Little Hunting Creek

It was 70's, overcast, and occasionally drizzling -- this brooding weather is my perfect.

Today's trip was meant to be parking at Riverside Park, but instead being parking 0.9mi due east along the George Washington Trail.  I'm not sure why the Riverside Park gate was locked until well after 08:00.  The put-in was on the shoreline, stepping into the water at some large rocks.  It was slightly slippery, but this was otherwise an excellent put-in and take-out for my needs.

The paddle took about 3 hours for 6.4mi round-trip (3.2mi out-and-back) and went from the parking pull-off, around Riverside Park, into the Little Hunting Creek area, and pushed through the marsh into the forest until the trees literally closed in.  

This was an excellent paddle to see wildlife and the local flora.  I saw multiple ospreys, red-winged blackbirds in the marsh, several ducks, and other birds.  Up the creek, I watched a large beaver slide into the water about 30 feet from me, then jumped a deer a few seconds later.  Several very large fish were eating at the edge of the marsh and occasionally jumped clear out of the water trying to get out of the flora.


The marsh was excellent in itself as well.  There were pretty purple flowers and the largest area of cat-tails I've ever seen.  It was clear paddling into the forested area (my favorite type of paddling) and I weaved up the creek until it literally closed in behind a few houses.  





The water had some oily sheen and floating gunk in the marsh, but it was not awful.  The main Potomac had a significant amount of wooden floating debris from all the recent rains.  However, the most crazy was the current streaming into the Little Hunting Creek area through the bridge over the George Washington Parkway.  It was literally flowing under the bridge, bringing debris and fish with it.

 


The diminutive Snowshoe 12 held up nicely.  I'm pleased with it.

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