Upper Goose Creek

[B-Sharps]

I took a 2 day trip down upper Goose Creek last week, and needless to say, it was unexpectedly spectacular. Goose Creek is a hidden gem in Loudoun County, and I'm not talking about the lower portion down near the Potomac, which is nice, but not as nice as the upper part. Anyone interested in paddling here can get some information from my latest YouTube video http://youtu.be/xM2DTMKMf8Q. (This video is NOT monetized so please don't think I'm plugging myself to make money)

We placed a 4 part series out there last week and have just enabled them for review.

If you do paddle the upper Goose, please look at my suggestions for water levels (in the video and on the cache pages). It is a very nice, and easy paddle at the right water levels, but could be a tedious, burdensome paddle if there isn't enough water. On the other side of that coin, if you paddle the Goose with too much water, it can be too dangerous because of the strainers you will see in the video.

Many more paddle caches to come for all you hydro-heads out there.

[derektiffany]

Cool vid, thanks for sharing.

[B-Sharps]

Cool vid, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, and you're welcome. We're really hoping that someone else enjoys this spot as much as we do and decides to put out their own caches for us to find. That is our main selfish objective

After that trip, and it being so close, I think we'll be paddling the Goose 4 or 5 times per year. Will try to give notice here if anyone is interested in joining.

[zgrav]

did you encounter much other traffic on the river while you were there?

[B-Sharps]

did you encounter much other traffic on the river while you were there?

I had the entire river to myself. The only time I ever saw another person was when I got near a road or bridge and a vehicle went by. Now, this was on a week day, but I suspect that for the most part, upper Goose Creek is a very lightly used waterway. There were a couple stretches where it appears there is some summertime use by landowners along the creek, but nothing heavy. Well, actually, another exception is going to be along the 2 miles or so of Meadowkirk's property where they do occasional innertubing trips in the summer.

Many spots fealt like wilderness to me, and I've paddling in the Allagash Wilderness and in the Adirondaks, both of which I saw more people and no more wildlife than I did on Goose Creek. In fact, I don't think in all of my wilderness experience have I seen such a large, concentrated abundance of birds: eagles, hawks, waterfowl, song birds, owls...and more Geese than I could count.

[B-Sharps]

There is a very good possibility that Goose Creek is going to be at ideal water levels this weekend. It could be too high, but that depends on how much more rain Faquier County gets over the next couple days. If I didn't have the National Canoe Poling Championships this weekend, I would already be planning a float down this beautiful and difficult to access creek. We bought a nice backpacking saw (Trail Blazer TBS 18) for our return trip so we can cut down all those strainers I mentioned.

If this forecast http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lwx&gage=leev2 looks like it is going to drop down to 2.7' then I'd say it's a go. Lots of places to place caches too

[B-Sharps]

Saturday is looking very good indeed. If anyone is looking for vehicle drop off or pick up support, we might be around this weekend if you ask us soon enough.

[cphug184]

Everything B Sharps said is correct. It feels like wilderness and I never saw a human being on the river. Water levels were too low for canoeing/kayaking...heck even tubing. But you can walk it the whole way. He has placed excellent caches- the sights are terrific. Birds, mammals, fish- a lot of fish.

You really get to see (when levels are down) how water flows around stumps and big rocks and you can see the fish waiting. It is almost gives you a tutorial for river fishing. And you really get to see (via debris in the branches) how high the river can get.

I echo B Sharps sentiments- get out and explore this gem!

[B-Sharps]

Everything B Sharps said is correct. It feels like wilderness and I never saw a human being on the river. Water levels were too low for canoeing/kayaking...heck even tubing. But you can walk it the whole way. He has placed excellent caches- the sights are terrific. Birds, mammals, fish- a lot of fish.

You really get to see (when levels are down) how water flows around stumps and big rocks and you can see the fish waiting. It is almost gives you a tutorial for river fishing. And you really get to see (via debris in the branches) how high the river can get.

I echo B Sharps sentiments- get out and explore this gem!

Congrats! It is incredible that you were able to get to all the caches on foot! Must have been quite the adventure. Looking forward to pictures.

[derektiffany]

Congrats! It is incredible that you were able to get to all the caches on foot! Must have been quite the adventure. Looking forward to pictures.

Looking forward to the GPX with track info!