If you read the last post, you know the family was in Florida at the beginning of March. Here is what was left out of the previous paddling post: bacon, swimming and fishing.
The bacon crew.
Uncle David proudly displaying his masterpiece with the sunset.
We had the largest gathering of McCorkle's that I can remember - with the addition of the neighbors and the lovely Sloane, i think we had 16 people cooking bacon. This was also the first time that we had to ration the bacon, the old man actually used a ruler to make sure everyone got the same amount.
Swimming is awesome.
Captain dad with a lady fish
Keeping the sun off of their faces.
Jimbo releasing a lady fish
The Jims doing what they do best
A magnifying glass on steroids. My dad and the neighbor use this to burn stumps out of the ground. It is the front element of an old projection TV, and it is the coolest toy.
In April I packed my gear and headed north to the Allegheny National forest in PA for our annual weekend of camping and general debauchery to celebrate the first day of trout fishing season. It was unusually quiet this year, and the images I captured reflect that. Where we would normally have 8-10 tents and 15 or more people camped at our site, we had 3 tents and my hammock - only 4 people including myself called our normal spot home this year. All my rowdy friends have settled down......
Good morning fire at the site on the first day of trout - normally the pile of wood is four times this amount.
My corner of heaven.
Late night around the fire. There were moments of rowdiness that included the neighbors, even with the skeleton crew.
Spring creek in all its glory on the dawn of trout season.
Frog eggs litter the puddles this time of year.
Star trails above the 3 camp sites. To the left, in the pines is where our group stays. The middle, across the creek is the old folks camp, too many of our crew have resolved to staying there..... To the right is the other young folks camp.
Early to bed on a saturday night. Passed out with boots on normally warrants getting messed with quite a bit - but since I was the only one up, i photographed him so the world will know his shame.
A portrait I made of a drill rig upstream from our campsite. I suspect it was a fresh water well to provide water for the fracking that is occurring all over the hills in this area.
I spent a fair amount of time this spring paddling the rivers and creeks in MD, WV and PA. Falling off of waterfalls in kayaks, surfing waves, avoiding trash in Baltimore harbor and making new friends.
Nate at wonder falls on the lower Big Sandy River in west virginia.
Zac seal launching after the portage around big splat rapid, one that has claimed a few lives in the past.
A light illuminates the paddlers on the play wave at the Stonycreek Rendezvous, in PA.
Andrew Froom night surfing the wave at the Stonycreek Rendezvous.
Adam Homberg getting vertical before a loop at the Stonycreek Rendezvous freestyle rodeo.
Seth Chapelle mid loop at the Stonycreek Rendezvous freestyle rodeo.
On Easter sunday, Sloane and I caught the sunrise in Baltimore harbor. I was on a mission to get some good shots for a paddling publication, which worked out really well. I also did a sunset paddle with my friend Ian on the same day, near the mouth of the Patapsco river.
A full moon over the harbor at twilight and avoiding the trash at the city boat launch.
Ian determining if he should take on a project.
Sloane paddling past UA and a boat loaded with sugar of some sort at the dock of Domino.
When jerks litter in the Chesepeake Bay watershed, a lot of it ends up here. The amount of trash in the sea grass here was sickening.
Sunset on the harbor through the archway of a bridge.
Sloane's folks came to town in April and we braved the millions of people at the cherry blossom festival in DC. It was beautiful and epic to see the trees in full bloom, however this is the one and only time I will be attending - so. many. people. We managed to have a good time aside from the crowds.
Most recently we took a trip to the Green Ridge state forest in western MD, we camped out and floated on the Potomac river in a section called the Paw Paw Bends. It was most excellent.
These folks are the coolest.
Monica, Ian and Ovie.
We found a rope swing, Ian used it.
Proper PFD usage for a booze float.
Ovie, he spent more time trying to get out of the kayak than he did in it.
This ginormous black widow was on Ian's tote when I got it out of the car in the morning. Super creepy.
Queen of hearts.
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