Saturday: Tubing on Antietam Creek
Jul. 25th, 2005 09:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisDC Lambda Squares' at-large board member Steven Churchill organized a social outing for the club: tubing down Antietam Creek in Maryland.
I am not a morning person but Kent & I did get our butts out of bed early enough to grab a couple of waterproof disposable cameras (no way I'm taking my Nikon on a tube), some misc. snacks and drive an hour out to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, WV. After rendez-vousing at River & Trail Outfitters, 40 square dancers were given the standard safety lecture, fitting for life jackets, slathered on the SPF1000 sunblock and loaded on onto two buses for a 20 minute drive upstream. There were two families along with our group... I think they were in utter shock as we started but they lightened up a great deal by the time we reached the end.
The tubing trip itself was a 4 hour expedition covering 4 miles of creek. Antietam Creek itself is relatively shallow (averaging waste deep) and largely pristine, although recent violent thunderstorms had caused numerous trees to fall into the creek itself, creating an unforeseen but fun obstacle course. At points where the stream constricted, it became a fun game of bumper cars as almost 60 tubes jostled for position and bounced off of rocks.
A lunch was provided by the outfitters at the half-way point in a small park adjacent to the creek. It was a simple repast of potato salad and fried chicken but I packed extra chocolate in the dry bag in which Kent had packed his own gluten-free lunch.
Taking photos was a bit more challenging than I had anticipated. After getting bumped & dunked more than once, I was reassured of the wisdom of not bringing my better cameras but I hate the inconsistent quality of disposables. Anyway, it seemed that every time I had a good shot lined up, my tube would brush against a rock, sending me into a slow spin. I usually got the shot I wanted during the next revolution but sometimes two or three turns were required. I was hit by a bridge during one of these photo attempts but no injuries to it or me.
We disembarked where the creek flows into the Potomac River, loaded on to buses and headed back to the outfitters. After we changed into dryer clothes and non-soggy footwear, we said our good-byes, took a last couple of group photos and headed for home by 5 PM.
Overall, the adventure was more fun than I was anticipating. Thanks to the occasional downed tree, it was not quite the leisurely, contemplative float downstream I had thought it would be, but I'd do it again in an instant. Pictures will be up on my web site by week's end.
I am not a morning person but Kent & I did get our butts out of bed early enough to grab a couple of waterproof disposable cameras (no way I'm taking my Nikon on a tube), some misc. snacks and drive an hour out to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, WV. After rendez-vousing at River & Trail Outfitters, 40 square dancers were given the standard safety lecture, fitting for life jackets, slathered on the SPF1000 sunblock and loaded on onto two buses for a 20 minute drive upstream. There were two families along with our group... I think they were in utter shock as we started but they lightened up a great deal by the time we reached the end.
The tubing trip itself was a 4 hour expedition covering 4 miles of creek. Antietam Creek itself is relatively shallow (averaging waste deep) and largely pristine, although recent violent thunderstorms had caused numerous trees to fall into the creek itself, creating an unforeseen but fun obstacle course. At points where the stream constricted, it became a fun game of bumper cars as almost 60 tubes jostled for position and bounced off of rocks.
A lunch was provided by the outfitters at the half-way point in a small park adjacent to the creek. It was a simple repast of potato salad and fried chicken but I packed extra chocolate in the dry bag in which Kent had packed his own gluten-free lunch.
Taking photos was a bit more challenging than I had anticipated. After getting bumped & dunked more than once, I was reassured of the wisdom of not bringing my better cameras but I hate the inconsistent quality of disposables. Anyway, it seemed that every time I had a good shot lined up, my tube would brush against a rock, sending me into a slow spin. I usually got the shot I wanted during the next revolution but sometimes two or three turns were required. I was hit by a bridge during one of these photo attempts but no injuries to it or me.
We disembarked where the creek flows into the Potomac River, loaded on to buses and headed back to the outfitters. After we changed into dryer clothes and non-soggy footwear, we said our good-byes, took a last couple of group photos and headed for home by 5 PM.
Overall, the adventure was more fun than I was anticipating. Thanks to the occasional downed tree, it was not quite the leisurely, contemplative float downstream I had thought it would be, but I'd do it again in an instant. Pictures will be up on my web site by week's end.
