A Paddle With Teeth

Paddling the Potomac River, at low tide, from Westmoreland State Park and searching for shark's teeth below the Horsehead Cliffs has been on my To-Do list for quite some time. The idea combines so many activities I enjoy; being outdoors, paddling, going to an unknown and new location and beach combing. Oh, and a picnic with family afterwards fits in pretty nicely too.

(click on any image for slideshow)

Westmoreland State Park is about an hour drive, out Route 3 east from Fredericksburg. There is a $3/car entrance fee and no fee to launch the kayaks from the beach. We got an early start from home and were on the water by 10 am.

We had two tandem kayaks and one single sit-upon. Sam and Molly teamed up on the first leg, Valerie and I were in our Wilderness Systems Pamlico 135T (below) and Gretchen paddled the single.

It was an easy one mile, downwind paddle from the put-in beach to Horsehead Cliffs. Fun surfing the 1-2 foot chop.

We arrived at the cliffs, as planned, at low tide to take advantage of the exposed beach to search for shark's teeth.

The day was hot but there was plenty of breeze off the water.

We enjoyed an apple snack watching several Bald Eagles before we tackled the upwind, into the chop return paddle.

The final fruits of our beach combing efforts, four teeth.