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Trip Reports

Moorefield Canyon 6/14/18
Mark Brenneman
After getting skunked on the Lost (see below) seven of us proceeded to the Moorefield, roughly an hour away. We left three cars at the low water bridge takeout on Zirk Farm Road and put in on Corner Rd. about 9 miles upstream. This stretch of the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac is remote and picturesque. Bald eagles and flowering cacti on the cliffs caught our attention in between the rapids. Tight Squeeze #1 is free of wood and we all ran it with only minor incident. Tight Squeeze #2 is free of wood in the center and right, but now has some smaller logs blocking the left channel. We all ran down the center, ducking a small overhanging branch, but otherwise smoothly negotiating the rapid. We put in around 12:30and took off at 4:00. The Brandywine gauge was at 339 cfs when we started and 309 cfs when we finished. A bit more water would have been nice, but not essential. Paddlers were Mark, Jim L, Jim K, Jon H, Kim B, John S and Keith L.

The Lost turned out to be well below Canoe Zero. Brandywine at around 340 cfs, Cootes Store at 556 cfs and Waites Creek ruining above 20 cfs  all indicated the Lost was good to go. It was not. The outlier was Cedar Creek, running’s only 166 cfs. The Cacapon gauge was around 1040 cfs at noon.  
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