Dozens of paddlers make trip on Potomac River

Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

— PAW PAW, W.Va. — Juanita Holland’s car broke down and sat smoking along Interstate 70, but not even that could deter her from her weekend plans.

Instead of turning back to her Hyattsville home, she asked the tow truck driver to haul her and the disabled vehicle from Hancock to the Town Creek Aqueduct along the Potomac River.

The aqueduct was the starting point for the 2010 Potomac River Ramble, a three-day, 25-mile sojourn through the Paw Paw Bends from Town Creek to Little Orleans. Holland said she was too excited about the trip to miss out when just 40 miles away.

“It takes a lot to get ready for a trip like this, and everything was set to have this window of time to get away,” Holland said. “I just wanted to be here so badly. ... I decided I’d worry about the car afterward.”

On Friday more than 40 paddlers from across Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania launched a flotilla of canoes and kayaks for the first leg of the journey.

It was a diverse crowd spanning experience levels, from first-timers to one man who’d already paddled 350 miles in 2010. But everyone had one thing in common — looking forward to three uninterrupted days of river recreation and camping.

“I’m not in charge. Time doesn’t matter,” said Ralph Bucca of Princess Anne. “It’s a good way to relieve stress.”

The event is held annually by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. Spokesman Curtis Dalpra said such outings help make people more aware of their connection to waterways and the impact their actions and lifestyles have on the environment.

“I think these kinds of events can really help people become better stewards of the river,” Dalpra said. “When they share time together, they start talking and thinking about what they can do.”

To that end, the group included several experts who gave talks and demonstrations on the river’s ecology, wildlife and local history throughout the trip.

Gear and guides for the trip were supplied by River and Trail Outfitters of Knoxville. Guide Mike Dudash has led the ICPRB excursion for about five years, and said he, too, sees it as a valuable educational opportunity.

“In the end this is my classroom to teach river ecology,” Dudash said. “Now all these people will care about the resource and want to do something about it.”

Wayne Anderson of New Creek, W.Va., recently retired, said he also goes out on the river on his own, but the organized group trips have their own appeal.

“The kayaking and the education,” he said.

But in the end, he enjoys being out on the Potomac now for the same reason he did in high school, when he and friends would “drag a johnboat down to Paw Paw” and float on down the river.

“It’s having a national treasure in your own back yard,” Anderson said.

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