Not surprising, we had 18 paddlers and one dog on Sideling Hill Creek, taking advantage of the water brought to us courtesy of the remnants of Hurricane Debby. What was surprising is that besides our large group, there was no one else on the creek. The Sideling Hill gage near Bellegrove, MD was 2.69 ft., 455 cfs at 12:15 pm, and dropped to 2.52 ft, 394 cfs by the time we were taking off. There were some fretful moments the night before when it looked like the creek may be too high for comfort. As it turned out, it was getting close to canoe zero by the time we were taking off. It was a beautiful, post hurricane day - sunny, high 70s to low 80s, with a little breeze.
The armada included Frank F. (TC), daughter Jamie and Rocco the dog in an OC-2, Bridget F. in a solo inflatable, daughter Kerry and friend Michael L. in a tandem inflatable, Tim P. and Monica in tandem inflatable, Hendrik vO., Gary and Ginny Q. in OC-1s, Sean D., Randy S., Margo R., John S., Pam W., Lauren W., Gordy L. and Virginia dR. in K-1s. We met at the I-68 Sideling Hill Welcome Center and put in at the small conservation parking area off New Germany Rd. (right off I-68, over one lane bridge and right into parking area). There was a quick swim next to a rock wall with an unintentional lean upstream, but provided a perfect excuse for a perfect lunch stop. After our lunch stop, the Fico tandem inflatable sprung a leak that couldn’t be fixed with duct tape, but the trip was completed with 3 adults and a large dog in the OC-2 and two adults in the solo inflatable. Not a first for them to convert the solo inflatable into a tandem. Six of us set shuttle so that we could take out at the state campsite at Stottlemyer/Cliff Rd. and the rest of the group paddled to the Lock 56 takeout on the Potomac. There was one swim at a braided section where a boat got swept into a root ball in strong current and flipped. Luckily, no snags on the wood and only a short swim ensued. Sideling Hill did not disappoint, scenery was beautiful, the water was playful and a green heron was spotted near the first take out.