Majed Sighting at Leesylvania State Park

Hey Rats and Rat Wannabes! Sunday, May 31 was our first trip to Leesylvania State Park. The park is nice, but I gotta tell ya, the launch site is pretty dismal - including the snakes and doofy park rangers. The good news is it's within a biscuit toss from Tim's River Shore where Josh, Brent and I stopped for some seafood and refreshing libations. Before that, though, we paddled under the train bridge, wound through the lily pads and meandered down a long creek until the water got too shallow to navigate. It looked a lot like Pohick, but the creek wasn't as fun. Anyone with a boat longer than 12 feet, may have had a problem turning around, too.

Meanwhile, back at the boat landing, we spied a suspicious yellow kayak atop a tan car. It was our long lost Majed who had arrived late and never found us in the water. It was so great to have him join us (sort of) for his first paddle of the season. Welcome Back Majed! We've missed you!

I'm cooking up plans for next week's paddle - stay tuned.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

High Water in Georgetown

Can you believe all this rain? I don't think I have ever witnessed such high water and fast moving current as we did Saturday between the Key and Chain Bridges!

And when did Jack's launch rates go up to $10.00? That's a little steep, guys!

Five of us launched from Jacks headed up river fighting a manageable current until we hit Fletchers. Then Cat called. She got her boathouses screwed up and launched from Thompson. And it was her first time out this year, so she really had to hump to catch up. She was in fine form!

Once past Fletchers, the current really kicked in. In mid-stream, forward progress was nearly impossible, but a few of us crept up near shore and managed to get nearly to Chain Bridge where we were cut short by a small fall that was impossible to climb. It took us 2 hours to get there, but we cruised back to Jack's on the current in less than 1/2 hour. We all got a nice workout, and Josh captured four or five stray balls. What's the total for the year, Josh?

We hope to get some pictures posted soon. Stay tuned.
Chief Rat
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Monday, April 27, 2009

New Season, New Kayaks, New Friends

The 2009 River Rats kayak season is in full swing! Last weekend was a warm-up at Fountainhead Regional Park and this last Sunday, Josh, Brent, Shawn and Jess hit Pohick for a real workout. At the boat ramp we met Jamie, a lawyer from New York, who talked some trash about us not reading our blog account email. The Rats have unanimously decided that she has Rat potential. Perhaps she will join us next week.
Hooray for Josh and his new kayak!!! When Shawn gets his this week we will no longer be tied to rental spots and can explore new places. Josh's boat's maiden voyage was fantastic - we pushed upstream into Ft. Belvoir territory. Josh and Brent - the group's own Corps of Engineers - cleared the way, and we all performed some mighty feats of strength and courage - WE RULE!
Next week, we may hit Leesylvania State Park. We can kayak South, look into the little bay under the train bridge then stop for lunch at Tim's River Shore - I'm looking into whether they will let us land our boats on their beach. Hopefully, everyone will be sober enough for the trip back.
Stay tuned for more information on next weekend's day trip.
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