by Tim Tilson
We had four boats for a lovely late summer trip on the low water Needles section of the Po. Paddlers were Cindy Rogers, Wes Mills, Fred Dalauro. We decided to take out via Potoma Wayside. We were unsure if the Outdoor Center was running shuttles from their take out. Apparently if they aren’t running trips there is no one there to run shuttle. There was no care taker at the put in so we called the River Runner Office and got permission.
The level was 578 cfs @ Hancock. I had thought it would be closer to 700-800. The gauge had gone up due to the Bloomington release. Steve Ettinger gives 500 as canoe 0. The 578 made it okay but boney. You had to pick your way through. The 500 canoe zero is pretty accurate.
Weather was a touch cool at the start. Windy. We were surprised to see the outfitter putting a raft on before us. The folks were wearing bathing suits! We had paddling jackets and long underpants. After running White Horse we ran into 6 tandem canoes from St Paul’s school in Baltimore. They were continuing on to camp and Brunswick and taking out at Point of Rocks.