Trip Report: Monocacy River, Rt. 77 river access to Creagerstown Park boat ramp

Taking advantage of the almost 90-degree weather, I e-mailed Steve-o to find out if he wanted to get some boats wet. Steve was planning on being in Hagerstown for the weekend, so we had to find something between Columbia and Hagerstown. He remembered canoeing a river with his dad when he was a wee lass that was "out that way somewhere"; oh, and it had a very pretty bridge about 1/2 way through. A quick call to his father found us the Monocacy River, just outside of Frederick. Steve's dad then proceeded to give out route numbers and general directions to both the put-in and take-out. (How do old guys do that - mi papa is the same way. If he's been there once, he's filed it away in his rolodex. Seriously, if I'm ever lost - it doesn't matter what state I'm in, I call him. He's like a human GPS.) Steve's dad's recommendations were - it's a nice stretch as long as it's not right after a hard rain and the water will still be scary cold this time of year.

This was my first-ever one-way/shuttle-required trip. You've gotta love "firsts". We met at the take-out and moved my boat onto Amy's RAV4. She has a Thule rack with kayak stackers. We easily fit the 3rd boat on top. It had its own straps and Stevers and Amy tied up a quick stern line. We threw my paddling crap into the car and headed for the put-in.

I debated briefly in what to wear. Again, this time of year - the water is still quite cold. But, given that it was close to 90-degrees out and the river was only 30' or 40' wide, I (well, we all) opted for swim trunks and a poly-pro t-shirt. Our "unexpected capsize" plans were to simply swim to shore and dry out a bit. We had dry bags of clothing, if they ended up being needed. As it turns out, there were no capsizes and we even ended up dipping our hats into the water to cool off.

The put-in was "the west bank, just below Rte. 77" as Steve-oh's dad recalled. The Community Common's trail map calls it the "Route 77 River Access". Parking was simply a pull-off area on the side of the road. It was fairly busy and mostly gummed up by 2 vehicles with trailers. (Note to trailer drivers, first try parking nose-in at an angle. You'll probably fit without having your trailer in danger and more people can park that way.) None the less, we found a spot and started unloading boats and the car in general.

I was in my Dirigio; Amy was in her Calypso and Stevers was in a Loon. We loaded the boats - extra paddle, bilge pump to share, 2 dry bags of clothing and 2 first aid kits (okay, 1 and a 1/2 - mine really doesn't count as a full first aid kit) and snacks. For good measure, I grabbed a chunk of rope and my paddling jacket (who knows why or what I expected it to do- but I had it).

The river access required a couple hundred yards carry of the boats from the car parking area to the water's edge. The water's edge itself was a short, slightly steep muddy embankment. There was a more gentle rocky shore line just upstream-- but, lazy took over. I grabbed my boat and simply walked into the water first with my boat behind me. I got it floating and then plopped down into the seat. Steve decided on the seal launch and had just the bow in the water when he sat down. And Amy did the same as me - walked in, sat down. No fuss, no muss (unfortunately - I was hoping Steve at least had gotten muddy).

I was surprised at the quickness of the current. From shore, you could tell it was moving but I underestimated it. For the first 45 minutes, we mostly lollygagged and rarely paddled. The water was very murky from the rains earlier in the week. You couldn't see much more than 12 inches or so. We floated/paddled down shore a bit and came to a set of riffles. These were my first riffles! They bounced the boat around, but it was gentle enough that I was able to have the camera out and I took some pictures.

Steve and I made jokes about daring each other to go around the islands on either side. There was 1 island in particular that we joked about, but didn't take the path less travelled. At the end of the island, the narrow side was almost wide and very calm. I ended up being curious and paddled upstream behind the island. I made it most of the way but the water got too shallow - I had to get out and pull the boat behind me for 10' or 15'. Back into deeper water, I started paddling again for another 15' or 20'. This time when I jumped out, I looped my rope through the front toggle and dragged the boat that way. Having the rope and not having to lift or stoop made it much nicer. A quick bit later and I was back into the main part of the river. I paddled back to Steve/Amy and told stories of seeing bear, deer and elk.

The float continued alternating between periods of flat water and short sections of riffles. Just prior to Legorge Bridge (our 1/2 way point and the previously mentioned "really pretty" bridge), the riffles were a little more intense. I managed to slide my boat over a large boulder - one that made a nice THUD! sound and I then felt move back the length of the boat. After that I managed to safely navigate myself through a line of my own choosing which took me to the right of one boulder and then the left of another. The water was moving quickly enough that I didn't get a good picture of the underside of the bridge.

Immediately downstream of the bridge, the water turned back to flat water. We half-heartedly paddled the rest of the way. There was a lot of debris left by previous high water. Right near Legore Bridge, there was what looked to be a piece of a bed stuck pretty high in a tree. In another area was a folding camp chair - though after seeing a second one, we're suspecting that it's someone marking their favorite fishing hole. There were lots of tires and even a mattress wrapped around some trees.

The take out is at Creagerstown Park boat ramp. As we arrived at the take out, there were 3 young men readying a jon boat. They had:

• themselves - check,
• some fishing rods - check,
• smokes - check,
• a cooler with beer - check,
• one broken/old-arse looking oar - check,
• NO life vests - check,
• NO plan on how they were getting back up river - check.

Friendly fellows, they were. They kindly moved to the side to let us land and wished us a good day as they pushed off.

We pulled the boats up off the ramp to near my car. Steve and I went to retrieve Amy's car while she kept guard over the boats. Steve found the Doodle Pro... he drew the missing shapes. He drew me. He then went dirty and drew parts of anatomy. And then there was a cow (on a farm w/ a happy sun). And finally he finished by drawing me without looking AT the Doodle Pro itself. He's actually kind of impressive at his doodle-art. He should find a competition or something.

We got back to Amy's car, drove back to the take out, loaded boats and went home. Our approximate on-water time was about 2 hours and 10 minutes. We covered approximately 6.3 miles. It was a good day.

• Map of the area and paddle trip (total trip length: approximately 6.3 miles)
• View Picture Gallery