Wayne McDaniel
10/2/2018 4:13 PM
Six paddlers (Barb B, Jan W, Kathleen S, Paul S, Pam W and Wayne McD) took advantage of the recent rain to run this hard-to-catch creek. We put in at Bennies Hill Rd and took out at MD 180 for a seven-mile trip. That was enough for my aging bones but some of the hard chargers would have preferred longer. Trip started off bright and sunny and then cooled a bit as the sky became overcast. Level was 407 cfs (2.95') which was ample to cushion all of the rocks. No carnage to report, although there was one close encounter of the third kind ("actual contact") with an overhanging tree. Remarkably, there were no other issues with wood despite this creek's notorious reputation for strainers. We took out on a landscaping company's property where the accommodating owner kindly provided access and related a tale of woe of high water carrying various items of large equipment downstream.
One of the participants described this as "a perfect paddling trip." And, just to put the cherry on top for us Raven fans, that evening our lads defeated the arch-rival Steelers in Pittsburgh 26-14!