I recently wrote to a friend that nothing inspires the imagination more than the beginning and end of a great river. Well, what about a place where two great rivers end and one great river begins? That’s where I ventured earlier this week with my fellow explorer, Jon Wolz.
We traveled to Oldtown, Maryland which I wrote about here. About two and half miles down river from Oldtown is where the North Fork of the Potomac meets the South Fork forming the Potomac River. In effect, here is where two great rivers end, and one begins.
The North Fork of the Potomac which designates the border between Maryland and West Virginia is 101 miles long and shorter than its sister the Southern Branch which is 139 miles in length. The river they form, the Potomac, is a total of 405 miles long and always measured from the headwaters of the North Fork.
The source of the North Fork near Davis, West Virginia I described in a previous posting The source of the South Fork in Highland, Virginia will be detailed in my next posting.
Jon and I knew we could walk to the confluence of the two rivers, along a railroad track on the West Virginia side of the North Fork or along the C&O Towpath on the Maryland side. But neither of us wanted to walk 2.5 miles there and back in 90-degree heat. This left us a few choices. We could take a canoe down the North Fork, but low water and unfamiliarity mitigated against that option. We could take a canoe down the C&O Canal which is watered. However, there were at least three locks in the way, and we would have to portage our canoe around them, so we finally settled on bicycles along the towpath.
Not quite used to my rented bicycle and not having ridden such a conveyance in many years, I was terrified I would end up in the canal, but we quickly reached our destination, the Potomac Forks campground, without incident. After some exploration within the shrubbery along the river edge, avoiding ticks and poison ivy, we found a rough path down to the shore and there, in front of us, was the joining of the two rivers.
They merged into each other without a ripple, seemingly not in a hurry but nonetheless unstoppable and resolute in their determination to complete their long journey to the Chesapeake Bay. So, the two rivers, now one, flow past Harper’s Ferry, Point of Rocks and Leesburg, tumble down Great Falls and Little Falls, respectfully pass the majestic Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery and the Mount Vernon home of their great friend and proponent, George Washington. Soon they pass Point Lookout and merge with the Chesapeake Bay, their journey done.
Yes, nothing inspires the imagination more than the beginning and the end of a great river.
Paul Kreingold
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