April 2, 2006

Spring has Sprung

Launch time was 9:30. I left the house around 7:00am on the first day of daylight savings time. I rolled in to the Little Falls boat launch at 8:30, and Greg was already there. From the water treatment plant below Fredericksburg we paddled north. This is one of the small sections of the Rappahannock that Greg had not yet paddled.

The water was surprisingly warmer than I expected. Nice and clear with a bit of a greenish tint, I could see the bottom in water deeper than I could reach with an extended paddle. Greg commented about paddling along looking in the water. We passed over what appeared to be a submerged wooden wall - a bulkhead that was now 10-15 feet offshore.

In Fredericksburg I could tell we were picking up a current but we continued on past Scott's Island to just below the US 1 bridge. Here we could see a bit of whitewater on the other side of the bridge as we paddled over deep pools with fish darting through them. There were fishermen along the banks and wading in the water trying to catch a few.

We drifted downstream, just enjoying the sun and the water. Greg knew of a Tiki bar right along the water so we hauled out onto the low dock and dragged the kayaks up to the upper dock before heading up and having a sandwich on the outside patio. The young waitress enthusiastically asked questions about kayaking in between taking our order and bringing the food. She wanted us to roll when we left, but I wasn't wanting to get wet before driving home.

The paddle back was slow, just easing along. We stopped by and old hydro-power plant to check it out. We passed an old colonial warehouse and I asked Greg to paddle by a tree perched neatly on one of the bridge supports to show some scale in the picture, The underwater bulkheads we passed over on the way north were a few inches above water as we passed back south. And a few had some nasty, bent spikes sticking out.

Pictures

Woody