Trip Reports

The NPS stripped the canal or all CWD (coarse woody debris) leaving the turtles nowhere to haul out in the sun. At things stand, Gus' record of bazillions of turtles will never even be approached. Would it be possible to import some of the log pile in the Violettes lot into the canal, along the edges, to recreate the destroyed wildlife habitat while not interfering with navigation? Perhaps this could be contracted to a group of beavers.

Fearing inclement weather on Sunday, the trip coordinator pulled a switcheroo and rescheduled the Sunday paddle to Saturday. Seemingly unfazed by this disturbance to the schedule, an impressive 14 paddlers showed up on time and we were on the water by 10AM. The Little Falls gauge was reading 3.23 ft. as we put on. The water was an unseasonably warm 75 degrees.

In OC-1: Ginny & Gary Q, Alan G., and Tim T.

In K-1: Lisa L., Jim S., Alf C., Dmity D., Pamela W., Lauren W., Susana S., Mikey B., Diane H., and Wayne McD.

The trip began somewhat inauspiciously with a headwind and a light chop as we crossed the Potomac. But the winds died down as we entered the GWC and did not make another appearance. Instead, the sun came out.

All paddled the GWC without incident. After exiting at 30 Eddy Rapid, Lisa and Jim elected to attain back up the Seneca Breaks while the smart set took advantage of the re-watered C&O canal to make their way back to VL.

It was, without a doubt, the best Sunday Paddle on a Saturday ever!

Turtle count: 0.