How's the kayaking in DC and MD?

[At-Chilles]

Originally Posted by paytonc

Do you mean whitewater kayaking, or flatwater?

Perceptions of such things are always going to be subjective, and there's no use comparing a big chunk of Megalopolis to somewhere out west where the the terrain is still in the process of being born. The Appalachians are almost a billion years old, the Cascades a mere 5-7 million -- i.e., if the Appalachians began yesterday at midnight, the Cascades erupted at 11:52PM today. I personally like our older hills: they've evolved astonishing biodiversity, rich human history -- and are way less likely to explode or quake underneath us, much less drown us all in an "inevitable" monster tsunami. There's also going to be a big difference in how close things are in a metro area that's twice as large (as measured by CSA).

As old as the rushing waterways in the east are, they don't hold a candle to the west---the op mentioned Seattle/PNW--- in terms of pure whitewater, degree of difficulty, isolation, wilderness, technicality, vertical drops, etc.

One word : Gradient.

What the east does have that exceeds the west is - a much larger and far more diverse paddling community. And this is truly beneficial for the neofyte paddler.

I've lived and paddled class 5 whitewater on both coasts, and like the east better -- simply because of the ''community.''

But if you are from NC - you have more than likely seen the best the east has to offer.

My favorite in the east : The Green River as it flows near Flat Rock.

In terms of flat-water/brackish-water ---- I have no opinion as I haven't paddled any in the east.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by At-Chilles

As old as the rushing waterways in the east are, they don't hold a candle to the west---the op mentioned Seattle/PNW--- in terms of pure whitewater, degree of difficulty, isolation, wilderness, technicality, vertical drops, etc.

One word : Gradient.

Yeah, that was my point in saying "there's no use comparing" the two. Older mountains are more worn (by water!) and therefore not as high or steep, and the mountains here are really, incredibly old.

If you really must have lots of steep, sheer slopes to tumble off of/climb back up, whether in a boat or on skis or boots or ice axes or whatever, by definition you just won't find it around here. Cascadia, in particular, has a particularly enticing combination of steep mountains and lots of rainwater. However, I wonder how many people really "must have" those slopes; sometimes it seems like people move out west "because I like the outdoors" but end up spending the same 92% of their lives indoors as those of us in the east. It's all a matter of finding a location that balances what's important in life, since few of us can survive on kayaking alone.