Still here!

OK, I'm surprised.
I'm a little surprised that paddling yesterday went pretty well. I'm coming back after 18 or so months after a shoulder replacement. And while I've been out on flatwater in a sea kayak a couple of times, I've been a bit spooked by the thought of the Gorge, even at low levels in the trusty Animas. Afraid of fatigue, I stopped at Rocky and gently cruised back. The hardest parts were the carry down and back up...but then that is probably NOT a surprise.
I'm little surprised to have seen folks I knew out there. No, Anne Kibler, I didn't make the little slot move at Wet Bottom, though I was able to make the move around the rock on the current side. No, Danny Stock, I didn't get to O-Deck, as I never really do...though I certaibly should. And no, Jill and Thierry, you didn't need to bring back the helmet right away, though I appreciate the chocolate thank you gift that came with it.
But none of these things were the big surprise. THIS BLOG PAGE IS STILL HERE!?! What's up with that? But I'm grateful, as it records so many adventures, challenges and joys from over the years.

Anyone lose an otter?

Attaining up between Perry and Hermit Islands (below Offutt), I noticed something diving below the water. I figured it was a beaver, despite the unusual location. After a couple of strokes, I was confronted with a head peering at me over one of the shoreline rocks.
My first reaction was that a sea lion shouldn't be in the Potomac. It huffed at me as I stopped to observe. I backed off slightly. Though it continued to huff, It climbed higher onto the rock. It wasn't until I could see the long tail trailing behind that I fully identified this furry apparition.
I moved away from the shore to a little eddy and we continued to observe one another. It stopped huffing and, though still wary, eventually started grooming itself. After a few moments, it slid back into the water, resurfacing 12-15 yards further down to climb out onto the shore. More comfortable now, it continued grooming (and watching me) before finally scampering up the island into the trees there.
It appeared to be healthy, though a lot of grooming focused on the right front paw, making me wonder about some injury. I scouted around for a partner or family without success.
I have passed by this island many times over the years. I have been chased away by nesting geese here more than once, this channel provide a good spot to scope out the eagles' nest up river, I've seen osprey here in summer, and this winter has been replete with hawks overhead.
But this otter sighting was something special! It even overshadowed my later sighting of a flock of turkeys on Turkey Island — another first ever for me. 🙂
A pretty decent day on the water...

4.3 - Stubblefield

On a recent virus distancing day, I was inspired to explore the options at Stubblefield. I have attained it at low levels, which was slightly harder than expected only because it gets so shallow. On this day, the level was 4.3 and I was in the Animas.

Putting on at Carderock, I paddled across and then down to admire the handiwork of Old Naked Guy on river right. His dams and islands have really held up. Seemed like there were a couple of little boofs spots, too. If you've not explored over there, it is worth a visit.

Ferried back and forth across Stubblefield itself and decided that attaining would be pretty simple. (Ominous organ music in background) I headed down to Lock 10. On the way back up, I was disappointed to see that they had taken the nesting boxes down off the American Legion bridge.

Arriving back at Stubblefield, I headed back to attainer’s right, where I thought there would be a quick up. Not so quick. Those with a faster boat and/or just better technique likely would have wondered what the fuss was. But I poked around a couple of places looking for the easy route. I made it in the end and wouldn’t call the move hard. But it was complicated, with multiple elements that needed to be connected. But I would be lying if I said it didn’t take some work.

I believe that it can be attained at a lot of levels. I want to come back at higher levels to see if the attainer’s left options would be there. (6 feet?) Again, Old Naked Guy’s work, along with the natural formations, should create a number of possibilities.

Of course, there are trails right along both the banks there, so it would be an easy carry if you needed to portage.

The hole that ate a Panda

Headed out with crew from Nate Nahikian's Potomac River Outfitters spring training. I thought the level was somewhere above 4.8, but it looked lower. A check after the session said it was 4.7 and falling. We went up the back channel for a bit of warm up at the top, then abused paddles and boats a little to make it out below Maryland Chute. We started working on the Maryland attain, managing the boils and taking on the speed ferry. The standard advice to folks learning the ferry is to work up as close behind the little hole that forms in the confusion at the top of the eddy before taking off for the ferry. As I paused for a small group of boats coming down from upstream, one pulls out of the current and spins on the eddyline for a moment. "Watch out for that hole!", he hollers over. "I got recirced in there for 45 seconds!" A spin back into the current and he's gone. "That hole?", I wonder. It is not quite a frown, but there is a strong inflow from attainer's left and a something of an eddy fence on attainer's right. But it doesn't look that well organized, I didn't think it was deep enough to recirculate a person or boat...and getting into it from below would take more than any in my crew would take on. So I didn't give it much more thought. Until later, that is, when friend Todd Henry gives me a shout as he passes through the chutes on his way downstream. I holler a greeting in return, then see that he has eddied out. I go down for a chat. He immediately launches into the tale of young Panda, who got caught in the hole above, swam, then recirced until Todd shoved his bow into the hole. It seems Todd was unable to pull him out --- and Panda's weight finally flipped Todd. Much swimming and spitting of water ensues, but both are able to escape and continue their evening. It was Panda who had given me the earlier warning, impressively sanguine about his misadventure. Looking at the hole with fresh eyes from above a little later, I do see that it is better organized than I had realized previously. So, while Maryland Chute appears to be such a benign and even friendly place, I now know about two places there with more teeth than I thought. And this little hole apparently found Panda to be a yummy treat. ;-)

Carderock attains

As prep for the Cheat race, I've been doing a series of attains from Carderock to where ever water levels and daylight will permit. It's good as resistance training, aerobic endurance and mental focus --- keeping cadence and solid strokes in a situation where the mind really wants to wander. I've hit a variety of levels, from 4.6 to 3.7 so far this spring. I'm not really trying for speed, but I am clocking. The day at 4.6 took a bit over 90 minutes to Wet Bottom (yeah, pretty slow)--- but that included me getting stubborn and repeatedly trying one ledge above Maryland chute, instead of immediately choosing the alternative. Under 4 ft, I'm getting up in a little over 60 minutes. I'm hoping to cut some time off of that this week. I choose the slalom boat for over 4.2 ft and the plastic Animas for lower levels. If you've never done this attain, there is nothing particularly difficult or hazardous about it. At higher levels, the forward stroke does start getting tested in places, though. I have discovered two hazards worth noting, however. First, the bugs are out in the spring and are especially bad as you head back downstream in the twilight. I'm bringing glasses and a bandanna to keep them out of eyes and airways! The second is taking out at Carderock in the dark --- it can be tough to find and walk the proper trail. I have bruises. :-)

3.95 - Testing out the Braap

Got a new Braap and wanted to see how it attained. Level was just a shade under 4 ft and falling on the LF gauge --- 3.95 when I got home. All in all, it was a pretty successful experiment. The Braap accelerates well, some real jump right on the first stroke. But as you might imagine, there is not a lot of glide in that hull, so it gives up speed quickly. Nevertheless, I made it to Rocky, though not without a couple of too casual attempts at Wet Bottom that failed. Doh! As is common at this level, the Rocky waves were surging, so it was hard to get a good ride. In the hands of a competent paddler, this boat would be a ton of fun in all the Rocky waves. My fun was measured in pounds, but it left me looking forward to the possibilities. Nice day. New boat. Winning!

3.8 - portage rapid attainment on VA side

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.....

Potomac 5.5

Back with another class to work on spring training.

As a warm-up, I tried the Maryland Chute attain. Boils were big and challenging, but could be defeated. But I lost my matches against the little wave hole that defends the right starting point for the ferry from left to right. More time --- and maybe a longer boat --- might have yielded victory, but not this night.

Meeting back up with the class, the back channel was again the option. Ferrying across the top was easy. But the deceptive attain move between the rocks proved too strong for most in this group, so we carried over the rocks.

Ferrying across the main Potomac took most to eddy out below the island at Virginia chute. A strong ferry was rewarded with a passage between the rocks of the island and final rest break above the chute. Many were able to make the slot attain at Virginia. At this level, it's a wide passage, but still boily. The bankside attain at Virginia was available, though the unwary were pushed left against the trees and often flipped.

The Cheat Youth were out and some had wavehoppers. They were working on attaining up from the Center wave and at Virginia.I saw some success at Center --- impressive!

Potomac 6ft and falling

With dreams of long boat surfing at Center dancing in my head all day, I headed out with a new crew. Sadly, the water was falling rapidly. What had been around 6.4 that morning was already edging toward the 5s. I think it was just at 6ft when we put on.

Nevertheless, we headed up the back channel. These guys were in long or mid-sized boats, but had no real problem getting up to Dead Cow. After ferry practice across at the top, the team was out into the main Potomac.

As this was a training lesson, the main group did loops --- ferrying over to Center Chute, crashing through the wave, then back around the island on the Maryland side to attain back up to repeat. A few of the boats were well sized for the wave hole that starts to develop at Center in the upper 5s, so a few attempts were made. Other worked on ferries and the occasional roll.

Corner Chute at 4.6 and rising

It has been a long time since I've tried the little attain at the Corner below Maryland Chute. Once called "Clay's Revenge" after some guy who never paddles anymore and always seems to be dying of some respiratory infection, it's an interesting little exercise in take-off, edge control and just the right power at just the right moment.

OK, that's probably over-complicates it. But until you get it figured out, you'll beat your brains out.

Checking back over these entries, I really should have been able to make this move. FAIL  Of course, I was out in the the new just-under-10-feet plastic boat, I didn't have my favorite attaining paddle, and my lucky underwear was all in a wad. How could I have possibly expected to get up, under the circumstances? :-)

I did feel like something had changed a little in the slot. There was a swell of a little wave coming off the right side that I didn't remember being so pronounced. And while the entry has always kicked to the left, it felt stronger than I remembered. Just a difference in the level --- or has something shifted?

So, something to achieve in this new season...once I get the lucky underwear washed. :-)

Long boat surfing at 7ft and above

More great info from the river encyclopedia, Adam VG:

Long Boat Surf-spots Above 7 Feet (Little Falls Gauge)

Skull Island Wave

Long River Runner: 6.6 - 7.3

Slalom Boat: 7.1 - 7.8

Sweetie Pie Wave (aka Back Channel Wave)

Long River Runner: 7.4 - 7.9

Slalom Boat: 7.9 - 8.2

Dead Cow Wave

Long River Runner: 8.6 - 8.9

Slalom Boat: 8.8 - 9.3

River Bend Wave (River Right at Right-Turn Elbow in Mather Gorge)

Long River Runner: 8.1 - 8.5

Slalom Boat: 8.3 - 8.8

Potomac 4.7 ...in a playboat!

No, playboats should not appear in an attaining blog. But it was quite the education in the art of the possible --- and impossible --- as I tried out a Jackson SuperStar for the first time on the Potomac.

The only real attain I tried was up from Offet. I almost made the attain up from the Offet ledge, working my way up the attainer's left channel above the rock beside the Offet wave. This attempt failed as I tried to make the move upsteam above the hole, though I think it could be done.

After carrying over on the island shore, I relaunched and ferried to the Maryland shore. I paddled up from there until I ran into a patch of fast current about 2/3s of the way up. I ferried to the island shore again, but was stumped by the little ledge. I hardly look at this ledge in a long boat, but was forced to give it respect on this night. I finally conquered it by grabbing the rock on my left, wedging my paddle into the bottom on my right, and pushing myself up. The rest of the attain back to Anglers was just a matter of steady paddling...in the dark.

Had a great workout, actually. But hull speed gets a whole new level of appreciation from me, for sure! It may be interesting to gather new stories of playboat attains, so I'll add a playboat tag.

Assaulting Wet Bottom at 4+

With local levels staying above 4 ft, Wet Bottom has become a good spot to burn a few calories. Key factor is the presence or absence of the first eddy as you ferry from attainer's right.

Above 4.2 , it's pretty much gone...so you drive straight over to the tail of the eddy below the big center rock. At 4.2 and below, you have a paddler's dilemma --- to use the 1st eddy or not? My rough gauge is the strength of the eddy lines on the 1st eddy. If they are strong enough to cause me problems as I ferry across, then stopping in the eddy to climb up is probably a good tactic. If there is mostly a wave train with weak eddy lines, then I may use the waves to reset my angle upstream...but then I move over to the big rock eddy.

At 4.1+, I think I've discovered another secret once I get to the big rock eddy. While my instinct told me to get away from the waves and to use the boily water on my left for the climb up, I consistently failed. But when I moved closer to the waves of the 1st eddy on my right, apparently into faster water and risking catching my bow, I was able to drive up.

Maybe the swirly boils don't let me get a good catch? Maybe the water to the right only looks faster? Maybe the boils take away as much as the give? Whatever it is, it got me up twice in a row at the end of a long session.

Incidentally, don't be afraid of even higher levels. I actually think that 4.4 may be a little easier than 4.2, for example. And somewhere around 4.5 or 4.6, a move on the Virginia side opens up.

Attaining in the lower 4s does provide a great prize at the end --- prime surf time at Rocky! ;-)

Potomac 4.3 and rising

A Wednesday night with the Cheat group found a few folks working hard to make the Center Chute attain. After many attempts there, we headed over to Maryland to try our luck. To the surprise of the team, making the first left-to-right ferry was not as hard as imagined.

However, making it up the little ledge opposite the usual Maryland hole proved too much. This move changes with each level. On this night, it required good control along the rock up to the ledge, then a strong take-off with a little elevator help, getting to a place a little more than 6 feet off the rock to power up a seam. If you drifted too far out, you were doomed. If you made it up the seam, but tried to cut back right too soon, you were similarly washed back down. It was great practice in boat control for this group.

Stories from upstream told of some full and partial attains of Wet Bottom, certainly good work for this level.

Potomac 5.6 and falling

The Cheaters were out on a Wednesday night to take on a dropping river. At 5.6, the playboaters were out in force at the Center wave. But attainers had lots of options on this night.

For the efficient, attaining the back channel to get out above the chutes was the way to go. Maryland was attained by those who could manage the boils and were use the hole to start the ferry across from right to left. Virginia was the choice for most, attaining the washed out slot on attainer's right before ferrying across to the bankside above the hole. The first ledge above Virginia on the bankside was a challenge, but those who succeed were close to the rock and had a successful first stroke on the right above the drop which propelled them back toward the bank.

Others made it up the gorge to Wet Bottom, but ran out of time for that attain. It was reported that Randy and Eric made it all the way to Portage. But this same source also noted that the leprechauns had been seen in the gorge this evening, returning just in time for St. Patrick's day. You be the judge. :-)

Attaining at flood stage...oh, yeah!

OK, we cheated. But that is our mission, after all!

Faced with a Potomac that was over 10 feet and rising, the Cheat trainers headed down the river to Fletcher's boathouse to try something new. The ever inventive mind of Tom McEwan mapped out a course that took us down and around Roosevelt Island --- and back up! Having circumnavigated Roosevelt Island, the group split to both sides of the river.

The Maryland team used the Key Bridge pilings to assist their ferry, but then were surprised with fast current and had to work hard to get back to the Canoe Club boathouse. Things eased up for a while after that. A few tough spots were found further up, as tree branches in the water offered little help as eddies, while forcing boats out into current to get around. A final obstacle proved insurmountable --- an island formed by the high water just below Fletcher's, with swift current running along the island and through the trees along the shoreline. Paddlers were forced to find their way to solid ground for portage. Fortunately, it was pleasant and relatively short carry back up to Fletcher's.

I'm quite convinced that one could attain all the way up the Virginia side to Fletcher's. Water up in the trees actually provided some sneaks around troublesome spots, though the risk of entanglement and minor pins was ever present. There was one spot across from the bottom of the dreaded island that might be a real spirit-killer --- boily, fast, and requiring whatever you may have left in your reserve tank. Given time and circumstance, those that reached this point either ferried over to the Maryland side or did opt to carry that spot on Saturday. There is a trail on the Virgina side all the way up to Chain Bridge, though some parts were under water and others require tough climbs over rock jumbles.

For those who carried, we made our way up to directly across from the boathouse. A committed ferry would be rewarded with your take-out at one of the picnic tables on the opposite shore. :-) Miss your ferry and you end up below the island again, picking your way through the trees, by boat and by foot, to get back to the parking lot.

If the water were a little lower, I can imagine some spots actually being more difficult, as the sneaks through the trees would dry up. It may be interesting to come out the next time it is higher. :-) But for now, I think we all earned our "Crazy" merit badge for daring to attain the Potomac at flood. Great day on the water, full of wonderful city vistas and unexpected challenges!

Potomac 6.66 - Devil's delight!

The Cheat trainers headed out for a Wednesday evening workout. Under cloudy skies, darkness was sure to descend early, so the plan was simple. Attain up and out the back channel, check out the Center Chute wave and head down for a loop around Offet Island and back to Angler's.

The level was an ominous 6.66, but dancing with the devil on this night was harmless and fun. Attain up the back channel required steady, but relatively easy work. The ferry over to attain out to the chutes did not challenge this group. The wave was a delight and yielded a number of long surfs. The Skull Island wave was not strong enough to hold, but provided momentary amusement.

The loop around Offut provided more challenge, but was managed by all. many figured out that ferrying over to attainers left at the top section avoided all the annoying trees and shrubs in the current. A small surprise came for some at the top, where the attain around the corner caused some to carry across the rocks. (You can ferry all the way across the main river to the Virginia side and attain up to Skull as an option.) The biggest challenge of the night was the final ledge before Angler's. My group got there in darkness, which made picking a line of attack extra difficult. A number of folks decided on a portage. The brave and foolish found a little sneak through the middle of the rocks which led to a small elevator move out into the water above the ledge.

Solid workout...waiting for DST to kick in for next week!

First day of Cheat training 2011 - 5.4

The Angler's parking lot was full of cars, people and long boats! Well, there were lots of short boats, too, as a relatively warm evening and a decent level brought out the Center Chute players.

Lots of different attains were done by the Cheat crowd, all in plastic boats. One group went up the back channel, then attained above Maryland Chute via the gap in the rocks on attainer's left. Others got below Maryland from the back channel with the shallow attain between the islands.

Another headed straight to Maryland up the river. Most were thwarted from attempting the ferry by the big boils protecting the usual eddy on the left. A few made it up into the eddy and fewer still made the ferry and attain to the top --- though that turned out to be almost the easy part.

Most ended up over at Virginia, attaining on the bank side and working their way up to the Jumps. Failing light made this a short evening, as the training team did the usual sprint to the take-out.

Potomac 5.2 and rising

A harbinger of spring, we got out on a sunny Sunday with the water rising through 5.2ft (somewhere around 23K cfs). Alexina "Action" Jackson and Paul Harrison, the EDF road warrior, joined me a little attaining before a long run down to Sycamore.

A quick check of the blog reminded me that the Maryland Chute attain took a commitment to a strong ferry from attainer's left to right. The real challenge came from a little ledge above the chute, where the back channel splits off --- it doesn't seem like much, but has the power to frustrate. A few failed attempts encouraged us to try the back channel itself. Lots of brush interlaced with old fishing line reminded us of the hazards of water in the trees, so we bagged it and headed downstream from there.

We did not try the Virginia slot on this day, though it should be good to go at this level. However, there has been a big tree at the top of the slot, which has changed this move. Here's hoping for a littel more high water to move it out. And it appeared that the ferry move from the ledge above Maryland which stopped us across to the Virginia side was still a viable option.

Just a bit below 3.5

Headed out on a Saturday afternoon as the temperatures climbed into the 40s, but the water temperature hung just above freezing. Not a good day to forget the pogies, but it wasn't too bad. I was in plastic, Ned Poffenberger was in his C1 and the adventurous team of Jen Sass and Joe Randall were in a Topo Duo --- an unusual choice for a planned attainment and downriver run to Sycamore.

Because everyone wanted to get warm fast, we paddled steadily up Center Chute without checking MD or VA. The Duo made the elevator move on attainer's left with ease. Left and center lines were available, as usual. All the usual moves at Wet Bottom were tried and made.

Rocky was more interesting. At this level, something I call the "guard wave" forms at the top of the attainer's left eddy at Rocky. You can use it to surf right-to-left up the move...but getting over and onto the wave from below can challenge boat control and power. One alternative is to go straight up beside the rocks to the left, then power up with a little help from a tiny elevator there. But that leftside move beside the rocks really challenges a right C1er, like Ned.

While Ned and I took turns assaulting the guard wave, Jen and Joe took aim at the left side line. I'm assuming that they received a tremendous advantage from the extra boat length, as they powered right up. :-) And just to taunt Ned and I, they then proceeded to go make 3.5 look like a good level to surf at Rocky. It was a lot of fun to see that big boat lock into place on the wave, sending spray flying in huge arcs.

Well rewarded --- and well chilled --- for our efforts, we headed back down, where the Duo also caught the wave at Wet Bottom. After a sprint to Anglers, my companions took off and I headed down to Sycamore.