Daingerfield to Four Mile Run

The weather has turned hot, humid, and sunny.  This is not what I consider excellent.  

I departing the house at 06:40 on a Sunday morning for Belle Haven picnic area, only to find its gate was closed and locked (similar to the previous weekend).  My hope had been to paddle up Cameron run, but that was not to be.  Instead, Daingerfield Island has a small put-in before you get to the sailing area.  Free is always better.  

The parking lot fits maybe 15 cars, but was mostly empty on an early morning.  The put-in is a paved landing down to a (gross) sandy walk-in.  This worked out just fine.  This is what the walk-in looks like:

 

It was neat to see many sailboats at the docks (why do people pay dock fees just to float their junky boats that they never use?).  There are a handful of 30-footers at the very end.  This picture is when returning to the marina.

After the marina, it was an exposed paddle to the entrance of Four Mile Run, just south of Washington National airport.  The water was low, so I needed to take a wide swing around a shallow sand bar.  It was quite pleasant paddling underneath several bridges across the water.  The walking / biking path goes across one of the bridges and along the water.

 

I forgot my hat, so the rising sun and humidity quickly took a toll on me.  The Four Mile Run put-in was a fine turn-around point.  The river continues up into the city, and that put-in will be the starting point for another adventure on another day.

The paddle was 2.4mi round-trip (it is 1.18mi from Daingerfield Island put-in to Four Mile Run put-in) and took right at an hour.  Even with occasionally slowing down for a drink and a snack, my average speed in the Snowshoe 12 is about 2.5mph.

This paddle was not the best.  A hat is essential gear.  Even though I got on the water before 07:00, that was not early enough in the heat of DC summers.  

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