First Paddling to Riley's Lock/Seneca Creek Aqueduct

About two months ago I started planning a fall paddling tour for people at the office to join. And today (Saturday) is the day. (Yep. Me. Setting up a social event. Never done that. ha ha. Paddling really takes over me.)

The wind is at NE 9 mph and the temperature is 68'F high. Mostly cloudy with a bit of sun.

After Brian, my instructor from CKAPCO, introduced everyone to a kayak and the basics of paddling. We took off from Algonkian Regional Park heading toward east to Riley's Lock on Maryland side. It felt a bit strange when Brian told me to lead, I am still a newbie paddler! He told me to look for a flag (which...um...wasn't there today) at the golf course, which is the landmark on Virginia side that tells us to cross the river. Another landmark is a stone bridge with two arches (the third one was blown off) across Seneca Creek.

We parked our kayaks near the launch ramp at Seneca Creek Aqueduct and walked along C&O canal to the Seneca stone cutting mill, which provided the red sandstone for the Smithsonian Castle, to have lunch. Unfortunately the building is not well maintained even though it is a part of history.

The fact that Miss Sandy (a hurricane) will wipe out all the fall color with her 50 mph wind gust in a couple days makes me appreciate a simple good day much more. And just like the old says "if you wait for a perfect day, you will never get anything done." So just do it whatever you have in mind.

I am quite sure that this will be my last paddling of the year but my instructor says no way. So we'll see. :)

And even though it is the last one it is definitely one of the best. We have nice weather, beautiful cloud, fall foliage at peak, everyone is smiling, everyone is curious about how to maneuver the boat, willing to learn and try, my favorite instructor leading tour and everyone respects him as I do. I couldn't ask for more. Who knows I might get some new paddling buddies next spring!

Check out the rest of the photos from the trip below or just click this link to my Shutterfly page.

Until next paddling.

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"Real Men Wear Skirts"

I usually don't express my quirky thoughts through a t-shirt but this one is so funny that I have to have it!

First Paddling at Goose Creek, Leesburg, VA

After working so hard and beating the deadline early in the week I was able to take a day off today without losing my PDO (paid-day-off). So I decided to revisit a whitewater class and it was probably my last class of this year. Wow, time flies, doesn't it ?

Right at the edge of the dam.

My instructor, Mike Aronoff at CKAPCO, took me to Goose Creek in Leesburg, Virginia, after we recapped some maneuvers at Lake Audubon for an hour. We started at Goose Creek dam and ended the trip at Kephart Bridge Landing at Elizabeth Mills Riverfront. (I'll tell you more about the place later.) Goose Creek dam is a little hidden place since it's not open to the public. Mike got a special permit from the city so he had an access to it. (Lucky me!) The creek has series of class I-II rapids and flatwater in between so I think it's suitable for a newbie. The water was at 2.08 at the time we paddled. Along the creek there were old mills, residential area, golf course, bridges and a stone quarry (never imagined that). 

NO. We did NOT go down that fall!

And guess what ? I did NOT capsize today even though I got stuck on or between stones a couple times. My butt didn't even get wet at all. What an improvement! (in my opinion. :))  Good scouting and using rudder stroke were super helpful to go through the rapids. It's all about observation, feeling the moving water and the balance.

Taking a break at an old mill. Great view isn't it ? :)

Paddling straight forward is probably the hardest thing to do on a whitewater kayak. I was pretty confident about my forward stroke on a touring/sea kayak but it's because of the structure of the touring kayak's hull and a skeg that help me going straight. My whitewater boat, on the other hand, turned at its will from time to time and was super sensitive to any lean I made. This is because of its clean/round hull shape.

And I always turn my torso when I paddle but still not enough in Mike's opinion. Eww...(But it's good now. :))

Golf Course Rapids...because it's near a golf course.
I think these golf courses should provide a launch ramp on site.
It's a sin to not have access to this creek!

I felt a bit better about my low brace and high brace today. Just a bit. I definitely need a lot more practice so they become natural to me. I couldn't help thinking of those kayakers I watched at the races. Their braces were amazing. Powerful and very effective.

Now I think a whitewater kayak is a good boat to have for practice. (oops! Did I tell you I am still looking for my first touring kayak ? I am darn picky.)

There are always something to learn. So don't let anything stops you from learning and being open-minded in any circumstance. Ever.

Map of the Area

A trip tip from Mike. If you would like to paddle around here, you can launch your boat at Kephart Bridge Landing off Riverpoint Road. This is in a residential area so it might be hard to spot. There are about 10 parking spaces. It's free but the gate closes at dark. Then you can paddle to Algonkian Regional Park. I am told that there is no rapid. So it could be a good day tour. Wait until I get my boat, Potomac! (I don't have a suggestion about where to launch if you want to paddle through rapids though. Sorry.)

Washington and Old Dominion Bike Trial

Who would think Route 7 could be this pretty from down here ?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos. See the whole album from the slideshow below. I didn't have a chance to take many since it's not a good idea to take photos while going through the rapids.

Until next time. Hopefully not too long. The weird weather will hit the area this weekend and my 6-hour trip at Jug Bay got cancelled. Better have a nice weather soon. I haven't witness fall foliage at peak from the water yet.

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First Fall Paddling of 2012!

It was a lovely day to be outside. So I drove up to Riverbend Park and used my free kayak rental voucher that I got from the certification class a couple months ago.

It was very crowded at the park but I managed to find a parking right near the river. (There is an option to park at Nature Center if the parking at Visitor Center is full.)

The river was gorgeous. Not many people on the water so I basically had the river by myself. :) The fall color started to come out a bit. We got some rain earlier so nobody was allowed to paddle toward east which was toward the dam.

As I mentioned on the previous post what I love about the river at Riverbend is that there is a mix of moving and flatwater which is a perfect place for a beginner like me to fool around. I played with the rapids by trying to stay on it like I learnt in the class. (And I did! But I couldn't go pass it though. Coz of my wimpy stroke ?) I even snugged my boat behind the rock in the middle of river and had my snack there listening and watching the water running around me. :)

Anyway, it is going to be a busy paddling season! Enjoy the photos!

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Deep Creek Open, McHenry, Maryland

After a very miserable weather on Saturday we got some sunlight on Sunday. I had a chance to paddle at Deep Creek Lake in the morning with my friend and watched the slalom competition at ASCI (Adventure Sports Center International) in the afternoon. I can't think of a better day than this. Do you ? I've never watched the game before. It was so fun to watch. I guess once you know how hard it is you start to feel it in your blood. I can't help feeling jealous of those with the perfect high brace though. :P

The age of the competitors varied from 12 to over 50 years old. Many of them were teenage. But it doesn't mean much here. I think the fierce look and the smile on their face while paddling through the crazy water and after they completed it were priceless.

I don't know much about the rules yet but I am sure I'll dig into it soon. I hope you enjoy the photos from the game as much as I do.

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My First Paddling at Riverbend Park

Dear Readers,

Riverbend Park has become my most favorite place to paddle. (Did I say something like this on the previous posts ? ha ha.) Last Friday when we got the blue moon I joined a canoe tour provided by the park. We got a perfect weather and sky. The Potomac River looked all lovely. The tour started about 6 pm and lasted for 2 hours. So we saw the sunset and the moonrise in one trip.

We had two paddlers per canoe. I teamed up with the tour guide. I was a bow paddler. We paddled upstream toward the pump house. The water here was super flat and clear although our guide said it didn't mean it was clean. But once we passed the pump house we got a bit of small rapids here and there. They were not considered as whitewater. However knowing the principle of ferrying helped me a lot and of course I was glad that I still remembered how to canoe since I hadn't done it since last year.

And good news for a newbie with no boat like me. There is a boat rental here but you can't rent until you attend their tour or their classification class which I did earlier this summer. If you attend a classification class you can rent a kayak for 3 hours for free. The instructor will sign a paper and a member card for you. Don't lose them! :)

If you own a boat, the launch fee is $5 per boat as of the day I am writing this blog.

Well, don't want to bore you anymore with the text. The photos are way more interesting. (And I have 2 more blogs to finish! I shouldn't have paddled at 3 different places 3 days in a row, should I ?!)

Enjoy! And see the detail about the park and the tour below. :)

If you have a trouble seeing photos hosted by Shutterfly, please drop me a comment.

 

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General Information about the tour:

Riverbend Fairfax County Park Official Events Website: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/riverbend/kayaktours.htm

Where to meet: near boat launch ramp (with Restrooms at the Visitor Center which is just steps away.)

How to register and make payment: Online before the event, accept only Visa and Master Card.

What are provided: boats (depending on the tour but canoes, solo, tandem kayaks and row boats are available), paddle, PFD, helmet (optional)

What to bring: water 

Riverbend Boat Rental Information:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/riverbend/fishing.htm

Happy Labor Day

Hope you all have a chance to paddle during this long weekend. I paddled over 8 hours in total during the past 3 days. Now I owe you 3 posts! And next weekend I'll be at Deep Creek Open. :)

Stay tuned.

About Roof Rack

Aug 21, 2012

We always learn a lot from an expert. Don't you agree ? I start testing a couple boats belonged to the school last Saturday and also revisit the roof rack research. Again Mike, my kayak instructor, gave me a great suggestion. He suggested me to look at an inflatable roof rack called HandiRack by Malone. It gets pretty positive reviews. And it's over $ 400 cheaper than the permanent roof rack and still does its job. Honestly I am 70% sure I am going to go with this rack. I could put more money toward the boat and gears.

A couple things to be careful are 1) scratches created by the rack. Many users suggest putting the towels underneath the rack. 2) water leaking through the doors which can be avoided by not leaving this inflatable racks on when it's rain.

3-door Volk Polo with HandiRack

Mini Cooper with HandiRack

Now my car is a 3-door Volkswagen Golf not a 5-door. So how to install the rear rack ? I found the photo above. I probably need to put a couple foams on the roof as a support toward the back. HandiWorld provides a great photo gallery of their product. You might want to check it out.

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May 11, 2012

Yesterday I took a free 1.5-hour class at REI about How to Select a Kayak led by Mike, the owner of CKAPCO, and a staff at REI (I think she is the head of the paddling department, an avid paddler and she is smaller than me at 5'-2"!) The part that I was excited most was about how to load a kayak to the roof of a car by yourself. Loading from the front or back of a car using bath mats was my favorite. ha!

This is a photo of Volk Golf 3-door from online. I have this car too with the exact same antenna!

So I couldn't help visiting Thule website again. I love their Fitting Guide feature which made my life much easier since I knew nothing about a roof rack. I didn't grow up with one and nobody in my group was crazy about paddling.

So once you are on Thule website you select your vehicle, model, year and roof feature (if that is a case). Thule will ask if you would like to select a base system (the roof rack) or other accessories which vary by type of activities or usage such as cargo, snowsport, bike or watersport. I had nothing so I started with the base system. 

Thule will list options for each component, the foot, the bar, etc, for you to choose from. You can look at the price, the detail of each piece, photos or download PDF of the installation guide on a pop-up window.

Once you complete your base system you can keep adding item in my case I add accessories for watersport. I found that their "compare" option doesn't work for me though.

The feature I like most is that you don't have to buy all these from Thule. (The price is MSRP which means expensive.)  You can print your complete list and go shopping at local dealers or online stores. If you pick an online store, it will export this list to your cart automatically. I got much better price from my favorite store, Amazon with free shipping on most of the items.

Anyway, I am so excited about this and just want to share with other newbies out there.

Lake Audubon, Reston, Virginia

Taking off at 9 am!

The forecast said that we would get few shower on Saturday morning so I didn't want to drive far to other boat rental places. (But we didn't get any. Got a lot of sun instead. Brownie me.) I decided to ask my instructor if I can try some of the school's boats to explore Lake Audubon when the class took place. I had been wanting to explore this lake since it is so lovely in fall.  My request was granted so here I was. Paddling.

Houses

Lake Audubon is a bit bigger than Lake Anne and surrounded by higher-end housing but no boat rental available. The launch boat here is very active and no fee is charged. I took some photos and I hope you enjoy them. (You can check out more photos on my new photo page on Shutterfly. I am in a progress of moving my photos from multiply.com as it is closing down its photo sharing service.)

Aww there is a little cove to explore here...

A pedestrian bridge number 37 over Snakeden Branch.

The prettiest setting for a storm drain I've ever seen so far.

Heading back to the lake

I scared him/her and a couple turtles today. 

Houses around the lake and a lovely sky

Who doesn't love flowers ?! (ok..I was stuck.)

Water can have a pattern too.

Sleeping Duckies

Jackson Journey 13.5, my ride in the morning.

I also took this opportunity to paddle (and carry) 2 kayaks, Jackson Journey 13.5 and 14. And of course practiced paddling strokes and maneuvers. I'll write about them on a separate blog. Yep! I am on the search for a boat. We'll see if I decide to keep renting for another year instead.

Oh well I am sore. (good sore) I ended up paddling for over 3 hours instead of 2 hours as planned. My instructor talked me out of it with by asking a very simple question "Did you practice all your strokes ?" Eww.

Anyway, I would say you can paddle around the lake for fun in less than 1 hour. 

Until next paddling. If the schedule works out, I'll be canoeing at Riverbend! :)