Camp Kline and Red Cross Canoe Course

I wish I could get a date on these pictures. I know they are from Camp Kline and were taken at a Red Cross canoe course. I can tell it is Camp Kline because of the Dining Hall in the background. The Dining Hall is no longer in existence. It was falling apart and a few years ago it was leveled and the wood burned.

The large flat on Pine Creek in front of Camp Kline made it an ideal place to learn to canoe. The current is minimal. But you can paddle up-stream just a short distance and you are on the down side of the Ramsey Rapids. This gives new paddlers the opportunity to experience some basic white water skills in a low skill area. Camp Kline is still a good place for this. You jut have to bring your own canoes now.

I was surprised to see who I think is Stan Sieple in this picture. Just to the right of the man in the green jacket is who I think is Stan. I am almost positive that the man in the green jacket is Dave Haas. He was the Ranger at Camp Kline until he was basically driven off by Jerry O.

The Camp Kline High Adventure Base fell apart in the mid-eighties. Bill Hawkes, Dave McGinniss, Walt Nicholson, and other volunteers were basically undercut by the Council Board members from the southern end of the Council and by the professional staff. Now, with the Rails to Trails program coming through the valley, it is easy to see that the vision that these volunteers had, could have been realized. What a shame.

Check out the following web sites for information on the Pine Creek Valley and the Rails to Trail program --

Tioga County Visitors Bureau
TrailLink.com
DCNR - Pine Creek Trail