Weekend on the Wicomico

Saturday August 22nd through Sunday August 23rd

We spent the weekend at a friend's house on the Wicomico River in Bushwood, MD.  The area is really rural and quiet.  The house was facing the Wicomico River right where it joins the Potomac.  It is actually part of the Wicomico River Sanctuary, which meant lots of good bird sightings.  We saw multiple eagles and osprey.  There was an eagle's nest next to the house so we were lucky to see them up close and often.

The house had lots of water toys including a giant floating trampoline.  The first day we paddled out to a dive bar on the water and stopped in for a drink.  That paddle was about 20-30 minutes each way.  We saw tons of white jelly fish floating around in the river, a couple folks got stung.  They were HUGE jellyfish.  We all came back to the house and watched a beautiful sunset, ate crabs, followed by a beautiful moon set.

The second day, we paddled directly across the river, through the channel to Rock Point beach. We searched for sea glass and swam in the water.  The paddle itself was about 45 min. to an hour of straight paddling. 

The water is so big here you feel like you are on a bay rather than a river.  Beautiful place.

 The structure in the distance is the dive bar we paddled to.

The sandy area in the distance is Rock Point, the place we paddled for sea glass hunting.

Shenandoah to Watermelon Park

Saturday, August 8, 2015

We launched under the Route 50 bridge which is called Berry's Ferry.  Easy launch and no launch fee.

Our plan was to paddle to Lock's Mill boat ramp (about 10 miles) and meet some friends who were at Watermelon Park for camping and tubing.  We started about 10:30 am and paddled leisurely for 3 hours and 45 minutes to Lock's Mill in Berryville, VA.  According to the Fitness Tracker app, our avg. speed was 2.6 mph, with our fastest speed being 10 mph.  I didn't stop the tracker during our stops on the river so the speed stat is slightly skewed.

We first stopped at the Spout Run waterfall off to the left of the river about 3.5 miles in.  After the first set of wires that go over the river, start listening for the sound of the falls.  If you hit the 2nd set of wires you went too far.  The falls are tucked away but you can definitely hear them.  The water from Spout Run was almost painfully cold compared with the river water.  There is an awesome swimming hole back there too but other folks were diving off the waterfall so we just watched for a few minutes.

Along the way we saw a couple of adult bald eagles.  Such beautiful animals.  The trip is interesting, good tranquil spots mixed with small rapids that were deceivingly difficult to run.  The water level was just under 2 ft. at Millwood when we left.  I think much lower and we would have been walking our kayaks through some spots.

Our second stop was about 7 miles in.  We found a good swimming spot that is across the river from a large rock wall.  The water in the swimming spot was moving but not too fast and it was about chest high there.

Once we got to Lock's Mill, there were large groups of tubers that were dropped off from Watermelon Park.  We happened to paddle up to some friends and floated the last bit of river to our campsite at Watermelon Park.

I love this route and like to do it at least once a year.  10 miles in about 4 hours at a very leisurely pace.

Brunswick, MD to Lander's Lock Potomac River

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Today we met a group of friends in Brunswick, MD for a paddle from the Brunswick boat ramp to Lander Boat Ramp.  There were 8 of us in kayaks and 1 on a stand-up paddle board.  This was the first time we attempted (with success!) to get 2 kayaks on the top of my MINI Cooper.  No more driving separately for each trip!  The river was medium high, didn't encounter too many places with low water on the route. 

http://www.riverexplorer.com/details.php4?id=656

http://www.riverexplorer.com/details.php4?id=1361

We started out a little rocky with one person falling in immediately as she launched and another requiring first aid after a gash on the leg as we were preparing to enter.  After 6 years of kayaking I finally got to use my first-aid kit for the first time!

The trip itself is relatively short, we started around 9:45/10:00 and were off the river shortly after 2:00.  This is with very little paddling, lots of stops and hanging out along the way.  We fooled around quite a bit at each of our stops.  A dog even came out of the woods at one of the stops to say hello.

The river wasn't too crowded this day, there was some light traffic but overall we felt we had the river to ourselves.  As we came up to the boat ramp at the end, we weren't quite ready to get out so we hung out on the rocks in the middle of the river.  Good spot to sit in the river and let the water rush over you.

I like this trip but it is short.  We were somewhat limited in time as we had to rush to the airport afterwards but you can continue downriver to the Point of Rocks boat ramp or the mouth of the Monocacy for a longer paddle.

I also have recently installed the Sports Tracker app on my phone that allows you to track distance, speed, etc. but of course forgot to start it up when we started our paddle.  Will try to use it this weekend.

Harper's Ferry WV

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Today we met a group of Chad's friends out on the rocks in the Potomac river in Harper's Ferry, WV.  Parking is tough here but we finally got a spot near the Maryland Heights hiking trail.  There are a few small parking areas along the Maryland Heights side, otherwise you have to park in the town of Harper's Ferry and trek it with your stuff across the walking bridge.  After parking, we unloaded our back-pack cooler and a couple of tubes and walked down to the river.  The river access is along the tow path, you will see small trails cut out that lead down to the river.  Just pick a spot on the rocks to set up and you are done.

The view is amazing.  You can sit in the water while it rushes over you or find a low-current pool to chill out in (we did both).  This is looking downriver towards the train bridge:

The area is pretty crowded as outdoor companies have group tubing trips coming down all day. It is pretty hilarious to watch and listen to the groups as they hit those first rapids.  Chad saved an errant tube for a guy who lost it just prior to the rough stuff.  We walked up the tow path a few hundred yards and tubed back down to our spot.  Our tubes sit very low in the water so we had a few "COWABUNGA" moments.  Next time I would want a regular tube that sits higher in the water.

Overall, very relaxing and great place to swim.

Occoquan Reservoir

Sunday July 12, 2015

A group of friends decided to rent kayaks at the boat rental at Lake Ridge Park in Woodbridge, VA. The park was about a 50 minute drive from DC.  The park opens up onto Occoquan Reservoir.  There are other places to rent in the vicinity but this was the cheapest of them.

I met the group with my kayak around noon and had to pay a $3 launch fee, carrying my boat from the parking lot to the ramp (very short distance).  The park charges $6 if you unload the boat at the top of the ramp.  The distance between the parking lot and the top of the boat ramp is minimal so it is odd that they charge you that extra $3.  You can also rent john boats, SUPs, paddleboats, canoes.

The people I was with did a 2 hour rental so we were somewhat limited on time. Next time I go here, I will venture further.  Apparently you can paddle to Fountainhead from where we put in.  One of the other paddlers with us used an app called "Strava" (I think) that maps the route you paddled/time on the move.  We ended up paddling for about 45 minutes, going a distance of 2 miles and floating the rest of the time.  The app looked interesting and I will research using it.

Once you get out of the little cove where the boat launch is, you can either go left towards Fountainhead or right towards Sandy Run Regional Park.  We went left. If you go right, you will eventually hit the Occoquan Dam which limits the distance in that direction. Because this a reservoir there is no swimming as it is a source of drinking water.  Also, there is no current so you have to paddle to go anywhere.

The area was much more populated than yesterday's trip down the Monocacy, however since it is such a large space you didn't feel cramped.  There are some nice homes you paddle past and we saw a family of Canadian Geese floating by.  We also saw an impressive dive by an Osprey catching a fish.

Definitely will go back here.

Monocacy

Saturday July 11, 2015

Our friends Jeff and Christa recently moved to Frederick across the street from the Monocacy Blvd. boat ramp.  Since Chad was at the beach, I decided to join Jeff/Christa for a trip down the Monocacy.

We started shortly after noon.  Three of us put in at the boat ramp at Devilbiss Road.  We then leisurely paddled about 6 miles to the take-out point at the Monocacy Blvd. bridge.  Both the launch and the take out were easy.  The river was high and moving faster than normal but still somewhat slow.  It was also very muddy.  We brought along a floating cooler, named Boozey, that we towed behind us.  I did notice a slight drag on the kayak from towing the cooler but it wasn't too bad.

The trip took us about 3-3.5 hours.  We saw some cool rock formations along the banks.  Part of what I love about the Monocacy is that it feels like a private river with no distractions/light traffic.  We saw some Kingfishers, Osprey, Herons.  A train crossed the bridge right as we were going under it so we wave to all the passengers.

Overall it was a very easy paddle and one that would be good to do on short notice.

River and Roots Festival

Friday June 26th-Sunday June 28th

We spent this weekend at Watermelon Park Campground in Berryville, VA on the Shenandoah River.  We were there for the River and Roots Music Festival which featured Split String Soup, Woodshedders, Furnace Mountain Band, Town Mountain and David Grisman's Sextet (among others).  Amazing weekend of music and friends.

We typically bring our kayaks for music festivals here but due to the weather forecast we opted to go the easy route and float instead of paddling.


It rained for about 18 hours straight, starting around midnight Friday, but on Sunday we were able to get in a float on the river.  We piled into the newly christened "H.M.S. River Hummer" for a relaxing 1.5-2 hour float.  The river was moving pretty fast after all that rain.

We put in at Locks Landing about a 5 min drive from Watermelon Park and floated to our campsite at the park.  Easy peasy.