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Trip Reports

Goose Creek/ Edwards Landing - Sun, 28 June
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[total 12 paddlers] On a warm day (90 degrees at peak) 8 paddlers exited Goose Creek (Kephart Landing) VA to Edwards Ferry MD, crossing the 3/8 mile wide Potomac, at a middling 4.7 foot level (Edwards gauge or 3.7 ft at  Little Falls - lagged 5 hours.)

    Most of us were new to this passage - due to it's being infra dig in our erstwhile whitewater-focused paddling lives.  Pam, the Quams, and I were the "old boys" each with a single trip under our belts.  Also putting in at Kephart were Toni Bickart, Kathleen, Tim Brown, and new boy Scott Andrews down from Pennsylvania.  Away at 8:30 to avoid the crowds and enjoy the cool part of the day.  To my surprise, today's lower 4.7 ft on the Po (from three weeks ago's 6.7 ft) - so lowered the level of the Goose that we had to negotiate a couple of scrapy riffles before we got into its "estuary."  NB: This means that today's 4.7 ft at Edwards is the likely min for this crossing, unless Goose Creek is pumping - say 200 cfs or above - or that one is willing to exit one's boat to drag past that last (usually submerged) Goose Ck Rapid. 

       As we crossed the Po, the temperature was ramping up, though at the eastern shore we could huddle in the welcoming shade.  There we picked up Wayne, Luke, Barb, and Mike K and slid down the river to the old Goose Creek River Locks to the C&O Canal.  With so many of us I figured an historical excursion up across the narrow beach couldn't be done hygienically, so we headed across to Goose Creek to where Clapham "Falls" was trickling down. 11:00.   Kathleen dragged up it to ascertain what the ultimate canoeing zero might be - and established it as 93 cfs.

     We debated how far downstream it was to Rileys Lock (8 miles) and whether the low mountain visible on the upstream horizon might be Sugarloaf (jury still out).   What was certain was that paddlers and wanderers at Kephart were increasing in direct proportion to the temperature.   This is an issue we'll have to face on future trips; early meet time is only a partial solution.  Back to face masks at the take-out? 
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