O.C.T. North Branch Potomac, Barnum to Bloomington, May 10 + 11

[bambam]

If some of this sounds familiar it's because I'm stealing bits from last year (and the year before that (and the year before that)) that worked and we had a good time.

This run forms part of the border between West Virginia and Maryland. I consider it to be a fast-moving class II / III run. Decades ago, for me, it was a test to see if I was ready to move up to the lower Yough in Pennsylvania.

Dam releases are scheduled for both days. This allows for consistent good flows, almost always. Exceptions are when we have too little or too much water, neither of which is likely this year, fingers crossed. Water can be released from the reservoir from various depths so the water temperature can cover a significant range. Come prepared for chilly.

We usually paddle both days with a later start on Saturday to allow for travel there and earlier on Sunday to allow travel time home. Let's meet at the Bloomington takeout both days, noon on Saturday and ten on Sunday. Please don't just show up. I'd like to hear from you ahead of time.

A good river description can be found here.

https://www.americanwhitewater.org/cont ... /2430/main

I will be "camping" at a hotel. I won't be coordinating camping. The local campgrounds that I know of are Robert W. Craig and Big Run State Park.
There are cabins (haven't checked on availability) and tent sites at the put in (first come, first served so go a day early?). 304-788-5732. There are hotel rooms in Keyser, WV, not so far away.

Let me know if you need help with directions. As is true with many of my favorite places, I don't know whether a phone app will get you there or not and I don't know how good cell phone signals are there anyway. A search for Owens Ave in Bloomington, MD got me close. Look for a steep hill down to a grass parking area near the river.

Cheers,

Ken Dubel

[Leerail]

I’ll be there the 10th and 11th

[jhutt4]

I’ll be there on Saturday at noon at the takeout. This is the same takeout as the Savage. See you then, Jamie Hutt.

[bambam]

I’ll be there on Saturday at noon at the takeout. This is the same takeout as the Savage. See you then, Jamie Hutt.

Welcome aboard, Jamie.

Not the same takeout, though. It's a little confusing but the Savage dumps into the NB Potomac about a quarter mile below our takeout. I hesitate to post coordinates because people tend to take them as gospel but here goes. 39.477, -79.068. This is the location on the river. We walk perhaps fifty yards from there to the vehicles. River left just above a railroad bridge. We will gather at a grassy area adjacent to the sewage treatment plant off of Owens Avenue.

Cheers,

Ken

[bambam]

Related, it looks like the nearby Savage River is running right now and may run through the weekend. Zero insult if folks want to peel away from Bloomington to take advantage of this. As of this writing the three-day release forecast for the Savage calls for 650 - 800 cfs which takes us through Friday. What will the weekend bring? Too soon to tell. I've loved this river in the 300 - 600 range. I ran it once at 1,000, not as much my style. I'm guessing 650 - 800 would be pretty good. Totally different flavor of river, the Savage is steeper, much narrower, and a full class more difficult than the NB Potomac at Bloomington. It's a fast class III / IV. I think of it as similar to the upper Tye in Nelson County, VA.

None of this changes my NB Potomac commitments.

That said, I might try to sneak in a Savage lap after one of the Bloomington runs.

Ken