Once again the number of people on the trip exceeded the turtles seen in the C&O Canal - 12 vs 15.
Tim Tilson would have liked it - three OC-1s - Gary & Ginny Quam paddling solo instead of OC-2, and loving it. Tom Panning came - sans kids or Reina - off to S.C. Wayne was there with his grandson Scott - It should be noted that Scott tried surfing for the first time on the rapid below Jacuzzi and did a very creditable job for a first attempt. A few more good days on the river like that and we will have to forge a note to get him out of school when we go down to paddle the James.
and Tejan B in blue rec kayak returned for more.
John, Hein, and I dropped over the edge of the Dam No 2 and worked our way across just below the berm, entering the diagonal entry to just below Surfers Ledge. John pointed out the boulders on either side - this was where the GW Canal met the Potomac (I presume the dam had not yet been built - 30 years separate the GW and the C&O..)
The rest of out dozen were Paul S, Greg Douglass, and Bill Carr.
The flowering plants seen include: Joe Pye weed, eight feet tall with its huge dusty purple flowers, a sunflower along the towpath bank, red cardinal flower, summer phlox, and the rose mallows along the river.
Kathleen and Kay Fulcomer had invited our crowd to join in the simultaneous Muddy Branch clean-up - which I'd told our crowd at the outset. After exiting the GW, I dropped down to Steve's Island to give our regrets - but neither of them had arrived yet.
Level was 3.86 ft / 78 degrees (the water).