First Trip: Friday (by kayak)
Ask me to name something I associate with the cherry blossoms and I certainly won't come up with the KC-130 aerial refueling tanker as an answer. But my first cherry blossom trip of the year started with a close encounter with the big plane.
The KC-130 is the tanker variant of the C-130 (but you already knew that, didn't you?). It's a big airplane - about the same wingspan as a 757. As I unloaded my kayak at Columbia Island Marina (adjacent to the Pentagon and near Arlington Cemetery) a KC-130 with its refueling drogues deployed made a low pass over the Pentagon. Just a few thousand feet in altitude, I'd guess, which is pretty low for plane that size. I imagine that it was some sort of ceremony at the Pentagon - a change of command, or whatever - or maybe a display to influence visiting Congress members to fund acquisition of more airplanes. Or maybe a funeral at Arlington Cemetery. You get used to these odd sorts of occurrences in Washington.
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| I didn't get my camera out in time for the low pass. Here it is on its way out |
It was a little pre-peak, but I had Friday off and paddling conditions were great - warm air temp, no wind. April is borderline dry suit season, but for this paddle I leaned a little more towards comfort and went in dry pants and a Hydroskin top. I crossed the river, got the obligatory photos, then headed upriver to do the normal "PoG paddle" (that is, our most common Thursday night route.
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| This hat says "Hecho en Brooklyn" on the front. It is not a MAGA hat |
On the way back I put ashore and had lunch at a quiet little spot near the southeast corner of Roosevelt Island. Expired peanut butter, crackers, dried bananas and a Coke Zero - all with a view of the monuments. An awesome lunch!
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| Lunch break |
Second Trip: Sunday (by kayak)
Tall Tom put out a call for folks to paddle out and see the cherry blossoms on Sunday. Deke and I took him up on it. By Sunday the weather had changed. It was about 20 degrees colder than Friday, and it was windy. Really windy. Due to conditions, drysuit was once again the uniform of the day.
Have I mentioned it was windy? Weather Underground says the winds were about 25 MPH sustained, with gusts above thirty-five. Plus, the fetch of the river tends to channel the wind, making it even stronger than on land. As we fought our way across the river, the wind was directly from our left, which mean constant beaming waves - waves from the side, which really want to knock you over. It was a struggle, but we made it across and took shelter in the slightly calmer cove where the Tidal Basin meets the river. We got our pictures, then decided to try heading upriver.
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| Me |
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| Tom in his newly refurbished kayak |
We didn't make it very far. I am actually not bothered by paddling into the wind. It's hard work, but the waves only want to slow you down; waves from the front don't want to tip you over or spin you around. I was willing to work my way up to Roosevelt Island, but conditions were getting borderline dangerous and so we decided to turn around and head back. Unfortunately, crossing back meant dealing with beaming waves and quartering waves. Quartering waves are waves from, let's say, 4 or 8 o'clock. They're maybe the worst because they want to both knock you over and spin you around. I was happy when we made it far enough across that I could turn left and be aligned with the waves so they were coming from behind me. Following waves can be tricky too, but if you know how to control your kayak you can effectively surf the kayak down the waves. I definitely caught some good rides: according to the GPS my top speed was 8.5 MPH, more than double the typical calm water paddling speed of 3-4 MPH. Even if you don't trust the instantaneous 8.5 MPH peak (GPS doesn't measure speed; it's derived from other measurements and so can be inaccurate), I sustained upward of 6 MPH for some time - and that's for real.
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| Splashy water, even in the cove |
We were happy to have gotten a chance to see the blossoms, and also happy to get back to the marina safe and sound.
Third Trip: Monday (by foot)
As part of our rolling 30th anniversary celebration Valerie and I took the day off (well, Valerie had a "teacher work day", which is somewhat hard to distinguish from a day off, and I'm checked out enough about my job that I didn't mind not showing up for a day) and went down to see the blossoms. We timed it just right! Sure, the day was chilly, but it was bright and sunny and the blossoms were perfectly at peak. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing them look more spectacular than they did Monday. Maybe it was the love in the air.
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| The lovebirds at the blossoms |
You don't want to try to drive anywhere near the blossoms, as the traffic is horrendous. We parked at Columbia Island Marina and walked across the 14th Street Bridge. As I mentioned above, the river tends to channel the wind and so we were unhappy and super cold as we made our way across to DC. Once across we were more sheltered from the wind and so warmed up.
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| Blossoms |
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| Tidal Basin |
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| Valerie |
As usual, we walked all the way around the Tidal Basin, stopping along the way to take pictures. At one point we got a snack - just hot cocoa for me, and a muffin for Valerie. The blossoms are beautiful. The people-watching is fun too - everything from Asian women posing in kimonos to tourists to young lovers like ourselves.
I am always taken aback when I run into locals who say they've never been to the cherry blossoms. By land or by water, for me it's a highlight of the Washington year.
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