We had 23 paddlers join us for our standard run from the Violette’s Lock put-in on the Potomac River down the GW Canal, and then back to Violette’s Lock via the C&O Canal. The water level was at the 3-foot mark at the beginning of the run, and the discharge was approximately 1,890 cfs. The group consisted of Alf Cooley, Tim Tilson, Alan Gale, Ginny Quam, Wayne McDaniel, Susan Sanchez, Joe Cholka, Diane Hobbs, Dmitry Didenkov, Lisa Laden, Robert Ristow, Mar Solis, Tina Schneider, Lauren Williams, Pamela White, Mike Baummer, Jackie Hoglund, Dominique Troost, Margo Regier, John Snitzer, Emily Appel, Barbara Brown, and me. The temperature was in the high 60s when we started and the sky was overcast, the drizzling/misting rain had stopped just as everyone started to arrive.
We launched at approximately 10:00 AM, which was a little later than we planned, but with a group this big, we had a few bottlenecks getting the boats through the small put in areas, and into the water. After the introductions, we broke into two groups. Wayne McDaniel led the first group (thank you Wayne), and I led the second. The conditions on the canal were the same as they have been for the last few weeks except for a new log that is crossing about 3/4 of river and was floating just below the surface of the water. It was located about 30 feet above the surfing wave. It was easiest to pass the log on the river left side. There were enough people in each group who were familiar with the other obstacles to ensure everyone could navigate them. The trip went well overall with plenty of play time, and only two swimming events, one of them by yours truly. For this trip there were no first timers, but a few beginners who were given some solid instruction and a few exercise drills by Barbara Brown and Jackie Hoglund. As always, we appreciated Jackie and Barb’s critique and guidance. Once we seal launched back into the C&O canal, we casually paddled up to Violette’s lock while munching on some of the persimmons that were growing along the banks of the canal. The last of us made it back to Violette’s Lock by about 1:15PM. Turtle count: 3.
The sky was overcast, but it was still a beautiful day with plenty of interesting wild life sightings. Once we packed up, many of us went to the CCA picnic, which was organized by Susan Sherod and Lynn Miller at Riley’s lock. There, we are able to grab some lunch and socialize with the rest of the CCA group.
Submitted by
Dean Hawes