Hosting a Group Retreat in Ohiopyle

Why You Should Host a Group Retreat in Ohiopyle

Posted at 15:22h in Wilderness Voyageurs by amanda 0 Comments

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Dan Isbister, a life-long rafting enthusiast and Youghiogheny rafting guide, decided it was time to get the boating gang back together for a group retreat on the rapids. Read about his story and experience at the Trillium Lodge below. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Dan!

Chris McCormick & Dan Isbister on the Feeder Canal in 1979 from Fast & Clean

The good ol’ days are still here – Don’t wait to get the gang together for a long-awaited reunion on the river.

I was lucky to have been part of the DC Slalom racing crowd from 1973 into the 80’s. The DC area Lugbill, Hearn, McCormick, Garvis and Sessler families were the core of this group that grew the racing scene following the inspiration of Jamie McEwan’s 72 Olympic Bronze.

This core group and others trained rigorously to compete in races all over the world on the US Slalom team for most of our racing careers. This group was immortalized in Russ Nichols’ “Fast and Clean” movie shot during the season leading up to the 1979 World Championships held in Jonquiere, Canada. And while I still live in Brookmont and see some of the folks in the DC area, others have moved onto other adventures in their lives.

Davey Hearn, Jon Lugbill & Bob Robison in Fast & Clean sweeping the C1 class at Jonquier.

I was out skiing with one of the gang, Bob Robison, in the winter of 2018 and we were lamenting that there weren’t events to gather old racers back together. It seemed that some of the only time we saw each other was at funerals, so I decided it was time to try to organize a fun gathering where we could just hang out and catch up. Having worked for Wilderness Voyageurs (WV) as a guide in the mid-70’s, I knew Ohiopyle and the Yough was a special place a lot of us loved to visit. Having already stayed at WV’s Trillium lodge, I knew we had an ideal private place for a group our size.

After a couple of email blasts showed there was interest in doing a long weekend in Ohiopyle, I reached out to the folks at Wilderness Voyageurs, and reserved three nights at the Trillium Lodge, (Trillium has 9 rooms and can sleep 23+), and kept blasting an ever expanding list of the old Feeder Canal gang.

The Ohiopyle Group Retreat Itinerary

We had set a real loose agenda, and people started arriving in Ohiopyle Thursday morning where we had a nice paddle of 9 on the Lower Yough and then met up at the Falls City Pub for dinner as people continued to trickle into town. Then up to Trillium, where everyone enjoyed the great indoor and outdoor gathering spots perfect for catching up. We had a great paddle of 21 boats and a raft on the Lower Yough on Friday, and a fun leisurely bike ride to Confluence on Saturday. Some of the gung-ho gang made an Upper Yough run on Saturday and some did Mountain Biking too.

We had arranged with WV to cater dinners on Friday and Saturday nights so we could focus on catching up, storytelling, and hearing about everyone’s interesting lives over the past 35 years until 3 in the morning. The fun started up again at 6 am for the early morning coffee crew that gathered on the porch to watch the sun come up over the Laurel Highlands. Over 45 people showed up for some portion of the weekend, and everyone had a wonderful time.

If you are looking for a great place to gather a bunch of old friends together or looking for a place your paddling group can during a Ohiopyle trip, I can’t think of a better place to recommend than Wilderness Voyageurs Trillium Lodge. The setting, great food, and helpful staff was amazing in making our reunion an unforgettable experience. Thanks again to Eric Martin and the WV folks for making our group retreat such a great experience. I said let’s do it again in 2022 and we made it happen again! Don’t wait for a funeral to get your gang together!