Alford Cooley
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5/19/2019 7:05 PM
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On a bright shiny Sunday, 11 paddlers gathered at Violettes Parking lot to try out the Potomac, running at a beefy 5.0 ft, and the GW Canal, which was pretty much washed out and still with the obstructed channel after Jacuzzi Rapid. We had three paddlers new to the loop: Sarah Meyers, Jeff Warrington, and Brendon Backus. Others were Gordy Lang, Lisa Weed, Hendrik van Oss, Pam White, Peter Ryan, Glen Johnston & Jo Cox, and me, Alf Cooley.
All were able to crest the strong current coming down off Seneca Breaks and transit to the main river, catching the little right-to-left current and proceeding directly to our regained transfer point at Blockhouse Point. The C&O had repaired the washout but the ascent is steeper than before, so we boaters are beginning to abrade the surface - follow-up work needed for CCA's Access crowd. [Historical Note: The Canal was rewatered a fortnight ago following a 17-month CCA effort to get the National Historic Park to do so. So with this trip we leave the Pennyfield Shuttle as nothing but a bad memory. ]
Braving no fewer than eight bicyclists on the towpath (I said what a wonderful day it was), we plunged into the amply-filled canal and headed back to our cars. Jo won the turtle count with 21 sighted.
Hydrological Inside Baseball from here on:
The C&O was allowing ca 100 cfs to surge in from Feeder #2, which may help keep the hydrilla infestation down come August - imagine getting to worry about that again! I checked out Pennyfield, the next lock down, and water was squirting through the lock gate, barreling out the side-weir into the river - and running down the little overflow brooklet to the next (Swain's) level. This would make a nifty little PFD for someone like Steve Ettinger. Noted - that the Pennyfield Lock-House is open as a Canal Quarters - I talked with a guest-family sweeping out the primitive lodging (no electricity or running water).
Paddling on the way low next level may be possible down to Swains Lock, where the water is being dumped out the side-weir AND being let into Level 20, the one that ends at Great Falls Tavern. Now that opens all number of possibilities!
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