Barracks Ledge

The mid-run-pool ends with a small rocky island with a few trees and a river-wide line of boulders. It's a bit of a choose-your-own adventure, but everything to the right of this island is filled with dead wood, so not the adventure I would recommend. We took the left channel, staying 10 yards or so off of the left bank because of the dead wood here also. Around the side of the island, (maybe 75 yards in) you'll see a horizon line. Some lines are cleaner than others, but the best option we saw was to simply run the ledge straight down the middle. It’s about a 3' drop, comparable to a mini version of Murphy's ledge (Noli Gorge). Rest of the way down (200 yards or so) to the lake is just a Class II+ game of dodge-the-barely-submerged rock.

Quick history lesson - around 1800 Washington + Jefferson decided to build an Armory in this area to serve the southern states, at the same time they approved construction of the Harpers Ferry and West Point Armory. Eli Whitney (yep, the Cotton Gin guy) was the one that selected + surveyed the land, and Colonel Senf was the engineer in charge of the construction. Senf died and was buried nearby in an unmarked grave. The armory, barracks, powder magazine, blacksmith shops, and artillery storage sheds were built, and staffed, but nothing was ever produced. The war of 1812 happened and focus/ funding was redirected to Harper’s Ferry + West Point. By 1825 it was abandoned. The 80 acres worth of ruins will be accessible as part of the overall whitewater project and 500+ acre state park, but for now they are on private land.