August 27, 2005

New Waters

As the Potomac continues to turn a darker and darker green from the alge blooms beginning to form, I needed a new place to explore. I had planned to do this trip a few weeks ago but caught a cold and had to put the trip off.

It rained, sprinkled actually, the hour and a half it took me to get to Hicks Landing on the Rappahannock, which is about 4 miles north of Port Royal. I paid $7 at the store to use the private ramp and drove down to the water. I was very early, but Greg still beat me to the launch. We chatted to kill time and one by one folks began to arrive.

As we put on the water the rain stopped. We paddled north on a flood current and the seven of us covered 4.4 miles in an hour of leisure paddling. Ellen picked a black walnut from the water's edge and at Skinkers Neck we paddled back in to White Marsh. A tidal marsh filled with wild rice that we explored before heading back in to the river and turned south. Mike and Bob headed for the launch while the other five of us explored the side creeks along the way.

I was happy with this section of the Rappahannock. I suppose all day we saw 6 or 7 boats and each creek was filled with wild rice getting this place put on my fall paddling list to explore when the migratory birds come through.

Along the way we saw wood ducks, buzzards, bald eagles and all sorts of flora and fauna. The slight breeze, cloudy skies and cooler temperatures made me feel like I could paddle forever, but two miles away from the launch we hauled out and had lunch. This recharged my battery and allowed my heel a much needed rest.

The doctor had called the night before and said the x-rays of my heel looked fine so I've got to figure out what is going on there. Maybe a new paddling shoe will help. I had been resting my heel on a piece of foam the entire trip and I believed it helped, but did not eliminate the pain.

After lunch Ellen headed back while Bill, Andy, Greg and myself went back in to Cleve Marsh a little ways before returning to the river and circumnavigating Goat Island. This entire area too was filled with wild rice. As we exited the thorofare behind the island back into the river we turned right to head back to the launch. The thorofare had been a shortcut, and now we paddled against the current. It seemed to me that someone had moved the launch further away but we eventually made it back. 15.7 statute miles according to Greg's GPS. As we packed up and headed for home it began to sprinkle again.

It was a great day exploring new waters, and the wild rice gets this location added to my fall/winter paddling list. It is a trip best planned riding with the currents. As is much of the Rapp there are few, if any, places to haul out for a break so plan accordingly. The launch at Hicks had clean porta-potties. Remember to stop at the store about 100 feet from the turn for Hicks to pay the $7 launch fee and get a receipt for your windshield.

Woody

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