by Bob Maxey - trip coordinator
Six paddlers, Mike Keefe, Ernie Katz, Alf Cooley, Jenny Thomas, Kim Buttleman and Bob Maxey, trip leader, paddled the Shenandoah from Rt. 50 to Locke’s Landing on Thursday, July 22. The trip is an easy 10 miles; we saw Egrets, Bald Eagles and Heron, and a curious Deer.
Alf Cooley adds: The four gauges: Front Royal, Strasburg, Passage and Cedar Creeks- totaled 618 cfs for the run - about 2" at the multiple riffles. This was below the mean for this time of year. We were joined as we ate lunch by a bubbly lady, Kim Overholt, on a red sit-on top. We'd last seen her paddling upstream from the put-in, but she'd decided to join us and hitch a ride back. Excellent company. The day was a cool upper 70s, and we enjoyed a mild upstream breeze. This section, called "Mellow Waters" by Matacia and Corbett 50 years ago, has the flattest water in the valley - only 3 feet per mile. Main feature, near the end of the run is an Indian fish-trap, made of small rocks in a perfect "V".