by Bob Maxey
Eleven of us paddled the Brock’s Gap section of the North Fork of the Shenandoah on Thursday, June 7. We were: Alf Cooley, Barbara Brown, Frank Fico, Virginia del Rosario, Zofia Kosim, Jim Keihn, Tim Tilson, Wes Mills, Brad Hammer, Gus Anderson and Bob Maxey, trip leader. The trip was from the Riverside Church to Cootes Store (Riverside Garage), 9.5 miles, paddled in 4.5 hours. Particularly in the lower stretches, the river was most beautiful with white water and cliffs. There were 3 mandatory carries around log jams and fallen trees. Three of us had paddled this river before—1 in the 1990's, 2 in the mid-1970’s. The Cootes Store gauge (450 cfs) was at a level of 3.8 feet; another 6 inches would have been good.
Classic So Fork Gravel Bar Gus, Wes, Alf, Frank - photo by Barb Brown
