River'd up!

Finally, after a few preliminaries on Sunday morning, the last day of my vacation, I persuaded Mary and Barbara to go on a canoe float. The three of us once canoed from Elkton to Shenandoah on a spring weekend after staying at a PATC cabin down there, so I knew they were up for it and would enjoy it as I would. We also brought Barb’s 13 year old border collie Willie with us, and he rode in the canoe with them.

We went with Downriver Canoe Company (http://www.downriver.com/) in Bentonville for this one – we organized the trip in a car shuttle sort of way, so that Barbara could leave directly from the put-in at Compton Rapids. Here are three views from that area, where Downriver has a little campground. Then we all drove in one car up to the outfitter site – downriver has quite a few of these vans and there are always trailers loaded and ready to go with boats and canoes.

M and B paired up, with Willie, in a canoe – shown here as they set off. I followed in a kayak.

The river was high from all the rain, running fast, and mostly smooth. There were still a few bumpy spots, but unlike the long ago trip from Elkton, we didn’t have to exit the boat to push off of any rocks, which is very typical in the Shenandoah.

For wildlife, we saw herons and geese, among others. There is an eagles’ nest in this part of the river, and we saw one of them in flight. There were lots of folks camped along the shore or fishing, and this big group was canoeing behind us for part of the way. We also passed some tube floaters.

Barbara has a secret campground on a small island in this area, and she and Mary broke off to explore it…the high water had brought a couple of trees down in that area and they had to do some portage, though – but they did spot the campsite. After they disappeared on their adventure, I paddled to a confluence and was able to float with minimal paddling to wait for them, about 15 minutes – that was a nice experience because the water was very fast on either side of me, but facing into the wind in a leeward spot I was in a zone of complete quiet.

Finally, we were back at the campground near Compton. Barbara and I decided to do the rapids, which are Class II whitewater most of the time. It was big water this day, however, and from above we could see big heaps and pools as the river crashed over the rocks. She went down in the kayak, staying to the right, and then came back, and she and I went down in the canoe – photo is of us approaching the landing.

The last image is one of the bluffs just below the Compton Rapids. For about four river miles above, and continuing on to Front Royal, this is what the river looks like. It’s also the reason for much of this river’s character – these rock layers extend out into the river bed. On days when the water is clear you can see them below.