Paddling the Occoquan Reservoir

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Hi Blog!

After a busy week of puppy sitting and hanging out with William, we are back to our regular RVing. Today we took the kayaks to Fountainhead Park in Northern Virginia to access the Occoquan Reservoir.

In the 1950's, two dams were built on the Occoquan River by the Alexandria Water Company. The first was a 30-foot-high dam constructed in 1950 impounding 55 million gallons. Then in 1957, the company built a 70-feet high dam upstream to impound almost 10 billion gallons. The Occoquan Reservoir runs from the confluence of the Occoquan River and Bull Run, down to the town of Occoquan.  Eventually, below the dam, the Occoquan River joins the Potomac River and empties into the Chesapeake Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean.

After talking with two fellow kayakers pictured below, we decided to see if we could reach Bull Run. They indicated it would be about a two hour paddle. Kathy was ready to head upstream.

(Take note: the boat launch at Fountainhead Park has black rubber mats which make launching and retrieving your kayaks a dream.)

We couldn't have asked for a nicer paddle day. The sky was clear and the water calm.

This heron looked down on us as we glided by:

We spotted these turtles sunning themselves on a fallen tree.

This guy let us get up close. He appears to be admiring his reflection in the water.

Occoquan Reservoir is 2,100-acres and straddles part of the boundary between Fairfax County and Prince William County. It is know for excellent bass fishing, fat crappie and bluegill. The winding river basin and a multitude of coves create over 40 miles of shoreline to explore and fish. The overhanging brush make a perfect place for fish to hide and fisher folk to loose their bobbers!

The Occoquan River valley contains several types of herons. We mainly saw great blue herons, although we spotted one tricolor heron and one green heron.

There are also grey herons.

Most of the north side of the reservoir is made up of a series of parks and preserves. However, there are a few grandfathered properties like this $1.4 million estate on the banks of Stillwell Creek.

Large granite outcroppings caused the river to take a sharp turn. Kathy heads off to see if she can spot the deer she saw on the far bank.

The foliage along the banks makes a great resting spot for herons. We seemed to run into one every few yards.

After two hours of poking up streams and in coves, we needed to get out of our kayaks and stretch our legs. We found a nice spot and decided to have our lunch. With temperatures climbing, we decided to make this our turnaround and save reaching Bull Run for another day.

After lunch, we headed back downstream. Kathy noticed a tiny little hitchhiker. This baby praying mantis somehow jumped on her kayak while we were tied to shore. After some careful encouragement, Kathy managed to get the little critter to jump on some grass hanging from the bank. 

He wasn't the only creature we helped today. A bumblebee fell into a drainwell on Kathy's kayak. Dave carefully fished out the wet bee with a tiny stick. The bee  grabbed the stick and held on while Dave moved it over to his kayak, where it rested in the sun and began to dry out. Once the bee seemed dry enough, Dave offered him the little stick, which he eagerly climbed up; then Dave gently placed the stick on a fallen tree, where the bee dismounted to finish his drying process. Another life saved!

As we made our way back toward the boat ramp, we noticed a family of geese. Usually, goose parents would quickly do an about-face and take the babies into the brush, or across the lake in the opposite direction. This family, however, seemed very curious. Dave sat still as mom and dad led their troop right by. At one point, dad had to coral the curious kids as they tried to approach Dave's boat. 

After such a cool encounter with the goose family, the bright yellow buoy seemed boring. However, the night light does help fishermen return to the boat launch after dark.

We noticed this structure on the way upstream, but decided to save exploring it until the way back. Our GPS indicated it was the old Ryons Dam. 

 

We later learned that Colonel Fred B. Ryons, who served in the US Army Corps of Engineers in World War I, decided to go into the hydroelectric business in the 1920's. In 1928, he purchased land on the Occoquan River upstream of the town of Occoquan, then built a dam between the lower Davis Ford and Wolf Run Shoals Road. He designed the dam to include six generators, but only four were installed. The hydropower generated at Ryons Dam was sold to customers in Prince William County, because the Bull Run hydroelectric dam near modern-day Hemlock Overlook served Fairfax customers in the Clifton area. Ryon generated power from about 1930 to 1947, when what is now Doninion Power began to provide cheaper electricity generated at larger facilities such as Possum Point. When the Occoquan Reservoir was built and then expanded in the 1950's, most of Ryons Dam was submerged. Today it serves as a reference point for crew teams and boaters on the reservoir, and a reminder that technological change can result in significant land use changes.

Or for us, a fun place to play hide and seek. Kathy tried to hide from Dave. It does't look like she was successful!

While the main channel of the reservoir can reach 122 feet deep, the sides near the banks can be quite shallow. We often had to work our way around fallen trees. This one, in particular, appeared as if it was some type of sculpture protruding from the depths.

We finished up just in time to get our kayaks off the boat ramp before a herd of high school students on a paddle board trip swarmed the dock area, heaving boards, paddles and life jackets in every direction. We barely escaped!

And so ends another adventure. Tomorrow, we plan to meet up with some RV friends, Ron and Dee Stuebing for an afternoon of wine tasting and chuckluck.

Until then, stay thirsty my friends!

Appalachian Trail - Thornton Gap to Pass Mountain

 Saturday, June 4, 2022

Almost exactly a year ago, while we were camped in Luray, Virginia, where we are now camped, we had a chance to hike south from Thornton Gap in Shenandoah National Park.  Today, we decided to hike the other way -- north to Pass Mountain.  As we walked to the trailhead, David got his "Abbey Road" going:

 

 

Shenandoah National Park is one of the oldest and most visited of the country's national parks.  On a weekend, vehicles can be lined up half a mile to enter the park's beautiful Skyline Drive, either to take in the views from their automobile, or to find a trailhead for an inspiring hike.

 

We skipped the crowds by starting early and driving into the park from the West on a lesser-used road.  While there were a few other vehicles in the parking lot, we saw no one else as we locked up the Jeep and started for the trailhead.

 

 

This section of the A.T. is not as rocky as many, and the surface was relatively dry because this area has had no rain for at least a week.  But the semitropical Spring has made everything a lush green:

 

 

Our total distance was about 6 miles round-trip.  Halfway out, we reached the Pass Mountain Hut shelter that is popular among A.T. through-hikers.  We were tipped off to it by three day-hikers who had gotten an early start and were returning in our direction as we headed up the trail.

 

 

Next to the hut, we spotted these two trees that appeared locked in an embrace like a modern sculpture such as "The Kiss," "Lovers," or the like:

 

 

A gushing spring, improved with a pipe that let the water spill out for easy filling of water bottles, was but a few steps from the hut.  Kathy couldn't help dipping her hand in the spring to splash cool water on her hot head:

 

 

The shelter provides quite a few amenities for long-distance hikers, including numerous tent sites, TWO pit toilets (one, pictured below, is a new composting toilet -- see if you can spot Kathy, who was inspecting it):

 

 

When we reached the summit of Pass Mountain, we found a pleasant spot for lunch, far away from the black flies that were haunting the most popular lunch spot on the mountain:

 

 

We had a number of small, pleasant surprises on our walk back, including a hollow log with plants peeking in the other end --

 

 

-- boulders and ledges that told the geological story of this region, where parallel ridges bounding the North and South Forks of the Susquehanna River were lifted up in great angular walls --

 

 

-- and smaller marvels, such as this unusual little white fungus --

 

 

-- and a huge, late-blooming mountain laurel that stood by an old, disappearing woods road that led to --

-- a massive water tank that the National Park Service uses for its water supply at the complex below:

Perhaps the most enjoyable surprises were a series of encounters with hikers on long-distance trips: a backpacker training to through-hike the A.T. next year; three section hikers, each heading north separately on weekend outings; and two through-hikers headed north to the end of the Appalachian Trail on Mount Katahdin in Maine.  We wished them all well with mixed feelings.  On the one hand, we envied them their adventures, yet, on the other hand, we were happy we can hike each, and every, day when the mood strikes us and the weather suits, and  then return to our happy little house.

Closer to the end of our hike, we marveled at the stone work around a culvert carrying a stream under the nearby highway.

The afternoon sun still seemed to be soft, lighting up a brilliant blue sky, and glowing green through the forest's new veil of leaves:

It seemed to soon, but we popped out at a second trailhead near our parking lot (the trailhead for our hike a year ago) and waved a happy "goodbye" to our good friend A.T. until we see her again in the near future:

 

Rafting the Shenandoah River

Friday, June 3, 2022

Hi Blog! 

We are in Luray, Virginia again for a few days as we work our way back toward Arlington in time for William's last day of school. We arrived Wednesday, but the excessive heat kept us inside the rig with the air conditioner on high. Thursday was full of random thunderstorms which also kept us housebound. Luckily, none of the storms were very big and the cold front that came through cooled everything down. It was time to get out and about.

Having visited the Luray Caverns several times, we set our sights on a trip down the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. We thought of taking our kayaks and arranging a shuttle, but decided a nice relaxing float trip would be more fun. We contacted Shenandoah River Outfitters and arranged for inner tubes.

When we arrived to check in, the crew was concerned that the weather might not be warm enough to tube and suggested we switch to a raft. We were not sure if the concern was for our comfort or for the fact that no other tubers signed up, but four other groups had arranged to raft, so they really wanted us to join the rafters.  Either way, we agreed to go forth in a raft. We joined the other groups -- three families and a group of 30-somethings -- and loaded on a school bus for the short drive to Seakford's Boat Launch, which is number 16 on our map.

After helping unload the rafts, we jumped into the smallest one and began our journey downstream. 

 

The South Fork Shenandoah River begins at the confluence of the North River and South River near Port Republic, Virginia and flows north 97 miles to meet the North Fork Shenandoah at the Town of Front Royal, Virginia. The South Fork Shenandoah watershed covers 1,650 square miles. Surface runoff from the western slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, parts of the Allegheny Mountains, Massanutten Mountain, and ground water from the karst regions of the Shenandoah Valley and Page Valley make up the flow of the river.

 

But enough geography and all that -- Kathy just wants to go with the flow:

Dave is keeping the raft pointed downstream:

Dragon flies were our constant companions:

Twenty public access points along the entire length of the river creates the opportunity to plan many different float trips of varying distances, geared to varying river water levels. Except for the public access points and small sections of George Washington National Forest land on the west bank of the river, the majority of the land bordering the river is private property. However, the dense foliage hides much of the development and you almost believe you are floating in a wilderness.

Did you know there are over 132 different species of dragonflies in Virginia? We saw at least a dozen different types. Apparently, they love Coppertone Suntan lotion.

These rocks were formed millions of years ago when layers of sandstone, shale, and limestone were being built along the edge of an ancient predecessor of the continent we now call North America. The gradual deposition process that created the sedimentary rocks went on for 200 million years—a period about 1,000 times longer than modern humans have existed as a species. That's some old rock!

The limestone karst formations in these mountains are filled with caves. There are nine different cave structures you can visit in the Shenandoah Valley. We spotted this cave high up on a cliff wall.

Just before we reached Compton's Class II Rapids, we pulled off on a gravel bar to stretch our legs and have a bite to eat. We wanted one last meal just in case we didn't make it.

As we prepared to run the rapids, butterflies joined us on our beach. We took this as a good omen, since butterflies are a metaphor for hope.

After lunch, we shoved off and headed right into the belly of the beast. We have no photos or video since all our attention was focused on getting through without tipping the raft. After surviving our near death experience, Kathy took a moment to marvel at "The Cliff."

As we looked back, we could see the tents of Golden Rock Campground, a private campground run by the Downriver Canoe Company.

Just around the bend was the Riverrun Campground. This campground is open to the public. Eac of the primitive sites has a picnic table, fire ring and a port-a-potty, but no water or electricity.  Now that Memorial Day Weekend has passed, the geese have Riverrun to themselves.

Below, Kathy watches as two families ahead of us navigate the next set of rapids.

If you wish to share more deeply in our adventure, click the link to take a look at our run through some of the minor rapids. See if you can tell where David dropped the camera to help straighten the raft! 

During the warm summer months when the river level is lower, stop number 19 is the last stop. With the recent rains, the river level was high enough that we could make it over three ledges to Stop 20.

The swift current made it challenging to land our raft, but the other families helped pull us in. We took one last look at the river before jumping on the bus.

And so ends a beautiful day on the water. We hope to get out again tomorrow and hike another section of the Appalachian Trail. Until then, stay thirsty my friends!