Скачать или смотреть Kayaking Catoctin Creek at 3.95ft./983cfs, from the Middletown Valley to the Potomac River (8.85ft.)

Situated in the scenic Middletown Valley (historically known as Catoctin Valley) of the Blue Ridge Mountains (Appalachian Mountains) of the Blue Ridge Province, this long awaited high water trip was four years in the making, in wait of catching the fleeting return of the big water. Catoctin is rarely runnable, which is one of its features that preserves its ecosystem and pristine scenery, making for largely unspoiled conditions for wildlife habitat and viewing, and preventing environmental disturbances and pollution problems, unlike the Shenandoah River at Big Eddy & Millville Trailrace, Antietam Creek, and The Needles and Potoma Wayside of the Potomac River.

Catoctin massively changes in its form and features at about every half a foot above 2.5ft. For a detailed explanation of the local geology and the specific conditions and holding windows of how Catoctin changes at each foot from the minimum runnable level to 5.0ft+ please see the video descriptions of my previous videos. I have ran Catoctin down to 1.9ft., however, I have found the best fun minimum runnable level to be 2.2ft. (of which there is also a video of, as well as 2.0ft. and a slideshow video of trips down to 1.9ft.), where there was no scrapping and the minimum conditions for several spots to come into play for surfing. While not considered a flashy creek by any means, it can rise quickly from precipitation events of at least two inches of sustained heavy rainfall of a system with wide bands. With sustained rainfall, the rise is slow, and invariably, the drop is always fast when above 3.0ft., and precipitously becomes gradual from under 3.0ft. to 2.4ft. It is seldom runnable, and comes into play only a few times a year, most often holding for less than one day and only a few hours when above 3.0ft. On the rare occasion when Catoctin is at its prime, so are all of the other once a year type rare runs, including its upstream headwaters and III/IV mountain creeking counterpart, Middle Creek, which is the same creek as Catoctin, and changes names near Doubs Meadow Park.

This was the first time catching Catoctin at 3ft. since November 24, 2018. The previous trip was at 2.7ft., on January 2, 2022. This trip occurred during Cheat River Festival, which has come to be known as the one weekend a year that is the most probably for the biggest soaking of the year. Being an almost certain guarantee from year to year, the window of the big soaking spans the first fifteen days of May. At 2.16ft. the flow began to rise at 8:30 AM on 5/6, reaching 3.0ft. at 3:30 PM, 4.0ft. at 5:30 PM, and peaking/cresting at 4.68ft. at 9:00 PM. The trip began on the drop on 5/7 with a flow of 3.95ft/983cfs, falling to 3.85ft./925cfs by the end, making for a decrease of 58cfs. It was a difficult decision choosing between this trip and Middle Creek, but the curiosity of finally experiencing Catoctin at close to 4ft. is what did it. The Kitzmiller section of the Potomac River was raging at 6ft.

Interestingly, Surfers Ledge and Little Surprise were much funner at 2.7ft. It was washed out at 3.95ft. Although, Rocky Waves was unexpectedly more than twice the fun at 2.7ft. I duly refer to the Rt. 464 bridge rapid as Swept Away due to the drowning that occurred there in the 1930s, when a man by the last name of Huffer drowned while attempting to transport a load of milk by wagon while the water was rising. I feel that Swept Away is an apt & an appropriate name for the rapid.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” - John 7:38

Date: May 7, 2022
Trip Length: 15.58 Miles
Class: I-II
Average Gradient: 12 fpm
Level (flow rate):
Put-In: 3.95ft./983cfs
Take Out: 3.85ft./925cfs
Potomac River: 8.85ft./37,300cfs (Point of Rocks Gauge)
Elevation:
Put-In: 388ft.
Take Out: 240ft.
Stream Gauge:
USGS 01637500 CATOCTIN CREEK NEAR MIDDLETOWN, MD
Location: The Middletown Valley
Middletown, MD
Jefferson, MD
Put-In:
Burkittsville Road Bridge (MD 17): 7102A Burkittsville Rd, Middletown, MD 21769
39°25'41.2"N 77°33'21.6"W
Take Out: Potomac River
Lander Boat Ramp/Lock 29
39°18'18.2"N 77°33'38.8"W

Featured Scenes:
Aerial Imagery, Mapping, & Hydrology 0:11
Put-In 1:58
Bennies Hill Road Bridge 3:03
Sumantown Road Bridge 4:04
Catoctin Creek Park & Nature Center 4:17
Cut Bank & Point Bar 5:29
Poffenberger Road Bridge 7:15
Historic Lewis Mill/Catoctin Pottery 7:59
Lewis Mill 8:15
Broad Run & MD Rt. 383 Bridge 10:07
Brookside & Jefferson Pike Bridge (formerly Jefferson Covered Bridge) 11:03
U.S. Rt. 340 Bridge 11:47
Surfers Ledge 12:49
Rocky Waves 14:00
Swept Away & MD Rt. 464 Bridge 14:35
Little Surprise 16:32
Fourth Bald Eagle Sighting 17:16
Sunken Car 18:48
The Gorge 19:40
B&O Railroad Viaduct (CSX Railroad) 21:29
Catoctin Creek Aqueduct 21:56
Confluence with the Potomac River 22:07
Take Out 23:20
History of the Catoctin Creek Aqueduct 24:08
History of the Jefferson and Catoctin Creek Covered Bridges 25:39