Kayaking - Baltimore County?

Yingpin · Jun 17, 2013

Not sure if you guys heard the news about the 26 year old Parkville man who was pulled from a debris pile at the Belair Road Bringe at Big Gunpowder over the weekend and declared dead.

My wife, 5 week old, and 4.5 year old went hiking there and finished up around 1:30pm. We have lived in this area for 8 years and have rarely every hiked those trails and I recently started Mnt biking them this year. We left and got a tip from some guys that you can put in at the Belair road overflow lot and take out at Jones Road near Rt 40. We were going to go next Friday and I didnt think that the river looked that rough.

We have two Future Beach Kayaks 126 that we got last year and we were hoping for a casual 2hr float with some mild Class I or Class II rapids and about a 3-4 mile trip. We have take the kayaks on the Shenandoah River for a 12 mile trip and had a decent Class II (Campton Falls) and never where helmets. Other than that it is moslty flat water. I grew up canoeing bad ass rivers in Michigan and Ohio and have canoed the Shenandoah a lot so have some experience.

Has anyone done this trip? How rough is this river? This guy died somewhere up the river from the bridge but I didnt get the impression this this river was a profesional class river where you would need a sealed kayak and helmets but maybe I am wrong.

Looking for opinions and some local trip ideas since we dont get out much with the little ones.

Squaregrouper · Jun 18, 2013

I can say for sure there is one location ~1 mile south of Belair Rd that is easily Class 3 for a 20yd stretch. The rest is relatively smooth.
Use Google images to find the area between US1 and US40, then switch to satellite image. The whole area will appear as woods, with one clearing for farmland. Follow the farmland clearing straight to the water and you'll see what I'm talking about. Google Satellite will show all of the boulders. The water looks really low when the image was taken.

MDMOUNTAINEER · Jun 18, 2013

In my younger days I was a whitewater paddler having paddled most of the big stuff east of the Mississippi and eventually becoming a guide on the New and Gauley.

If you are unfamiliar with a body of water, paddle it with someone who is familiar with it, or scout it, in person, shortly before you paddle.

In a kayak, you sit very low. Your ability to notice, plan for, and negotiate obstacles, debris, hazards, etc. is hampered. Unless you are an expert paddler who knows how to read moving water, you need to get out and view it from shore before you do it.

The gunpowder is not a difficult body of water to paddle. Often, the problem becomes low water which makes parts unfloatable, or at least somewhat difficult. You have the wrong kind of kayaks to do this type of paddling. Not that it can't be done, just that they aren't the best option. Those boats have hull designs made for tracking (keels, etc.) and tight rivers and creeks are not the place you want a boat that goes straight really well, because the tradeoff is they don't turn as easily.

The long story short. The gunpowder, at decent flow, is easily passable by school-age children in canoes. At high water, it gets dicey. Often there are transient strainers, pinned logs, and other transient debris that can, at any point, pose a hazard. I used to think creeks and small rivers like that were somewhat benign. Sure, there may be hazards, but the risk is minimal. I used to take newbies out on deer creek in the spring to try a whitewater boat. A year or two ago, a friend of mine just out of the military, visited one of the spots where I taught him to roll and introduced him to the fundamentals of whitewater kayaking. He hadn't been there since we were kids. He brought another buddy with him. That buddy drowned in the very spot I used for newbies because of some submerged post-storm debris that no one could see.

Keep your feet up and pointed downstream. Don't stand up until your ass touches bottom. Wear a PFD. Teach your wife and kids to do the same.

Patriot · Jun 18, 2013

tss1004 said:
In my younger days I was a whitewater paddler having paddled most of the big stuff east of the Mississippi and eventually becoming a guide on the New and Gauley.

If you are unfamiliar with a body of water, paddle it with someone who is familiar with it, or scout it, in person, shortly before you paddle.

In a kayak, you sit very low. Your ability to notice, plan for, and negotiate obstacles, debris, hazards, etc. is hampered. Unless you are an expert paddler who knows how to read moving water, you need to get out and view it from shore before you do it.

The gunpowder is not a difficult body of water to paddle. Often, the problem becomes low water which makes parts unfloatable, or at least somewhat difficult. You have the wrong kind of kayaks to do this type of paddling. Not that it can't be done, just that they aren't the best option. Those boats have hull designs made for tracking (keels, etc.) and tight rivers and creeks are not the place you want a boat that goes straight really well, because the tradeoff is they don't turn as easily.

The long story short. The gunpowder, at decent flow, is easily passable by school-age children in canoes. At high water, it gets dicey. Often there are transient strainers, pinned logs, and other transient debris that can, at any point, pose a hazard. I used to think creeks and small rivers like that were somewhat benign. Sure, there may be hazards, but the risk is minimal. I used to take newbies out on deer creek in the spring to try a whitewater boat. A year or two ago, a friend of mine just out of the military, visited one of the spots where I taught him to roll and introduced him to the fundamentals of whitewater kayaking. He hadn't been there since we were kids. He brought another buddy with him. That buddy drowned in the very spot I used for newbies because of some submerged post-storm debris that no one could see.

Keep your feet up and pointed downstream. Don't stand up until your ass touches bottom. Wear a PFD. Teach your wife and kids to do the same.

This is very good advise. I paddle the gunpodwer from Harford rd to Rt 1 a dozen or so times a year. If the water is slow its quite relaxing and some fishing can be done along the way. If it is high it can be both very exciting and extremely dangerous. If the water is moving fast I strongly urge you to scout the river out beforehand. You said you mtn bike so that shouldn't be a problem. Trees fall down all the time and there are some pretty sudden twists on the river where you cant see very far ahead. All it takes is getting hung up in one strainer and a fun day on the river can turn into the end of your life.

Patriot · Jun 18, 2013

squaregrouper said:
I can say for sure there is one location ~1 mile south of Belair Rd that is easily Class 3 for a 20yd stretch. The rest is relatively smooth.
Use Google images to find the area between US1 and US40, then switch to satellite image. The whole area will appear as woods, with one clearing for farmland. Follow the farmland clearing straight to the water and you'll see what I'm talking about. Google Satellite will show all of the boulders. The water looks really low when the image was taken.

The area you are talking about is called pot rocks. It is pretty much always a decent rapid but can be downright dangerous at times. This picture does not do it justice but it is all I could find.

shaakes · Jun 18, 2013

I live right there and been down that section a number of times. Don't do it after a torrential downpour and you will be fine.

From what I read they were looking for an overturned kayaker last week on the little gunpowder, not the big gunpowder, unless this is a different incident.

eta: that picture was taken when the water is higher than usual.

Patriot · Jun 18, 2013

shaakes said:
eta: that picture was taken when the water is higher than usual.

If it hasn't been raining it could very well be lower than the water in the pic but I have seen it a lot worse than that picture.

Squaregrouper · Jun 18, 2013

Patriot said:
If it hasn't been raining it could very well be lower than the water in the pic but I have seen it a lot worse than that picture.

I don't think the water is high in the pick because the turbidity is quite low. When the water gets real high it murks up quite a bit.

Hyp81 · Jun 18, 2013

The Gunpowder has been running high for the past week or two because of all the rain. A friend and I are in that river within a mile of that bridge 2-3 times per week average. We wade fished it last weekend and had a hell of a time finding a place to climb out because the water was so high. I would say the river is at potentially dangerous levels right now. With young children-- wait to make that trip until mid July.

damifinowfish · Jun 18, 2013

The Gunpowder can be wicked river after a good rain as we have had these past few weeks. The area between rt 7 and I95 is a big rock garden and at flood stage will give you the run of your life at high water levels.

White Water is a dangerous sport for the novice who gets into rapids beyond there ability and what their equipment was designed for. That canoe that you fish out of makes for a very bad white water boat. This is were most people get into trouble on the Gunpowder.

Let me suggest looking at The Greater Baltimore Canoe club

http://www.baltimorecanoeclub.org/

The cost of membership pays for its self when you go on their trips. Having a group of people to help with portaging boats from put in and take out is worth the cost. But most importantly there will be people with you who are very knowledgeable on the river you are paddling on. The best thing is, that there will be people on these trips with the skills and equipment to get you out of a jam.

I used to paddle with them in my younger days and would NEVER EVER do
a white water trip without being in a group with skilled paddlers to help the lesser experienced. I have seen too many scary mishaps on the lower Gunpowder.

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