Antietam Creek, Maryland

[ezwater]

This is an experiment, a trip report I posted previously on SOTP. I want to see if all the pictures blow your server. Moderators feel free to delete the report if it strains your resources.

Often at this time of the summer we drive from Atlanta to Boston to visit a friend. We take the canoe, and drive NE on Interstate 81, just west of the Appalachian Blue Ridge. Three years ago on June 20, we turned aside to Antietam Creek. Antietam would be classed as a piedmont rather than a mountain stream, running through the remaining roots of the eroded Appalachians.

The deadliest single day battle of the Civil War (also known as the War of Northern Aggression) was fought along Antietam Creek, near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Union army under McClellan, and the Confedrate army under Lee, numbered 75,000 and 38,000, respectively. The casualties compare to those of the Battle of Waterloo, adjusting for the smaller size of the forces. McClellan, in spite of some mistakes, could have and should have won, but he was so concerned with not losing that the result was a stalemate. Calling it a victory, Lincoln soon wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, assearting that slaves in the Confederate states were free.

This map shows the piece of Antietam Creek that I ran, from the upper star on hwy 34 to the magenta star at the Potomac River take out. Burnside Bridge, site of some of the most savage fighting, is indicated.


twoAntietam by ezwater, on Flickr

Looking back toward the hwy 34 put in.


IMG_0013 by ezwater, on Flickr

A shrubbery.

IMG_0014 by ezwater, on Flickr

Canadians re-enacting the Battle of Antietam.


IMG_0016 by ezwater, on Flickr

The Burnside Bridge, renamed for the Union general who repeatedly tried to force a crossing.


IMG_0018 by ezwater, on Flickr

The Confederate forces, on the heights to the west, were able to hold off the Union advance even with markedly inferior forces.


IMG_0023 by ezwater, on Flickr

A weir just a bit downstream. Side surfing not recommended. It looks easy, but may flip you upstream and bash your brains on the ledge.


IMG_0025 by ezwater, on Flickr

Heading downstream.


IMG_0026 by ezwater, on Flickr

Little shoals here and there.


IMG_0027 by ezwater, on Flickr

A ridge rises to the west of the creek.


IMG_0028 by ezwater, on Flickr

Antietam cuts deeper as it nears the Potomac.


IMG_0029 by ezwater, on Flickr

Taking a break.


IMG_0031 by ezwater, on Flickr


IMG_0034 by ezwater, on Flickr

Bedrock appears.


IMG_0035 by ezwater, on Flickr

A class 1-2 above a country road bridge is complicated by wood.


IMG_0036 by ezwater, on Flickr

Looking upstream from just above the bridge.


IMG_0038 by ezwater, on Flickr

The country road bridge from downstream. The ledges are oriented NNW as is typical for the Appalachians.


IMG_0039 by ezwater, on Flickr

This is an old aquaduct that once carried canal traffic. The canal ran along the Potomac River from Washington DC upstream into the Appalachians, and before the coming of railroads, was a major conduit for trade between eastern and western states.


IMG_0040 by ezwater, on Flickr

The take out is not on Antietam Creek, but rather just upstream from the mouth of Antietam on the Potomac, on National Park Service land.


IMG_0041 by ezwater, on Flickr

There's a lot more of Antietam to run upstream, but you'd have to choose between that and many other good paddling opportunities in the area.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Pretty area. Any camping along there? Or is it all private property?

 

[ezwater]

I didn't see any campgrounds along the creek, but there's at least one outfitter upstream that probably hosts camping. There may be camping in the parklands along the canal.

 

[Kayak Jack]

I see you're running a Royalex boat configured for white water. Interesting.

 

[oldsparkey]

If I am not mistaking the Mad River Canoe was a good choice for a river like that.

Chuck.

 

[ezwater]

"I see you're running a Royalex boat configured for white water. Interesting." - kayak jack

The boat is a Mad River Synergy, a 15' tandem/solo whitewater boat MR marketed back around 1998. (Later they made a sort of fishing kayak and called it "Synergy".) This canoe makes a surprisingly versatile craft for traveling all around the country and paddling unfamiliar waters. I've learned to make it run straight without a lot of correction, and as long as I'm not in a hurry, it doesn't feel "heavy" to paddle. In swamps, its maneuverability is an asset, and its raised bow slides over water plants readily. Of course I tend to look for whitewater, and may be close to finding a bit of it in Louisiana. I'll post some Mississippi Okatoma Creek pictures sometime.

I very much admire all the boatbuilder efforts on Old Sparkey Forum. Apart from a few homemade paddles, I'm unlikely to leave much sawdust in my wake at this point.

 

[Kayak Jack]

White water in Louisiana??? Must be on the Mississippi River - behind a barge?

 

[hairymick01]

G'day Exwater and welcome aboard mate!

There used to be a bloke on here at one time who paddled a WW canoe very similar to yours. I enjoyed his posts immensly as I have yours.

You blokes seem to have a lot of very beautiful rivers and I am bloody envious. I am allways surprised at the similarity between your very many rivers and the few that we have that are worth paddling.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[ezwater]

Kayak Jack-- Here's an example of what is being reported for Louisiana. I've not been up there to see it.

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/conte ... tab-photos

Mick- We used to have a poster on Boatertalk named FatOldBastard from Australia. There's half-a-dozen from Australia who post on Song of the Paddle.

 

[rpecot]

Kayak Jack-- Here's an example of what is being reported for Louisiana. I've not been up there to see it.

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/conte ... tab-photos

I haven't paddle Kisatchie either, but I seem to recall some kids drowning there last year. They were not good swimmers and under estimated the current and depth of some of the holes.