The Chartiers runs deep in certain place. Beneath the railroad bridge from South Fayette Township into Bridgeville, I'd bet "the cool and fishy deep" stands at ten feet or more.
People use the bridge as a walkway between the town and the new businesses just to the south. I saw old folks walking along it and a guy in a McDonald's uniform, headed home from work.
The water levels aren't high, but it's definitely navigable for a kayak. Can you see the ubiquitous blue heron in this picture? The Chartiers always has herons.
Looking the opposite direction, toward town and PA 51, the water levels are suddenly deeper. The problem with the Chartiers is that the land on its banks is being so rapidly paved over.
It's traversed by more rusted out bridges than any body of water I know--with the possible exception of the Monongahela. It's got more poison ivy and wild grapevines on its banks than the River Styx. There are rotted out factories, and dumpy boroughs, and noisy highways all along its muddy course, not to mention ugly new suburban developments for housing and shopping. And yet, down by the water, there's still an ancient hint of wilderness, the smell of fresh water, the flapping of the wood duck. Silvery fishes dart beneath the water's surface. You can sense that the French and Indian War is not in the distant past, but around the next bend.
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