​Assateague backcountry paddling (and fall closure dates)

[Guest]

OK, I love paddling the glamping tripping side of Assateague Island, with spot-a-pots, picnic tables and fire ring sites spaced every few miles south down from Chincoteague Bay from the Maryland Nat’l seashore launch (Old Ferry Landing) to the Virginia end. Assateague is a very cool and unique venue in the mid-Atlantic region.

https://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/upload/backcountrymap2008.pdf

The ferocious marsh mosquitoes are nearly gone and Assateague paddle-in season is upon us. I highly encourage anyone in driving or southbound-snowbird travelling distance to give Assateague bayside paddle-in camping a try.

Fall, winter and (early) spring are prime time for Assateague paddle camping and explorations, but the bayside is closed for various and sundry hunting seasons in fall and winter. (It remains open for goose and duck seasons. Yeah, those are decoys, give them a wide berth. The guy in the blind has a shotgun and you probably don’t).

2016/2017 the Assateague bayside backcountry is closed now through October 30 for whitetail and invasive sika deer. And invasive ponies and 4-wheelers on the beachfront. (Hey, a man can dream)

Closed November 10-11 for some reason; youth hunt, bow, black powder, somethingsomething. I don’t really care about that closure date; anytime before mid-November the marsh bayside can be mosquito chancy. So can warm days in early December.

Closed November 27 through December 10 for firearms. Bag limit of two ponies or one 4-wheeler on the beach, with a bonus tag for Jeeps overrunning dune grass, plants which are probably older then the driver.

Closed January 13 through 16 for ponies and antlerless 4-wheelers. (all of those bayside closure dates are real, I just have a vivid fantasy life).

Seriously, the Assateague bayside is an awesomely different off-season tripping venue. Highly recommended.

If you visit this bit of history is well worth a read:

http://www.assateaguephotos.com/Other/The-Old-Assateague-Island/i-PP9ffTR

Bring a wind break tarp, lots of potable water and the all-terrain bocce balls.

 

[sweeper]

Please define 'Early Spring' April?

 

[yellowcanoe]

I was hoping for early March on the way home from FL

 

[daveo4]

A couple of us try to get a 3 day paddle in there between the closures and Christmas. I just got summoned for jury duty (federal court) for the month of December so I might not make it this year. Mike is right- this is the best time to camp in the Assateague backcountry.

 

[Guest]

Please define 'Early Spring' April?

I generally avoid the Assateague bayside between mid-April and mid-November. Call it April 15[SUP]th[/SUP] +/-.

The avoidance after mid-April is more for tick avoidance than mosquitoes. After the first spell of warmish April weather the tick population at Assateague is akin to a horror show, it actually looks like the pine duff is moving. Waking up to dozens of ticks leg-waggling on the tent screen does not make for a cheery morning exit.

Wear light colored clothing, bring a chair high enough to get your arse off the ground and try to avoid brushing through thick undergrowth.

I bring Permethrin with me and spray my shoes, clothing, tent and hammock while in camp; I’d rather have the overspray on the duff in camp than around the cat or aquatic turtles at home.

(Too many dang ponies, sika and whitetail on a small island)

 

[Guest]

Some other random Assateague stuff

(Long, but it is such a cool place)

An entry fee and backcountry permit is required (available at the Nat’l Seashore North Beach Ranger station on the Island, just after the entry fee station). There is no potable water available, pack in what you need. Dogs are not permitted in the bayside backcountry sites.

There isn’t much in the way of critter beware other than ticks and mosquitoes, although the ponies can be a pain in the arse. (Or face; friend Topher, sleeping under a tarp, awoke to find a pony dick in his face. A horse was straddling his sleeping bag, two legs on one side, two on the other. He decided the best course of action was to quietly go back to sleep)

Tides are important. While the tidal flow, at least starting from the north end/Old Ferry Landing, is barely noticeable (not so at the Chincoteague end), the tidal water level is very impactful. High tide can provide a whopping two feet of water; low tide can mean dragging the boat for a hundred yards across two inches of water on a sandbar. I use the Public Landing tides across the bay from the Pine Tree site on this site (select Chincoteague Bay, Public Landing and pick your dates):

http://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/marylandsites.html

Pay attention to the moon phase and height in feet variance, lots of lessons to be had there.

Launching from the Maryland end is my preference. Starting at the Virginia end is kinda long and ugly at first, paddling amidst the town of Chincoteague and the route to the first site (Pope Bay) mildly confusing with lots of that’s-not-it dead end guts and channels.

Backcountry campsites from north to south from the Old Ferry Landing:

Tingles Island. 2 ½ miles from the landing. There are 5 or 6 sites there, but it has little wind protection and the proximity means it sees a lot of visitors, both paddle in and backpack in folk.

Pine Tree. 5 miles from the landing. 5 or 6 sites, some quite spacious. By far my favorite of the backcountry sites. Decent wind protection in some areas, a couple of different sneak route approaches and great protected empty-boat day paddling opportunities. I especially like the Pine Tree sites furthest from the landing.

Green Run. 10-ish miles from the ferry landing. 5 sites, IIRC. There is no sneak route between Pine Tree and Green Run, and no place to hide; it is 5 miles of embayed shoreline in between. The Green Run landing is old hunt camp fugly and the sites are all positioned around the perimeter of a large sandy opening like a stare at your neighbor KOA. On the upside it is close enough to the Atlantic beach to feel the waves crashing when the surf is up.

Pope Bay.15 miles from the ferry landing, providing you don’t get lost in a maze of bayside islands. Two sites. Pope Bay is the least used of the bayside sites, furthest from either end of the island and trickiest to find. Nice site, but it can be heavily infested with greenbriar. BTW, a pair of gardening pruning shears to clear a tent pad below ground level or nip off pants-grabbing greenbriar are your best friend at any of the Assateague sites.

Foraging. Assateague offers an abundance of opportunity to forage victuals. Fishing the bay side or surf fishing the Atlantic (not my thing). Clamming in the sandy shallows; we used to bring a clam rake, but if the water is still warm you can find clams with your bare toes. And, lastly, mussels. Mussels galore, clinging like clusters of grapes to the Spartina grass edge of the bayside. Puck them off, rinse them a time or three in a bucket of clear baywater and steam those suckers open. Or gather some clams and mussels and pack in some cream and sherry. Ummm good, freshest chowder ever. OK, I cheat and just pack in a can of clam chowder, adding the day’s shellfish meat to that. . . . still ummm good.

Chincoteague Bay is often windy. A weather radio is a worthwhile piece of gear that can make the difference between up and out early in light breezes or struggling through howling wind the same afternoon. The wind direction is critical as well, not just for headwind/tailwind. If the wind is blowing from the west it will pile helpful water depth onto the bayside of Assateague and open the sneak routes. If it is blowing from the east it will drain the marsh, and the bayside. Friends once walk/waded their boats most of the way in at high tide with a strong east wind.

Again, weather radio.

BTW, the inner marsh routes take a long time to drain, like slowly squeezing water out of a sponge. Or to refill. Tides inside the marsh run an hour or more behind the bayside, and that is intensified by any east or west wind effect.

Chincoteague Bay is often windy II. And shallow. It is the ideal place to try a canoe or kayak sail, even if that is just a golf umbrella in the bow of a tandem. Plus it is hard to use a paddle in 6 inches of water. I am surprised more people don’t pole that shallow, firm sandy bottomed bay, at least in wind and wave calm conditions.

The easiest calm-waters paddling route heading south from the Old Ferry Landing is well out in the open bay, where there is more depth of water. But there is no place to hide from the wind out there far from shore. There are a couple of “sneak routes” winding through connecting guts and channels inside the island, but they require high tide and a better paddler’s map than anything available in the park.

At any distance out in the bay the Spartina grass and pine hummocks all blend together and there are not a lot of visual clues. Some of the best landmarks are the duckblinds (some helpfully numbered) and stake marked hike out routes to the blinds, the remains of old, abandoned hunting lodges and scattered bayside sandy beaches, which wink brightly in the sun even at a distance.

I have photocopies of a DIY’ed “Paddler’s Map” (two sheets of 11x17 paper) showing the locations of the island and guts, inner-island sneak routes, duck blinds, hunting lodges and bayside beaches. I have been notating and revising those homemade maps for 10 years now (a continuing effort, the bayside changes every year after nor’easters and tropical storms) and always bring extra copies to hand out to paddlers I meet in camp or at the launch.

I would be happy to mail copies of those map pages to anyone planning an Assateague paddling trip this off-season. My pleasure, just PM me an address.

OK, that was way longer than I intended, but I find that island so intriguing. A simple walk from the bayside to the beach transects a half dozen distinctly different zones; Atlantic ocean, surf zone, beach, inner dunes, inner-island forest and pine hummocks, salt marsh, Chincoteague Bay. All that in a mile’s hike east to west. Cool place to paddle, even cooler place to wander afoot.

 

[sweeper]

Thanks Mike, I'll put this on my list of Places to paddle, you may have given me a reason to like the ocean other then a place to fly kites.

 

[Guest]

I'll put this on my list of Places to paddle, you may have given me a reason to like the ocean other then a place to fly kites.

I agree about the ocean.I find the beachfront boring as heck. Look north, sand and waves. Look south, sand and waves. Bleeehhh.

One depressing thing for me about the ocean beach is that 4-wheel drive vehicles are permitted on the beach. Even when there are few vehicles in sight the sand is a hundred linear furrows of tire tracks.

I usually walk out the beach once, spend 5 minutes and wonder why I bothered. The inner island and bay/salt marsh side are far more interesting.

One good thing about the Pope Bay site; there is a fence across the island at the Maryland/Virginia line, separating the MD and VA pony herds, and 4WD vehicles are not permitted on the Virginia side of the line. The beachfront at Pope Bay is only a quarter mile from the line, so there is some virgin beach in Virginia.

EDIT: Today is the last day of the early deer season hunt. It is 80F with light winds at Assateague.

Today the skeeters feast on the Realtree clad.

 

[Guest]

I was hoping for early March on the way home from FL

If you do visit Assateague en route north I’d like to send you copies of my Assateague Paddler’s Map before you leave for Florida. I have an extra 20 sets (two 11x17 pages) of the latest revision already photocopied.

If you are interested please PM me your mailing address.

 

[Chip]

I was away, and not paying attention, when Mike posted this in October, so I'm glad it got dredged up to Today's Posts again. Lots of good info here, and saves me a phone call to find out the closure dates.

We went down there once during a closure period and I still get a chuckle out of remembering my friend Scott, who got a quizzical look on his face when the ranger informed us the back country sites were closed, for the "youth hunt." I could see the wheels turning in his head, and it took him a few seconds to cock his head and ask the ranger, "is that legal?"

A couple comments on Mike's great info:

Green Run - it's true the sites are all around one clearing, offering little privacy, but in practice, most times you will be there by yourself. You have to sign up for these sites prior to your departure and you can find out if anybody else has signed up for that site. But it is pretty rare to run into anybody south of Pine Tree, possibly excepting Mr. McCrae. Green Run does have the ugly remains of a pre-National Seashore hunting camp, but, over the years, I've enjoyed watching the progressive decay as wind and weather dismantle the place.

Developers intended to turn Assateague into Ocean City, south before it became a National Seashore. There was a road installed west of the dune line, running almost all the way to Virginia. The road is mostly gone now. The biggest stretch I have seen is around Green Run, and there was a lot of it between Green Run and Popes, making it reasonable to hike from one to the other. I suspect shifting sands may hide or expose the road, so I have no idea what it is presently like. But I like to walk the road and make a mental comparison of conditions here compared to the main drag in Ocean City, which would have been replicated here had the Park not been established.

Paddling from the Chincoteage, you paddle through deeper water than launching from the north (Ferry Landing). From the north, you can see the bottom through the somewhat murky water for most of the trip. While the winds can be strong, there is, at least theoretically, a limit to how big the waves can get, because the water is so shallow on the north end. And aside from the water temperature in the winter, the potential for disaster is reduced, since you can walk to shore. From the south, the waves can get bigger, but they are not as steep. However, you can't walk out. Chincoteague's Oyster Bay is very shallow, the bottom is oyster bar, which make an ugly sound on a glass hull. Use Mike's tide reference--Oyster Bay is one of the sites you can select.

 

[Guest]

We went down there once during a closure period and I still get a chuckle out of remembering my friend Scott, who got a quizzical look on his face when the ranger informed us the back country sites were closed, for the "youth hunt." I could see the wheels turning in his head, and it took him a few seconds to cock his head and ask the ranger, "is that legal?"

I have had some comical interactions with the ranger staff there over the years. The best may have been when I was finishing up the permit paperwork and the Ranger motioned towards the dunes and told me “Your wife will need to come in and sign too”.

Walk to the door and holler “Sweetie, you need to come sign the permit!”.

When Joel came in from strolling the dunes their expression was quizzical.

You have to sign up for these sites prior to your departure and you can find out if anybody else has signed up for that site. But it is pretty rare to run into anybody south of Pine Tree

Good point. I always ask, and have changed my intended site destination on hearing “There is a scout troop on Pine Tree”.

Even the Pine Tree site is often completely vacant in the off season. I did do a March trip when the wind and weather were calm and unseasonably warm. Pine Tree filled up and then some. Folks who had permits for other sites ended up there for sundry reasons and, despite the overcrowding, a good time was had by all.

Or almost all; two couples in tandem sea kayaks pulled in and immediately proceeded to grouse about how “We couldn’t get a permit for Pine Tree, and now have to continue on to Green Run, but we’re going to stop here for lunch”.

That would not have been an issue had they not pulled two 20 foot kayaks ashore, end to end and parallel to the water, completely blocking access to the landing before disgorging their picnic.

While the winds can be strong, there is, at least theoretically, a limit to how big the waves can get, because the water is so shallow on the north end. And aside from the water temperature in the winter, the potential for disaster is reduced, since you can walk to shore. From the south, the waves can get bigger, but they are not as steep.

I’m not sure which I prefer. Bigger waves with more space between them, or the shorter stuff in shallower waters with a near vertical face. Those latter can also be very closely spaced, so the hull can be on two (or more) waves at once.