Anacostia River in Summer

This is the first trip we made in Johncanoe, right after the launch and our solo shakedowns. They went so well that we decided to get adventurous, load up 2 people and some minimal boating gear and see how that worked. It worked very well. We started at the Bladensburg Marina, went downriver about 1 mile towards Washington, DC and then upriver again until the water got too shallow to navigate. Although the freeboard was the lowest either of us had ever seen, the boat handled the wind/tidal ripples and even a gentle motorboat wake encounter with no problems. So 2-person cruising is a definite possibility in Johncanoe.

	The Bladensburg Marina is located at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park. There are rental canoes and rowboats, guided pontoon-boat birdwatching tours, a fishing pier and a free boat ramp.
The riverbank south of the marina is wooded. When in leaf, it's hard to believe that there's a major metropolitan area just on the other side (at least until you get to the freeway bridges).
	North of the marina the woods give way to flat ground covered with reeds and grass. These are the Anacostia's headwaters. Johncanoe has no seats at this point, but the front occupant does have a fully-automatic, self-adjusting lumbar support. This picture also answers the question, "Can the Cheap Canoe hold 2 adults?"
Doing our log impression (paddles out of the water, no talking) and drifting toward a Great Blue Heron. It may be a stealthboat, but he's getting suspicious.
	Too close and he's off...