Date: 2023-06-14
From: Riverside Campsite

To: Morgan Ford Bridge/Stumble Inn 
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was pretty much the reverse of yesterday. It started out with a lot of shallow water, hitting rocks, and cursing. It took us about 3 hours to go just under 6 miles.We ported at the Front Royal public boat landing near Eastham Park. The plan was to go into town, get some lunch, resupply, and figure out our next steps. After Front Royal, we had even less information about the river than before.After doing some research, we found out that there was a hostel near a boat landing that was about 12 miles up river. We wanted to get off the river for a night so we could shower, do laundry, have a decent meal, and sleep in a decent bed. We figured the latest we'd get to the landing was about 7pm. So we called them, told them we were coming by river, and they said as long as we could get there by 7 that they'd come pick us up.Unfortunately it took us longer to get back to the boat than we would have liked. Getting into town we were able to find an Uber driver, but we were not able to find one to get back to the boat. It was only about a mile or so, but we wasted time trying to get a ride, then another 20 minutes walking. So, it was about 1pm by the time we started paddling again.But after about a mile or so, the river started to change for the better and we crushed the 12 miles in about 4 hours and that was with a 30+ minute self portage around a dam. There were actually parts of the river just before the dam that was deep enough for fairly large motor boats to cruise through. We got to the Morgan Ford public landing at about 5:30pm.Speaking of the dam we had to portage around. It ended up being a hilarious (for one of us anyways) pain in the ass. The problem was that the area where we had to pull the canoe out was a complete muddy mess. I stepped out and immediately sank all the way to my knees. And it wasn't light fluffy mud, it was thick suctiony mud that wanted to eat my crocs. No matter how hard I tried to pull my leg, I just couldn't get them out without losing my shoes. Eventually I had to just pull my legs out without my shoes on and I reached my hand down in the hole to pull them out. But, when I tried to pull the first one out, it was so hard that I broke the heel strap on one of them. Eventually I was able to get them both out. So at this point I have two legs, one arm, and two shoes covered in mud and I hadn't even made it to the actual shore yet and Pacer is laughing her ass off the whole time. Oh, and the mud absolutely reeked. It smelled like raw sewage. Eventually I was able get onto soild ground and because I'm such a great guy, I pulled the canoe up far enough so she didn't also have to play in the mud.Once we got the canoe onto land, the portage was tough but not terrible. It was made a little more difficult because I had to do it barefoot since I couldn't get any traction in my muddy shoes.The rest of the trip was a breeze and now we are at The Stumble Inn hostel. I've gotten a shower, my clothes are currently getting clean, I've eaten a decent meal, and I've got a nice bed waiting for me. Overall it's been a good day.Breakfast: A bagel with honey pecan cream cheese Lunch: A double BBQ bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry pineapple formation (their version of a DQ blizzard) at Spelunker's Frozen Custard & Cavern Burger. It was very good. The burger seemed like actual ground meat instead of a solid meat patty like a lot of fast food burgers.Dinner: Orange chicken with fried rice and an egg roll from Old Place Asian Kitchen. It was decent I guess. The fried rice was pretty basic and the orange chicken didn't have much flavor.Dessert: A cream soda Dr. Pepper and a neopolitain ice cream sandwich.