Leesylvania to Mattawoman

Last Sunday I participated in another kayaking trip with the NoVa Kayak Meetup. This trip was led by two of the organizers of the group, Randi and James, who it turns out are husband and wife. Both seem like competent kayakers, however the group as usual contained a range of paddlers from someone in a Tsunami 12 (one step above a rec boat) on up.

The first part of the trip involved a roughly two mile crossing of the Potomac in somewhat choppy conditions - nothing dangerous, but enough to keep you on your toes. The woman in the short boat had a slightly hard time of it but perservered and made it across. Once on the Maryland side we headed into Mattawoman Creek where we met up with another trip from the same Meetup. This group, headed by Andy (the Meetup's other organizer) had taken a shorter route starting on the Maryland side. The two groups stopped and chatted for a while then parted ways. We continued on to a park where we took a lunch break; Andy's group headed towards the river. 

Our group of six took a leisurely lunch break, ending when we saw the sky start to darken a little bit. We passed Andy's group again then headed back across the river. Fortunately it was calmer as we were all a little more tired. Still, one paddler wound up with a very achy shoulder. He made it back under his own power, but barely. 

It was nice to revisit this route, which had been the maiden voyage of my CLC wooden kayak a few years ago (that time was with Kingsley and Jen under much rougher conditions). The stated goal of the trip, to see lotus blossoms, was a bust - we were way past bloom - but it was a nice outing nonetheless. 

About 14 mi total distance