November 6, 2005

Careful where you step

I don't think I can deny any longer that fall is here. Water temps were hovering around 50 last weekend, but a warm week brought them up to about 56 for the weekend. I met Joan at Hills Bridge on the Patuxent for an upstream paddle on Saturday.

It was obvious to us as we loaded up our kayaks that the tide was running out. We would be paddling against the current for the first half of the trip. The water was high and we easily exited the gut leading from the launch to the river. We turned north to start our trip and hung close to shore to reduce the effect of the current.

We paddled along, making note how shallow the water seemed. We haven't paddled here since the spring, but the river seemed to have shoaled up quite a bit. We zigged and zagged from one side of the river to the other looking for slow current and deep water.

Ahead we heard gunshots. In my head I thought we might have to turn early if we came across a duck blind with hunters. On river left we found a deer that had not been dead very long. I wondered if it could have been from the hunters but deer season doesn't start till after Thanksgiving.

We didn't see many folks on the water as we headed north, but eventually passed a canoe going the opposite direction. I wondered out loud how difficult it would be to return back to their starting point.

Joan and I took out on a low metal dock for lunch. Joan had put in here on the Patuxent sojourn one year. I tied off my kayak with its painter and let it drift a little down stream of the dock while we had lunch.

Before long we were back on the water and enjoying a slow paddle being pushed along by the current. We zipped by the landmarks we noted on the way up river, but we never saw the deer again. We had to be much more careful as the water had continued to drop and there were plenty of places to run aground. We guessed pretty well on the trip back as to which side had water in it.

After a short trip back into a side gut, we arrived back at the launch behind a few kayakers that got out just ahead of us. It didn't look good. One guy offered to haul me up closer to shore because "There isn't a bottom to the mud where you are at". I gladly accepted and stepped out into mud just covering my boot tops.

I sat my kayak up on the dock and since I could now see how shallow (and muddy) it was off the end of the dock, was thankful I had not done the seal launch off the dock that I had been thinking about when we first put in.

I hauled Joan up as far as I could so she wouldn't get her feet muddy. But our boats were not as lucky. They dripped a dark ooze from their keels as we carried them up to the cars. We used what water we had left to try and clean them a bit, but even then they were still fairly muddy.

I mentioned to Joan that I'd have to go to Mason Neck the next say to clean up my yak :)

Pictures

On Sunday it was a toss-up: Go to the CPA annual meeting or go paddle in the predicted 20-30mph winds. The winds won the battle although I don't think they ever got above 20. The waves off Mason Neck wern't huge, but were fairly well organized so I had a ball catching ride after ride.

I finally became tired so headed back to the launch, passing Mike and Eric and a few others who were starting out toward Pohick. After passing them I swung wide around Sandy Point just as a large boat came by and caught the best wave of the day. Once on the wave it seemed as though the Explorer didn't want to get off. I zipped by a couple of fishermen who stared as I flew by. As I approached a group of pleasure boaters the energy in the wave finally dropped to the point it couldn't continue to push me forward.

Back at the beach there were a lot of folks getting ready to head out. Shorts and tee shirts worn by all as the park rangers pulled their trailer down to the water. They were putting away the canoes and kayaks for the winter as the water had gotten too cold to rent them any longer.

After getting my car I walked in to the water to finish giving my kayak a bath.