Lower Gunpowder - Sunday April 29 - Afternoon

[Tony Allred]

If we get the rain predicted today and Saturday, I am planning to do a Lower Gunpowder run Sunday afternoon, meeting at Jones Road at 1:00 pm.  If interested contact Tony Allred by personal message or roster E-mail.

Tony Allred

[j cagg]

I am hoping to get in on this... I will PM you when I know for sure

[Ken in DC]

If the water is there, I plan to be there.

[j cagg]

I am in regardless of level, as long as the trip doesn't fall through!

[bd]

Guys,

I drove by the put in this evening around 7 PM and the level was a bit below zero.

They are no longer calling for significant rain overnight, so you might be in for a scrapey run tomorrow. 

Bill.

[j cagg]

Run it @ "0" before. I'm good with it!  (Expeiencing a serious paddle jones (no pun intended)

[Ken in DC]

I will wimp out on LGP today..... too low for the drive (from DC). Sorry! Enjoy!

[j cagg]

sorry to hear, Ken. I was looking forward to paddling with you...Anyone else down with a little low flow?

[Ken in DC]

I'm interested to know what the low flow run is like.... never have done LGP under about 3-4".... just seems a bit far from DC, when the old standby Little Falls (of the Potomac) is a 15-minute drive away.

[j cagg]

I have not done LGP when it is running yet, but I can say this about low-flow on it: It is likely a little more technical as most of the below Pot Rocks becomes a boulder garden. The major rapids are still there and a lot of fun. From the footage I have seen from Ebsuku on youtube, Pt Rocks is completely different when the river is running. I enjoy the low flow, as it seems the drop is bigger (looking back up after the run it looks about a 10 foot drop over about 25 yrds). The stuff approaching 95 bridge is still there as well, you need to make your moves on the fly as all of those boulders want to grab on to your boats hull and have you stck around for a while.

Fall Line is a blast! You still have all the wave train to work through, maybe a little extra boof work. The drops, I would think, a little more prominent since they aren't washed out. The lower part of Fall Line, from what I understand, is the same approach...get in the middle and let the water carry you. All you need to do is stay upright.

S-Turn is a blast for me. Again, the first drop is likely more prominent. The surf wave at the top seem like it is less vengeant to your mistakes, although the current still wants to flush you into the rock directly down stream. The elevator move from the bottom is fun and can be pulled off all day at this level.

So all in all...maybe it isn't big water glory, but it does require a lot of river reading to not get hung up. The channels are there, you just need to find them. If you like picking your way down stream between rapids, making quick course changes as you go, then you will enjoy a low-flow run here.

[j cagg]

As I haven't run LGP at good flow, does anyone else have a comprison? Wondering how far off I am...

[bd]

You're about right...

With more water, all the annoying rocks are covered, things start moving faster and get pushier. The rapids are a lot more fun as surf waves pop up and you can try to eddy hop through them - or blast down as you prefer. Somewhere around 3' (+/-) things start to wash out and much of the river becomes a fast flush.

If you've never seen the river with water, the one thing you want to watch out for is the rock which makes Pots rapid. It becomes a nasty pourover that can keep you for a long time. It's easily avoided if you know it's there, but easy to fall into if you don't.

bd

[Tony Allred]

"The lower part of Fall Line, from what I understand, is the same approach...get in the middle and let the water carry you. All you need to do is stay upright."

Yes.  But the best way to stay upright is to paddle hard.

Tony Allred