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.

 

                     Click here to view these pictures larger

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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

My Morning Kayak Tour at Algonkian Regional Park, VA

Our boats for today

Algonkian Regional Park is the only park in the area that doesn't have a boat rental at the moment. (They're working on the insurance and hope to have it next year. :) ) So for now you need your own boat or join their tour like I did this morning. :) I am sure once they have it set up it is going to be so popular. It is so close to the city.

I love the cloudy sky.

We couldn't even see the edge of the water.

This is why I love the cloudy sky.

This is a 4-hour tour starting from 8am-12pm. (I think I am getting better!) I was a bit anxious this morning if we were going to get lightening storm but we didn't! And the best part was the lovely cloud through out the trip.

After signing all the liability form and reviewing the basic (repeat...paddle with your torso. :)) we headed out onto the Potomac River. We had 7 people total. The youngest kayaker is 11-year-old boy. The paddle was too long for him but he handled the trip very very well.

The water here is so flat that I got scared. ha ha. Because it means everything depending on your paddling...only.

The impact of the heavy runoff. Notice the sharp cutoff bank.

Our tour guide, Rob (if I heard correctly), used to be on IT business and got tired of being a cube all day so here he is...on the wide open river. He led us to the creek, the polluted area and mentioned that he will try to set up a clean-up day. He also expressed his concern about the heavy runoff in the area. I read about a runoff for my LEED exam but never really witness the impact or the damage of the heavy runoff until now. 

A view from the island

Another great thing about paddling here is there are a bunch of islands you can hop on and off or have a long break. You can also get onto the trail on Maryland side without driving on the beltway. You also have creeks and coves along the river. I feel like a little explorer. (ok...The islands are not that big and I know we're still in a city.)

Some flowers on the island

And some froggy

He needs my ride. :)

Don't want to bore you all with my writing. Just try to paddle here if you can get a boat. Or just join the tour. (Please see the link below.) But you probably won't see me next month because I am going to see all the canoe and kayak celebrities at Deep Creek Open!

Until next paddling~

Check out more photos from the trip here. (Please note my photo sharing host is closing down their service. I am testing Photobucket and Shutterfly at the moment. Let me know what you think.)

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General Information about the tour:

Algonkian Regional Park Official Events Website: http://www.nvrpa.org/park/algonkian/events
Where to meet: Boat ramp (with Porta Potty Restrooms only)
How to register and make payment: Registration is required, over the phone only, accept only Visa and Master Card.
What are provided: Boats (single-person kayaks for sure. You may need to ask the staff over the phone about others.) paddle, PFD

What to bring: lots of water, snack, sunblock bug spray (I don't need one. :) )

A Night Tour at Fountainhead Regional Park, VA

I finally got back on to the boat again yesterday for a 3-hour-long night tour at Fountainhead Regional Park. Well...it's dark. Very dark that you could see lots of stars. Unfortunately my knowledge in astronomy is zero so I couldn't tell you what I saw. We're lucky that we got a very clear sky as well. The water was very calm that I think you could just float your air mattress on the water and stay there all night.

It's quite different from the tour at Pohick Bay since the water here is wide open. We visited a couple coves not too far from the boat launch and came across deers, birds, frogs, submerged concrete structure with spiders, etc. The paddling was relaxing. All you can hear was the paddle hit against the water which was very loud when you had 15 people on the tour. (ha ha I could see my instructor clutching his head.) If you just want to paddle away, here is your place.

The moon rose above the trees line about half hour before the tour was over so it's rewarding.

Meanwhile you can check out the photos I took last year by clicking here. It's really pretty in fall. I am sure I'll be on a boat for hours here later this year.

Stay tuned for a tour at Algonkian Regional Park next week. I promise some photos since it's a morning tour!

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General Information about the tour:

Fountainhead Regional Park Official Events Website: http://www.nvrpa.org/park/fountainhead/events
Where to meet: Marina boat rental building (with Restrooms)
How to register and make payment: Registration is required, over the phone only, accept only Visa and Master Card.
What are provided: Boats (single-person kayaks, tandem kayaks, canoes - for the tours, more options for rental) paddle, PFD, headlight
What to bring: water, bug spray (I don't need one this time. :) It's breezy.)

Mattawoman Creek, Indian Head, Maryland

I heard about Mattawoman Creek from a kayaking group in the area. They mentioned about the lotus blossom which I had never known that the flower even existed in this country and the best part is that there is a boat rental! So I just have to see it!

The lotus blossoms are along the creek. So just paddle toward East or you reach Occoquan Bay. The rental office has a map showing the location of the blossoms for you to look at. 

My paddling path. A little short today.

To see the flowers up-close you just need to paddle though the weed. I hardly saw one right on the edge of water trail. Not easy but it's a good exercise for your torso (as all the experts say you shouldn't use your arm or shoulder muscle). Just paddle with low angle so you don't spoon the heavy weed out of the water.

Isn't it weird to see a trail on the water ?

 

Hello there!

Fishing

Today was so warm (and the storm never came) that after 2 hours of paddling I was pretty much drained and grilled. I wish they opened at 7 am instead of 10 am. Next time I'll try to go further down the creek. Just want to see more of it.


More photos available on my photo page.

Check out this funny slideshow from their paddling at the creek. Unfortunately I didn't see any froggy today.

Another interesting place nearby is Mallows Bay Park where over 100 ships were sunken and tons of wildlife to see. Definitely on my wish list. And stay tuned for my next night paddling tours at Fountainhead and Algonkian on the two upcoming weekends. Who said there is nothing to do in DC area ?!

OH! Have you tried Young Lotus Root Salad from Four Sisters Vietnamese Restaurant in Fall Church, Virginia ? Very refreshing. If you like Papaya Salad at a Thai restaurant, you gonna love this dish. If you have never had it, just give it a try!

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Let's talk about the rental a bit. I rented a kayak from Up the Creek. The staffs were so nice and kind. The lady at front desk let me look at the "Hobie kayak" at the back of their store and explained how I could put a propeller on the back of the boat. Then showed me the map of lotus blossoms locations. She even cut the plastic package of the ice pop for me I bought before I left (so I don't have to bite it off. ha ha.)

Their kayak, my junk, my lunch bag and their paddle.

Since it's a very active launch site and today there was a group of at least 20 kayakers about to take off when I got there. A young staff came to tell the front desk I might want to get ready soon otherwise I might have to wait for a really long time to launch.

THE launch pad (or whatever it is called...)

The reason is that this rental has a fancy launch pad for a kayak...at least it's fancy in my opinion. :) The lady at the dock walked me through since she probably noticed I have never used it before. It's basically a big plastic tray with handrails and series of rollers at the bottom so you don't drag your kayak on a hard surface. 

General Information about Up the Creek:

Website: http://www.upthecreekrentals.net/
Rental Hours: Friday-Sunday, 10am-6pm
Good to Know: 
- Concrete boat ramp is available for your kayaks, motor boats, paddle boards etc. The office has their kayak launch pad.
- The park closes at dark.
- Mattawoman Creek is a great place to fish.
- I would say the kayaks and all the gears here are in great care. It seems they are kept indoor. Sit-in and Sit-on-Top are available. You can have a propeller attached to the boat too!
- If you're small and have short legs like me, make sure you ask for a smaller boat. (But I am not sure they have one.) My feet couldn't reach the foot rests unless I stretched my legs damn straight which is very awkward to paddle like that.
- Many selection for ice cream at the rental office. Perfect for a hot day like this. (or any days actually)

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