A while ago, I received an email description of the history of Raystown from one of the original organizers and attendees. With his permission, here it is:
"The first Raystown was in response to a P.net solo canoe thread; 5 or 6 guys were looking for a convenient location to test paddle each other’s boats, and most of them hauled up two canoes. Raystown was selected because it was equidistant, had waterfront campsites, didn’t require a PA Fish Commission permit and fronted a large no-wake cove with an easy wet-foot launching beach for test paddling canoes.
"The second year there were a dozen or more paddlers and 20+ boats, and it became an annual “Solo Paddle and Compare” gathering. The third year there were twice that many again, with some tandem canoes, and even a kayak or two.
"It was unorganized, do what you want when you want, or at least not clip board and whistle timed and structured. The one custom that quickly developed was the concept that if you left a boat on the beach, upright at water’s edge, it was an open invite for anyone to test paddle.
"Even boats that indicated the need for owner’s permission were always out being test paddled. One boat-a-holic friend largely succeeded in paddling every new him boat available, from old Sawyers and Blackhawks to fresh from the factory hulls, at least 100 different canoes over a few years time. There was always some conversation about “Who has canoe X out now, I want to give it a try”, and continuing discussion amongst test paddlers about their impression of different canoes.
"The lack of schedule and structure helped in that regard, and just listening in as knowledgeable canoeists discussed the relative design merits was an education. If that was not your thing, just wander down to the next campfire, where folks were taking wilderness trips and plans, planning day long explores on the lake or pondering water levels for tomorrow’s small group float down the some branch of the Juniata, dodging Fish Commission patrols at the take out. Do what you want when you want.
"At the peak of the Raystown years there were 50 – 70 people in attendance, including manufacturers and designers hauling canoe trailers (Curtis, Yost, Wilson, Swift, etc). I remember their peculiar joy sitting around the campfire remarking “Damn, this is just like the old days” and spinning tales of 1970’s gatherings with luminaries of the day.
"I also remember standing on the hillside with friends and counting 70+ high end canoes on the beach waiting to be test paddled, calculating that $150K in canoes were lined up there ready to try, and another 50K available if you asked nicely.
"No offense to the organizers, participants or to the manufacturers who now attend and display their wares in more organized fashion, but the Western PA Solo Canoe Rendezvous contributed, in my opinion, to sucking the remaining life out of Raystown. As the folks that wanted structure and schedule, vendor tents, freestyle demonstrations and instruction found a new home, fewer people came to Raystown with fewer boats.
“While I admittedly wouldn’t want to return to a wild weekend 70 person gathering, Raystown times hold a special place in my heart. If you had an interest in older composite canoes, classics to oddities, there may never again be an opportunity quite like it.”
Myself, I was only at Raystown once, and much enjoyed meeting lots of folks. There was one now-amusing aspect. I had a full size van with three boats atop, including a 22’ outrigger canoe. To load those, I had a high step-stool. Sunday morning I temporarily departed the campground to attend church, and left my stool in my parking slot as a signal (in my mind) that it was still occupied.
While I was gone, there was a mass exodus and someone took my stool, thinking it was abandoned. So, there I was, mostly alone, with no way to load my boats. I had to drive to the nearest Walmart to get a new step-stool. Fortunately, I got in touch with the the fellow who reasonably assumed I had abandoned the stool – Sawyer George, who had hauled an entire trailer full of beautiful old Sawyers – and without being asked, he kindly returned the stool on his dime. Even more fortunately, Walmart has a nationwide 90 day return policy.
I believe Pete Blanc and I were the last to depart, on Monday. I immediately drove to Hemlock, NY, to have Dave Curtis put one of the first “Conk seats” in my Bell Wildfire, which Paul Conklin had told me about at the gathering.
Sadly, as I personally observe the continuing death of open canoes and single blade technique, as well as the departures of so many of the people who contributed to the “solo canoe revolution” of the 1970’s-1980’s, on both flat water and whitewater, I concur that there may never be another Raystown.