Scouting Hazards at Great Falls of the Potomac at Low Water 2.49, 2023-08-30

Описание: Potomac River
Whitewater Kayaking
Great Falls, Maryland Line
Gauge: 2.49

Great Falls is a natural-flow river, so the low water we have right now is an opportunity to see what hazards look like "with the water turned off."

I scouted the Maryland Lines, Center Lines, and Virginia Lines, and I took a look at the Fifth Slide of Fish Ladder from the water. I didn't have time to take a look at any other lines.

Note the date - rivers change over time; this is what things looked like on this day at this flow.

I also took a look at a couple of things people generally don't run in order to better understand them (Subway and Charlie's Hole). I still haven't decided which is more terrifying.

This is by no means a complete survey of all hazardous places, just those I feel that I am most likely to be near. I know I didn't get great views of everything, either. I wasn't willing to get any closer to a number of hazards without being on belay.

Finally, I didn't get as good a view as I wanted of The Spout from above because I had started to attract the attention of viewers on the Virginia observation deck, and I didn't want to encourage people to think that it's safe to just wander around on the rocks next to Great Falls (it isn't).

00:00 Scouting Hazards of Great Falls, 2.49
00:09 Pummel
01:26 Pencil Sharpener and Z-Turn
02:42 Charlie's Hole
03:05 Horseshoe
04:00 Grace Under Pressure
04:13 The Fingers
04:31 Subway
05:16 U-Hole
05:56 Boof Between U-Hole and S-Turn
06:01 S-Turn
06:57 The Spout
07:38 Fifth Slide