The level of the Potomac river has been dropping steadily over the past several weeks. Life seems a bit blurry these days. Thoughts about the inadequacies of society seem to twist throughout, noticeably surpassing my usual languishing nerosis. The river remains my personal beacon of hope, yet as it dries, I too begin to feel dry. In the search for meaning in a world full of uncertainties, whitewater remains an apparent antithesis to the vagaries of modern culture, a world all to eager to play it safe, a merry band of myopic vegetables. This evening I experienced a new low of 2.47 feet. The river dramatically changes in character as rock formations appear to rise out of the river bed. The main curtain at 'Pummel' was entirely dry, leaving only the 'Notch' to run. My lines through the 'Notch' have certainly improved since my first backwrenching meltdown several weeks ago. Tonight the landings were soft and forgiving, and as I felt the white mist upon my back, the concept of a day began to melt away.
'Pencil Sharpener' was nearly dried up, and the move changes to a drop into the top hole, anticipating a strong brace as the current pushes you sideways into a tight crack. 'Horseshoe' is tame at this level, and the 'hairy ferry' is the easier move down. The main concern is drying out on shallow rock.
I met a young guy named Charlie this evening and we decided to boat together. He is young and full of character, and I would never have pegged him as a local. After finishing the Falls, we decided to climb up and around the 'Center' lines to take a look the numerous sieves and potholes. It was nearly dark as we clammered around from rock to rock, staring into boiling cauldrons. The dried and dead algae was noticeable as we perused the normally water covered rock faces. Yesterday evening I pulled into the 'Fish Ladder' eddy to begin my journey back to the parking lot, and numerous catfish flopped around in the shallow rock filled pools. I wondered how much lower the water would get before we got some rain. I am starting to get a dried out feeling, like I can feel the earth cracking beneath my feet. Algal blooms are common in periods of prolonged drought leading to hypoxic water conditions which threaten local fish populations. I hear stories of park rangers finding dead fish along the river banks. Still, the local fishing population does not seem to cease. I noticed several fishermen out tonight.
A storm brewed in the distant horizon and several times the Falls were lit in a brilliant, momentary display of pure crystaline white light. I was excited at the thought of rain, at thoughts of change, yet it turned out to be nothing more than a brief stammering of liquid droplets. Perhaps tomororw we might be a bit luckier.
'Falls' break arrived today, as I had a day off from school. What else to do, but go boating, continuing my week plus streak of consecutive days on the river. It shaped up to be a gorgeous afternoon. After boating the falls suprisingly low after Friday's rainstorms, the level began to spike back up in the middle of the night. Ian and I paddled down and I was suprised to find more water than I thought, not high by any means, but seemingly so given the usual drought like conditions of the past two months. The level was probably hovering somewhere between 2.56 and 2.58, on the low side for the right side of Pummel, but still good to go. I fired up both lines a few times down Pummel. My first run down the right side was a bit lame. I did not put enough stroke into the boof and kind of teetered off the edge. A fine line, but not enough soul. I headed for the 'Notch' the second time around and did a complete meltdown, subbed out, and popped up right side up. I was sure to drive hard toward river left today, because the last time I ran the 'Notch' around 2.56 I hit the flake in the middle twice losing all my momentum before the twenty foot plunge. This time around I drove a bit too far left, and had a hard time taking a leftie boof stroke because I was pressed tight against the river left wall. It felt more comfortable drive with left angle, but next time I think I might try taking a right boof stroke instead. My next line down the 'Notch' was better, I was able to sneak a solid leftie in, but this time put a bit too much into it, and landed a bit too sideways at the base, flipped, rolled and was out into the eddy in a jiff. I was definitely pumped by this line. 
Ian took a few good lines off the right side of Pummel. I turned around at one point to see him hurtling through space, flipping upside down in mid air and landing on his head. He hit a little 'f.u.' rock on his way down throwing him off line. Ian was proved his affinity for the 'meltdown' move off the river right side through the crease several more times.
We made our way through four full laps, with one extra run off Pummel each. The sunlight was perfect, and we took advantage by shooting a little video and taking a few good photos. It's always fun to find new perspectives of the same drop. I am going to try and sneak as many days as possible boating the falls before we head down to the Green in two weeks. 
We headed out to the falls again on Sunday evening. John and I met up with Andy Maser and Dave Hoffman, visiting from Oregon and spending a few days in town showing a few kayak films at several local venues. Andy and Dave both grew up boating the Potomac, and were excited to get a few laps in on their old staple run. The run felt a lot higher as headed down toward the lip of Pummel, especially compared to yesterday. John thought the level was 2.51, but when we got to the lip of Pummel it definitely looked like you could run the boof on river right. We got out and took a look. The 'Notch' looked a lot beefier than the day before and the big curler before the main drop was back in play. We watched as Andy fired up his first line with a sik wave wheel. We hopped in our boats and headed down. My first line went well. I got out of my boat and took a few pics and headed up for round two. Shannon's parents were in town visiting for the day and they were watching from the observation deck. I waved from the rock and got in my boat. As I made my left I turned my boat too early and hit the big fan in the middle of the river. I was heading toward the drop sideways, but took a big right stroke at the last second as I passed through the curler, boofed hard right and landed at the base of the waterfall facing the curtain. It started pulling me back in, so I took some quick deep strokes, and backpaddled out around the guard rock. It ended up going well, but it was not what I intended to do before I headed down.
We all boated a few more lines on the main boof at 'Pummel'. It was suprisingly padded out, and now I was really wondering if the level was 2.51. We paddled down through 'Mather Gorge' again, but this time we jogged back on the Canal trail. It was a much easier run, and a great way to end a beautiful day. The days are getting noticeably shorter, so it will be harder to squeeze in evening runs this week. I checked the level of the Potomac when I got home and it was 2.56. Certaily not 'high' by any stretch, but much higher than we thought, and it was the highest I had run the 'Notch'. As the weather changes, I can feel the untroubled days of fall begin to settle in.
Everyone was a bit slow to stir on Sunday morning, Curt had a house party with a live band on Saturday night that drifted on into the wee hours of the morning. Still, we managed to meet around eleven o'clock and boated until four in the afternoon. 