Off the River

On the 23rd through the 26th, we camped somewhere along the river. I can't do a whole lot better than that. We got to the take-out spot mid afternoon on the 27th and made it into Chevy Chase, MD that evening.

So... Aquablazing is not quite the relaxing ride down a river that everyone makes it out to be. During the course of the 150 miles, I paddled for somewhere close to 80-85% of the time. It wasn't always rigorous paddling, but I couldn't stop either. To some extent I think this is due to relatively low water in the Shenandoah River. For miles, the river consisted of a multitude of rocky ledges that formed an impression of rapids. Once actually traversing these you realize that it would be more accurate to call them small naturally-formed dams. Usually these have one small little spot where you can make it by without scraping or getting stuck but recognizing that location can sometimes be challenging. As the days went by, I became far more adept at this but even on the last day there were times when I had to push the canoe over ledges.

Another result of this is the fishing in the river is supposed to be amazing. Over the weekend I saw hundreds and hundreds of people on the river. Many were fishing from canoes or kayaks and some were fishing while just standing in the middle. We also passed many large flotillas of people in tubes and kayaks just floating. Even in tubes, people were scraping over many of the ledges, though. I was glad when the weekend was over so the river would feel a bit more remote. It was strange seeing so many people on a river in non-motorized craft, though. Since the river is so shallow, even at the "deep" spots only 4-6 feet, there are virtually no real boats. There are a few small fishing boats out and in the dam backwaters there were a couple jet skis but almost everyone was in a canoe, kayak or tube.

When you combine the shallow water and the fact that for the last three days the wind has been blowing rather strongly in our face I think the 150 miles by river was probably harder than just walking. That doesn't mean I'm sad I did it. I enjoyed the experience and it was a nice change of pace. It gave my hurting feet a nice rest and allowed UV to take as many naps as she required. I just feel like it was described as an easier alternative to this section of trail and that is not entirely accurate. I would probably recommend the whole experience to someone else, but I would be a bit more honest about what the whole journey entails.

The end of the journey went quite smoothly, the guy showed up and took everything away and gave us money and then shortly after that UV's faux mom showed up and gave us a ride into DC. Once there, I saw myself in a mirror for the first time in a while... I have a lot of hair, facial and otherwise. Another three months should really finish off my mountain man appearance nicely.