THINK RAIN: June 2004

The Richmond trip started a long list of summertime runs. During the week we paddled on the Potomac, running Mather Gorge and playing at MD chute as much as possible. Suzi joined us for weekday paddling and the weekends we stayed local and Ian mostly came out for weekend trips. With all the silliness and goofing off that ensued we dubbed ourselves Team Natural Selection, or Team NS for short.

We climbed up to Great Falls to run O-Deck rapid, ran Canal Falls (Josh backwards of course), played in the cave on Difficult Run at low water, boogie boarded the Potomac gorge down from S-turn at 4.5 feet, and jumped off the 40 foot "jump rock" on the gorge. It was great fun. Josh even had stickers printed for us... yes we're a bunch of dorks!

Me with my Team NS sticker later in the year

Early in the summer Josh, Ian, and I paddled the Shenandoah Staircase (which we vowed to only return to at high water!), Difficult Run (I walked the canyon section), and the Stony River to Kitzmiller section of the North Branch Potomac. I was quickly working my way up to more difficult runs with no problems whatsoever.

Suzi joined us for a few more Lower Yough trips (all much less eventful then our high water run). Josh would sometimes bring his dog, Turnup. On the long drives we would work on crossword puzzles and plan our day. Josh cooked great meals. We often had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and/or pancakes for breakfast. It was great having such a fun group of friends to hang out and paddle with.

On the way home we'd often have dinner at Uncle Tucker's, a favorite stop for boaters. Uncle Tucker's was conveniently located right off of I-68 outside of Cumberland and just about half way home from most western MD/WV/PA area rivers. The food and service was mediocre but they did have good beer (well so i'm told anyway) and good dessert. The outdoor patio was a great place to hang out after a long day on the river. Sadly we recently (2006) discovered that Uncle Tucker's has closed its doors and the building is for sale. Hopefully a new owner will once again provide us with a great post river pit stop... and maybe better food.

I also got a new waterproof digital camera so we could document our adventures...