Up the Creek

8-5-10. Went kayaking today with Bob, Adam and his brother. Adam and Will rented some kayaks from Up the Creek Rental Shop. I thoroughly endorse these people for bringing a nice local business to a great spot in southern Maryland. If you have not gone here, check it out. Bring friends and give these nice people your business! If you're interested, check out their website. Okay, that's my free advertising.

The four of us head upstream which is always a popular choice for kayaking. The scenery is beautiful. Paired with the fact I work close by, this has been my favorite location for kayaking in southern Maryland. The water is almost always smooth and easily to paddle. It's a great spot for learning or just taking it easy. Today, we did a bit of both. Unfortunately last week's beautiful 85 degree weather couldn't last. Today was high 90's but to our luck, we had a steady breeze. As we got beyond the area where the bike trail is visible, we noticed how clear the water was today. For as many times as I've kayaked here, I've never seen such visibility. I saw four bass that were definitely keepers. Its a shame I didn't have my rod...or my license. We kayaked to the end of the stream where it forks in three different directions. We took the middle route and continued in until the shallow waters kept us from easily going much further. It was a nice summer bonding time with some of the guys from work.

Here's a picture of where we stopped to stretch. The water level was low so paddling on would have been more work than it was worth.

Nanjemoy Creek

7-31-10: Saturday. Took a trip to Nanjemoy Creek from Friendship Park. Friendship Park is a nice area. It has ball fields for local sports and a hiking trail. I recommend the trail as it has some beautiful views; however, you should bring bug spray (and based on my last experience, that may not be enough...)

From the dock, I headed to the left and followed the shoreline until I saw an opportunity to turn down a long coridoor. From here, the creek snaked around, this way and that. Its scenic with lots of vegetation. Saw lots of bugs, but they kept to themselves. This area is beautiful...all the noise drowns out and it is utterly quiet, save for a few nature sounds. I followed creek along until it narrowed so thin that there was only room left for my kayak. This made it a bit difficult to back-track. This ended up being a short trip, but a great one nonetheless. Next time I visit Nanjemoy, I plan to shoot out to the far corner to catch the creek on the north end for an estimated 3 hour trip.

The graphic is an image from Google Maps that I edited using Adobe Fireworks to display my travel path.