All spring with levels above 4.0 Milan and I in the Topo Duo
(Eskimo) have been able to attain all the way from Anglers to O-Deck without
getting out of the boat to portage. We've been able to attain back channel (up
by Sandy Beach), and also attain portage rapid on the MD side (river left). (note - our most terrifying challenge in those workouts has been the
ferry beneath fishladder, which in a wobbly 2-person slightly-leaky boat has
presented numerous challenges and failures at team-coordination, though we've
always succeeded at least by the third try.)
Today, with levels dropping to 3.8 we had
two changes introduced into our normal attainment route. First, we were not
able to attain back channel - no one could have, with all the new rocks
showing and lack of 'navigable water'. Darn! Oh well, we used the portage as an opportunity to both hydrate
and de-hydrate.
However, we were able to attain portage rapid
on the VA side (river right). Not the way you'd normally think, getting as high
as we could behind the big rock and then ferrying like heck back to the MD
side. Nope. We stayed on the VA side the whole time, attaining and jumping up
through the rocky cluster and into a big eddy on the VA side. And, it’s not
just a long-boat, or even a Milan-only move, because Andre did the whole thing
in his Nomad creek boat along with us (although he also seems bionic in my
opinion). Here is the scoop - on the VA side of portage rapid we attained up to
the big (big) rock, and then where boaters would normally ferry back to MD,
instead we went towards VA up to another small rock, and then from there across
to the second (not the top) wave and surfed-ferried over to a big eddy against
the VA shore. And, there you have it!
On to O-deck.....
