Ok, as we come down to the final week here is some of the information some of you have been needing and some I have been waiting to be able to give, due to conditions.
First let me address conditions which will cancel this event.
The first is water level on the river. 3 foot to 6 foot is the range we are looking for. Currently it is at 2 foot and predicted to go up by midweek. If the water is too low we will have to get out and walk the whole way, pulling out boats behind us. This is really no fun, on the slippery river rocks.
This closely ties to our second item, weather. Thunderstorms will cancel us. I am not taking a group on the river is we are expecting all day lightening. A passing storm is one thing, all day forecast...no. Also, if the river level is up, but still ok, toward the end of the week, and they are predicting lots of rain all weekend, even with no lightening, it is probably not a good idea to go. The river will rise while we are on it. Things start getting more "exciting" as the water levels rise. Nice for people used to rivers maybe, not so much for beginers. I am keeping an eye on this and, if I say "no go," My apologies, but it is for good reason.
Now that the "doom and gloom" is out of the way, on to the fun stuff. Because of work I will not get to Bixlers Bridge until about 4:30 PM. This is still plenty of time to get started. If you get there earlier you can fish or you are right there at Luray and there are lots of neat things to kill a couple of hours. I do apologize for delay though but my co worker needs to travel to see her hospitalized father and one of us must always be in the office so I am stuck. My employer is still letting me slide a bit early as is.
For details, since we are starting late I am cutting the run down a bit. That is ok, it works, trust me. Plenty of time to fish, swim, play in the water, whatever you want still.
We are starting at Bixlers Bridge/Inskeep boat ramp at the intersection of county routes 675 & 684. Be aware, the road we will be driving, along the river, is dirt/gravel and, in places, rather steep. It is a beautiful drive but your car IS going to get dusty. LOL.
We will off load boats at Bixlers and run some vehicles up to mile marker 8/ Bealers Ferry where we are camping the first night. We are going to need to move quickly so, If someone can get there before me and go ahead and run vehicles up there??? It would be helpful.
We will paddle eight miles to Bealers and camp Friday night. The parking area is a bit of a walk from the canoe pull in area, as I recall but, after all, this is NOT a "drive up camping trip."
Saturday morning we will ferry vehicles to mile 13/Seakford. Seakford is rather secluded and, in my opinion, one of the better camping spots out there. However, it is a rather short haul between Bealers and Seakford, especially for all day Saturday. The problem is, the only place we have, available to camp, after Seakford is at Comptons itself. The distance works out better for Comptons but we cannot get vehicles there, AT ALL. We have to camp on the public/NP land on the west bank. The opposite bank is private/outfitter campground and can get very crowded and loud. It is spectacular there, the cliffs alone are gorgeous but they are offset by the poison oak, IMHO. For these reasons I chose a short run on Saturday and have us staying at Seakford.
Sunday we will run our vehicles to the take out at mile 23 and we will make the run all the way there. This is the longest stretch of the trip and the take out ramp is VERY steep. Be prepared to help one another with hauling boats up the ramp. VERY steep. There are bathrooms at the take out, the only spot on the trip.
Now, I will have two 5 gallon containers of water. I suggest that other folks bring some water also. I have filtered the river water but why take the chance?
A couple of words of caution. I strongly recommend that you come prepared to deal with ticks and mosquitoes. I have never had a real problem with either one but I treat all of my gear before hand. I also want to warn you that there is a lot of poison oak along this river. I am EXTREMELY allergic and have never gotten it on the Shenandoah. I see it every trip but I am very careful and avoid it. That said, I am bringing some wash to that I can clean it off right away if needs must. Lastly, SUNSCREEN. You are going to be on the water. Even if it is cloudy...well, I will turn into a crispy-critter without SPF1000!
A reminder, we are not doing group meals on this trip and we are definitely practicing "leave no trace" camping. If you are new to canoeing/kayaking and have any questions feel free to ask them. Better to ask than not to. The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask. Seriously. Most of this route is not covered by cell service, or wasn't last spring soooo, be prepared.
The Shenandoah river is one beautiful river and extremely fun to paddle. If I have made it sound "scary" I do not mean to do so. People float it on inner tubes for crying out loud but it is a moving body of water, complete with wildlife, and must be respected. Of course, half the "wildlife are the people on the inner tubes! LOL
Ok, bring on the questions! oh, here is the link to the NWS water level site. http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydro...lwx&gage=SFSV2
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