i have been testing out the waters of my new home state this past month, trying to find myself some new spots to paddle. the inaugural trip was down to the patuxent river in bowie md. when i put on the water and was pretty happy to find a river that was reminiscent of some south cackalacky blackwater rivers - small, winding and swampy - it felt like home a bit. i paddled up stream 7 miles against the current and found a sweet place to hang my hammock for a beer break.
beer thirty
found this guy near my hangout
the illusive wood duck
patuxent river in all of its' glory
garter snake
tree at the put in
stormy skies above the put in
my second trip out was to some tidal waters in the state capitol annapolis md. i met up with my old charleston housemate austin and we put on under a bridge in the south river, into some pretty gusty headwinds on open water. going was slow, but when the wind finally died, it was quite pleasant and the outgoing tide finally worked in our favor. we paddled about 8 miles one way to austin's neighborhood landing and got off the water just as the sun was setting.
one of about a million osprey on the south river
searching for the next meal
an unsuccessful attempt to grab a fish
austin's beautiful paddling form
sunset
a container ship on the way up the mighty chesapeake bay
the latest trip i recruited my old college roomy frank to push some water on the potomac, and do a little camping along the water. we put on near point of rocks md, and paddled 24 miles down river to edwards ferry. the water was moving pretty quickly from recent rains, so we were able to cover a lot of distance fast. it also poured down rain for more than half the day, and we got a little bit wet. we were graced with a break in the precipitation long enough to set up camp on a very muddy island, and get a fire going. pretty much as soon as we cooked dinner the skies opened up again, and we were very happy with our decision to hang the tarp in the trees. the weather cleared overnight and we had a beautiful morning to finish the last 5 miles of our trip.
gearing up at the put in
the only shot i made on the water the first day, after this it was too wet to shoot. point of rocks bridge in the distance
make shift garage on our muddy island. we had a hell of a time getting this fire going with everything so saturated.
franky bones drying out
frank boiling water for the evening meals.
frank pushing water on day 2
sunny skies the second morning
whites ferry across the potomac
big ass power lines over the river, the noise these suckers were making was unbelievable.