North Branch of the Potomac River

Several times each year the Mineral County Parks and Recreation in WV. does whitewater releases from the Jennings Randolph Dam near Keyser, WV. These releases are typically about 1000CFS for the whitewater releases and since the water comes from the bottom of the lake it is cold!

Steve, Lex, Roger and myself, among others, made our way up to the release this past weekend to get in some paddling on Saturday and Sunday.
The campground is only about 3 hours away from Leesburg, but with the county putting a few unexpected detours in our way we ended up arriving around 11pm. The great thing about this place is the cabin rentals. They are pretty basic, sleep up to six (with two on the floor or front porch) have no running water and only two light bulbs. However, they are located 70' from the river bank and the one we were in was about 100 yards from the launch. All of that combined with the roughly $32.00/night price tag split between a couple of paddling bums makes for a heck of a deal when storms are in the forecast.

Upon arrival and settling in for the night it was apparent that Steve’s dog, Eli, was in no mood to sleep and was anxious to get out and enjoy the night. If not for the probability of the dog cold nosing someone out a deep sleep while trying to get into their tent we would have likely let him out. Instead we got to hear the click-clack of Eli’s claws on the hardwood floor of the cabin and the constant whimpering because Steve was out of his reach on the top bunk.
I guess next time we know not to be so stingy with the bottom bunk.
With a few hours of sleep and some extra strength coffee we got up and ready to hit the river.

Roger showed up Saturday morning and had planned on setting shuttle with us when he arrived. As he and some folks from the Baltimore Canoe Club got their gear together Roger discovered that he had forgotten a fairly important piece of gear in the form his PFD.
Upon asking if we had an extra, which we didn’t, Steve having never been on this river immediately offered up his to Roger because “It’s only a class III,” in Steve’s words.
With a day of sitting at the take out avoided, Roger headed back to get geared up and Lex took off to set shuttle.

The parking lot at the campground is fenced with wooden slat board fencing and 2’ tall posts made out of 4” timbers. That also happens to be the height of the bottom of the quarter panel on Lex’s truck.
Lex now needs a new quarter panel on his truck.
After a second attempt at setting the shuttle we were on the river and having a blast. The river is basically a fast moving wave train with tons of playable waves and holes on the way down. The surfing ledges come up very quick after the launch and if you miss the crowds you can spend a good part of your day surfing a succession of waves and wave holes from one side of the river to the other and back.







After a few more rapids and wave trains a concrete wall comes into view on river right while you negotiate through a boney section of the run. This signals the “lunch spot.” The lunch spot is popular with just about everyone as it has a great play wave-hole and a rocky beach to hang out and watch the action from. It’s a very social perch as you can sit 50’ from the wave, munch on a Clif bar and watch people get tossed around at the same time. During a warm weather dam release it is common to have 30 people hanging out on the shore and another 15 waiting in line to play.

Saturday night brought plenty of rain, cool humid air and some much needed sleep for us. We were all thankful that Eli kept quiet, but when I rolled out of bed Sunday morning I found that the joke was on me. Sometime in the night Eli had decided to hell with the plywood flooring and drug my spray skirt and PFD into the middle of the cabin and used it as a doggie bed. Oh well, no harm done minus a furry PFD.

The painted gauge was showing just over 1000cfs at the put in Sunday morning. We had managed to pick up another boater, Jim, who was looking for a crew to paddle with. By the time we reached the ledges it was obvious that the river was slightly higher due to some features that were washed out. The river right eddy service onto a short wave on the second ledge was no longer there and the almost river wide wave was gone as well.
Further investigation into this as we went downriver proved us to be right. The wave trains were bigger, bouncier and much more fun in places. In several sections we simply kept our boats pointed upstream and caught as many of the chaotic and sporadic waves as we could.



















The biggest change we encountered was Robins Nest. While Saturday had it at its normal level, Sunday brought it up a noticeable amount. The overall size of the hole was larger and nastier looking as we made the moves on river right. All of us, that is, except Lex. He decided to run the whole thing right down the center and I don’t mean with a right to left move. He center punched the meat of the hole and actually made it through in his 4Fun without getting tossed.




All things told the weekend was as close to perfect as one could hope for. The weather was great. The crowds were manageable. No one complained about Steve not wearing his PFD on Saturday. Actually only one person seemed to even notice he was without it. And for once there were no major injuries, but it sure was fun watching each other roll in rapids that were a foot deep!