The weather was beautiful so I had to take advantage of it during the quarantine. This was a short, roughly five-mile trip between the Ely's Ford ramp off 610 and the Hunting Run ramp off Spotswood Furnace Rd, with a couple of class I and class II sections to make it interesting for the short jaunt that it is. At Ely's Ford, the ramp is wide enough for a few people to put in at once. I had no trouble getting moving, and the gauge at Culpeper read 1.5; the gauge at the launch is knocked over. Some of the sections where the river runs south were very windy, and it was slow going for a bit to keep up with the river. The water was clear, and it was fun to watch the fish. For the five miles, it took a little less than two hours.
I scraped bottom a couple times going over the class IIs. Even at 1.5, this section was more than doable with no portages. I would be willing to run this section at a lower gauge reading, and there are plenty of rock gardens that would be exposed at that level.
Conditions
1.5 is doable. For take out at Hunting Run, ramp is more accessible at 2.0 or 2.5.
