Colder weather is back, chasing away those fair weather paddlers and leaving the clear water and beautiful skies to us real boaters. :-)

Went out twice this on the home Potomac Thanksgiving weekend, once at 3.1+ and once at 3.0. It's always interesting to see how even .1 changes the river, but the attains were all pretty much the same. At 3.1, I was out in my glass boat with Ned P. in his C1. I was once again reminded of how I couldn't possibly do what C-boaters do. We cruised up, doing multiple routes up the Middle Chute, Wet Bottom and Rocky, before taking a brief stab at S-turn. The left-to-right ferry temporarily defeated righty Ned... though if we'd had more time, he definitely would have made it. We slalomed our way home through a gentle shower.

At 3.0, I was out with Alexina and Paul, all in plastic. We took a couple of shots at the attainer's left move up through the rocks above the hole, but were unsuccessful. I think we could have made it, but we were looking forward to getting upstream. We followed Paul's lead up through the Middle Chute, setting the tone for a day of humiliation...no, that's not the word...torture...still not right...inspiration (!) from Paul's effortless success at everything we tried.

Powering up the far right move at Middle, we continued to Wet Bottom, where you could really see the loss of that .1 of water. Then came Rocky, where the inside and outside moves on attainer's left where in, though they quickly punished poor boat control. I went over to try the attainer's right move on the other side, which normally comes in at 2.9. I think I could make with a little more hull speed --- and a better forward stroke. But failure just left me in a perfect spot for a little surf wave, providing consolation.

Many attempts to emulate Paul's elegant attain on the outside move left Alexina and I with noodle arms, so we headed back down. Multiple attains there (and some slalom-type moves which I can never resist), after which we sprinted down to Virginia for a bit more punishment. Alexina and I beat ourselves to death on the Virginia attain, but finally made it. I personally believe that Paul started TRYING to screw it up --- and was STILL making it.

After a couple of weeks of attaining and long downriver runs, I didn't expect to be so tired from a simple up-and-back. But it was a great weekend, proving again that every level holds challenges and fun --- even if you're not a falls runner. :-)

Potomac - 5.2 and rising

Surprise! 5.2 was a great level for the Cheat trainers attaining from Angler's.

Those bold enough to use the little hole at Maryland Chute were rewarded with a quick ferry across to attainer's right. From there, it was an easy up and on ot the gorge. Others headed to Virginia Chute, where a sketchy looking elevator into boils in the attainer's right slot turned into an easy move. A ferry to the Virgina bank and a couple of small, tight moves up the eddies gave them access to the gorge. Various ledges along the gorge provided plenty of exercise. And to the delight of the lead group, Wet Bottom yielded to skill and determination on attainer's left along the Virginia rocks.

Another adventure proves again what a great boating playground we have here on the Potomac!

Back channel to Dead Cow

Cheat trainers caught the Po on the rise for a Saturday attain before heading down to Sycamore. It was 7.3 when I left the house, but the gauges said it hit 8.3 while we were on the river. I think the LF gauge was a bit skewed by the contribution of Difficult Run, so I'm guessing the back channel was around 7.5 when we were there.

In truth, the attain was pretty easy. You could sneak around some of the tough spots through the trees. And if you got stuck, you could ferry across to keep moving. The ferry move at the top above Dead Cow looked ominous, but many of our group made it easily. For those who wished to play, Dead Cow was definitely coming in...and the big wood hadn't appeared yet. For the less daring, the channel over to below Maryland Chute was easy. From there, it was a fun run down to the waves at Skull Island.

On the run down, Yellow Falls and Stubblefield were essentially washed out. The take-out at Sycamore was a trip...just paddle up onto the ferry platform and step out!

Offut Loop at 5.2

Out with the Cheat group doing the Offut Loop...down from Anglers in the main channel, left before getting to the Yellow Falls ledges and back up past the Offut wave. Most folks were in plastic, though we had a few in composite boats of different ages and conditions. I suppose we could say the same about the paddlers. :-) Water temp was 45, with the air around 60.

There is a small attain move on attainer's left as you come up the first island, easy at this level. The ferry across the big channel between the two islands proved a little challenging to some. We used the standard Offut wave attain --- zig-zag up from attainer's left. Folks handled this pretty easily.

Working up the Maryland bank side, the trees and brush provide a nuisance as you beat up the current. Easy to ferry over to the other side and make your way up from there. Only other mild challenge is passing the rocks below Anglers...but at this level, that was not difficult.

A number of folks did multiple loops --- a good steady workout.

A sign from the gods!

How can you be a true attainer and not be inspired by this brief video account of attaining the Lower Yough?

OR

How can you be a normal person and not be horrified by this brief video account of attaining the Lower Yough?

(Yes, I do believe there are two types of people in the world.)

Attaining TO Anglers!

Yes, you read that correctly. I recently did two attains from downstream up to Anglers, one from Carderock and one from Lock 10. Clay, Jen and I attained from Carderock last summer at just below 3 feet, finding it annoyingly low. After a couple of downstream runs at higher levels, I began to think about the attaining possibilities.

At 4.8, I ran down Yellow Falls in the Animas, paddled down to the confluence above the Carderock put-in and headed back up the river left (attainer's right) side. It required a little effort to get back up to the ledges, but nothing too bad. From there it got more difficult. The current had plenty of push, while many places were still surprisingly shallow. It took a lot of micro-eddy hopping to work back up. The best route ultimately ended up requiring a ferry all the way across to the Virginia side, where a steady paddle returned me to Anglers. It was a solid workout.

A week later, I had run down to Lock 10 in the slalom boat at 4.1. Kristin and Clay were going to run the Billy Goat back to Anglers, so I decided to race them back upstream on the attain. It didn't require as much peak effort as the previous attain, but it did take some brain power to figure a route up Stubblefield. The ledges/cobble bar by Yellow Falls were even lower, making that section annoyingly difficult. It was mostly just long. (Yes, I did beat them back to Anglers...if you don't count the 30 minute head start they gave me while they changed and loaded boats.)

Short version...these are good workouts. But unfortunately, by comparison to the attains up from Anglers, these attains to Anglers are all the work, with none of the rewards --- no fun at S-Turn, no surfing at Rocky, no playing at the Chutes, no rest on the downstream leg home. But who needs rest, right?

5.9ish

Backchannel to side channel above Md. Chute. Ferried across to island by Va Chute, made my way up the Va shore to the rock-tree triangle. couldn't quite make that move to continue up. Rusty? Maybe....Possible? probably...