Kindly Old Dr. K’s Hydrosphere

It was 50 degrees today, with 4.75 ft on the Little Falls gauge, about 20,000 cfs.  There are some good spots on the river for the right boat at this level.  For playboaters one of the good ones is Offutt Island Channel, a small channel on the Maryland side of the river with a nice little breaking wave to play around on.  It's not anything radical, but it's friendly and safe, adventure enough when the water still has ice in it.  Some local yokels and some folks from Team River Runner were out this afternoon.  For 24/7/365 boating you can’t beat the Mighty Po. 

Fellow Traveler Update 12/28/07 - She’s still there two weeks later, despite higher water.

For the last month or so, this heron has maintained a constant vigil over the small fish in the Maryland Chute on the Potomac. I’ve paddled through the chutes a dozen times recently, from 8:00AM to dark, and she is always in the same spot. She’s having great success, as I’ve seen her snarf up quite a few small fish, and she doesn’t mind if you play in the hole just a few feet away. She doesn’t like it if you eddy out on river left near her, though. What a joy to see our fellow travelers on the planet enjoying their day on the river.

This is Colin Kemp, World Kayak guru, formerly of Washington, DC, currently of Reno, NV, on Observation Deck Rapids near DC.  The guy with the tripod is Roy Sewall, a pro photographer who asked us to “pose” for photos for his photo art book about the Potomac.  This was fall of 06, I believe.  I’m not sure if the other photographers were working with him or tourists.  I just like the way this photo turned out. 

 One of the cool things about O-Deck is that it’s right below Great Falls.  Colin is looking upstream at an 80-foot high cascade right in front of him.  Intimidating and very impressive.

The white stuff on the rocks is a type of diatom that turns white when it dries out during certain seasons.  When it’s wet it’s green/brown and slick as ice.