A Return to Youbedam?

Sunday we attempted a return to Youbedam Point. This is a location that is wide open water with several large creeks and nature preserves. The point, officially called "Aquia Landing" now, is on the Potomac an hour plus south of Washington DC.

some history of Youbedam Point

I have only paddled here once. Although the water is wide, and the nature preserves packed with wild life, the drive down I-95 can be so brutal that I simply have not had the chance to return. Twice myself, Kat, and the Lorax were turned back by enormous traffic snares.

This time we left early and planned the trip on a non-holiday Sunday morning; typically a time with less traffic on the highway. We made it in about 50 minutes. Upon arriving we were greeted by incredible gusts of wind. As I said, "wide open water." The husband deployed his new wind meter and bingo! 25 miles an hour gusts were quantified by the little gadget. Um. I suggested that we would be "blown out to sea," as soon as we launched. Coming back would be impossible. A one-way shuttle would have been the only solution. Without enough people or resources, planning, this was doomed.

And so, after playing with the wind meter for a few minutes we hopped back in our cars and drove back up the highway to Bull Run Marina. Once again finding ourselves in our backyard, we made the best of it and paddled for a few hours. We still had some gusts to deal with but very little chop. The sun shone and we had a little picnic at a small park maintained by an HOA. Not a bad day at all.

Although I had planned to use my camera this day I ended up using my phone instead as we were in a more sheltered locale. Please forgive my playfulness with the following photos. Sometimes the pictures that are not so technically good are the best ones to use for effects in post-processing.