag three feet below.
Occasionally, the river shook off its lethargy and sprinted through rapids, tumbling and gamboling, tossing up sparkling waves and aquatic back talk, making a joyful, babbling noise, like children at recess. Thoreau was right: "He who hears the rippling of rivers . . . will not utterly despair." At other times, the Brandywine slowed and quieted, offering soothing silence, except for the chorus of cicadas rehearsing their end-of-season blues. The few feet of open water between kayak and shore enhanced the sense of solitude, detachment, and riparian refreshment.
Around one bend, two men with bare chests and ample bellies were baiting hooks with worms and casting their lines.
Freddy Snoots, 26, of Glenmoore, described the fishing in a word: "Awesome."
In just an hour, he said, he had caught 25 sunfish and smallmouth bass. His friend, Adam Zemacke, 27, of Coatesville, had snagged 15. The day before they had spent 10 hours on the river and hooked so many fish they stopped counting. "We completely lost track of time," Snoots said.
The economy has not been kind to the pair. Snoots, a construction supervisor, and Zemacke, a carpenter, were laid off. With plenty of leisure, they sought solace on the river.
"The water is good," said Zemacke, implying much in a simple sentence.
Just before Harvey's Bridge, Harvey's Rock, infamous for "eating boats," squatted menacingly on the left bank. The size of an SUV, this lithic landmark seemed misplaced, like a glacial orphan, as though God had dropped it in Pennsylvania while carrying a load of boulders to Maine. In churning white water, it promises the security of Gibraltar while betraying like Charybdis.
A while later, the traffic became two-way, as a yellow canoe plied haphazardly upstream, freighted with adolescent exuberance. In the bow was Ashley Draper, and behind her was her best friend, Caitlyn Dibble, both 18, both recent graduates of Coatesville High, and both about to begin college. In the stern was Draper's boyfriend, Stephen Osborn, 20, of Thorndale, gamely attempting to steer the craft and occasionally jumping out to shove it through shallows.
"It's a beautiful day, the water is gorgeous and clean, and we thought it would be fun to take a trip before we all go back to school," said Draper.
Just below a dam and portage, a couple frolicked and splashed in the waist-deep river. Nicole Welsh, 24, of Paoli, is an education major at West Chester University. Her boyfriend, Tom Carney, 23, of Malvern, recently graduated from Temple University with a degree in mechanical engineering and is trying to find a job. No better balm for uncertainty, especially on a sultry day, than the Brandywine. "I'm loving it," Welsh said. "The water is so fluid and relaxing."
A short distance later, a middle-age couple in bathing suits emerged from the river dripping and grinning sheepishly, as if they'd just been caught skinny-dipping. They scaled the bank and beckoned their reluctant dogs to share their guilty pleasure.
In Embreeville, J.R. Turse, 67, of West Chester, was kayaking with his grandsons, Andrew, 14, and Matt, 10. Twice, Andrew had capsized, a mishap that, given the temperature, was not altogether disagreeable. "It's an opportunity to get the boys out and experience something a little different," Turse said. "Usually, they go to the pool. This is a nice alternative."
At the stone arch of Corcoran's Bridge, the idyll ended, after more than three hours on the water. Just up the hill is Stargazers' Stone, where, in 1764, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon made astronomical calculations that enabled them to plot their famous boundary.
On land, people draw straight lines and worry about where they're headed. On the river, the water knows the way, and all a person has to do, especially on a hot summer day, is go with the flow.
Brandywine Outfitters rents canoes, and kayaks. The standard trip is from Mortonville to Embreeville. 610-486-6141. www.canoepa.com
Northbrook Canoe Co. rents canoes, kayaks, and tubes. Trips start as far north as Embreeville. 610-793-2279 or 1-800-898-2279. www.northbrookcanoe.
com
Wilderness Canoe Trips rents canoes, kayaks, and tubes. Trips begin in Lenape or Chadds Ford. 302-654-2227. www.wildernesscanoe
trips.com
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