O-Deck Surfing and other Good Times

Last weekend turned out to be a great weekend for Paddling on the Potomac. On Saturday Ian and I met up with Scott at Great Falls and paddled the Fingers on the Center line of the falls for the first time. Ian captured the moment best when he turned to me above the entrance rapids to the falls and said, "I'm nervous as s%#$!" We made it to the eddy and walked the top drop- Grace Under Pressure- and scouted the lead in and the fingers drop.

Another added layer of nervousness came when we noticed the portage was completely iced over, so we really had no option but to run it. All went well in the end and it is a super fun drop, just a bit more hair raising than the MD or VA sides.

I met up with Johnny Haddock on Sunday for a more mellow day on the river. We attained up to the O-Deck wave and had an awesome surf session. We switched off boats so we both got in some great rides.

We then paddled back to Angler's stopping for a quick surf at MD Chute, and then were pleased with the nice surprise of lunch food provided in the Great Falls parking lot by the camera crew who was filming a quick piece on kayakers at Great Falls for the visitors center.

I put together a quick video below including the surfing at O-Deck and other random acts of the Homegrown Locals squad over the last month.

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Chilly Water

Its been some time since my last post. Work got busy, my internet was down and I've been out having fun.

Since last posting the water has gotten quite colder as well as the air.

John, Brett, Billy and I took a trip up to Western MD where we camped in 3 inches of snow and paddled 3 laps on the top Yough the next day then came back to DC and head out for an exciting night at Cheif Ike's.

The following weekend we stayed local and had an awesome day out on the VA side of Great Falls.

Brett, John and I had a nice Dawn Patrol paddle through Mather Gorge the day after we got about 4 inches of snow. That was a beautiful morning and another great start to a day at the office.

I headed out for an afternoon surf/lunch break at Rocky Island waves which was a nice distraction from work.

Brett and I went out for a quick surf at Rocky, then hiked up Difficult Run, paddled Difficult Run, I got beat down in a hole above the gorge, we walked the gorge, then paddled back to the cars.

Billy and I met up on Thursday, the 28th of December and surfed S-Turn at 3.79 then attained up the gorge and caught some good surfs at O-Deck wave. We almost had forgotten what it was like to paddle with lots of water again.

Slide on Sovern Run at the LBS putin

This evening we just got back from another great WV adventure. Ian, John and I drove out Saturday in time to get a run in on the Top Yough with almost twice as much water as a few weeks prior. Still a great run with some big holes to keep you on your feet.
We met up with Billy who had just got off the lower Big Sandy at Little Sandy's for some delicious homecookin'. We went to Teeter's and set up came. There was some drinking of beer and standing around in the cold before we decided to retire to the warmth of our fluffy sleeping bags.

The beautiful Emerald Green waters of the Lower Big Sandy

Sunday morning we awoke to foggy breath and icy gear. Ian got a fire going with bicycle chain lube and some small sticks. There was also an extra car in the otherwise abandoned field - Scott showed up after a long day of driving and kayaking further south in WV.

Thawing out some gear

We all took turns thawing out our gear around the pitiful flame and then got on the road to set shuttle. As it always seems to happen around those parts of WV the shuttle took a few hours, but we were on the Lower Big Sandy my around noon.

LBS putin, awaiting the shuttle drivers

This was John, Ian, and I's virgin run on this classic WV stream. You never get your first decent twice! What a great day for our first run down the LBS. The river was running at a moderate to lower level, but the water was clear as could be and the air was crisp. We were convinced by the veterans of the LBS that Wonder Falls was best run blind, so we followed the given verbal beta and all had great lines.

Scott at Wonder Falls, LBS

Ian Styling Wonder Falls

Scouting Big Splat

Team NRS member, Johnny Haddock, seal launching at Big Splat

Scott Firing up Big Splat

What a great weekend of paddling. We almost had the entire HGL crew together again, but Brett had to be snowboarding and snowmobiling his way around the snowy north Maine woods. We enjoyed some Banana Leaf Thai cuisine in Cumberland, MD on the way home.