My first thought as I arrived to Pony Pasture for my first visit was “Why haven’t I been here before?!”. Just a 4 mile drive from campus along a beautiful road that follows the James River is a turnoff to a common swimming area on the James called Pony Pasture Rapids.
Pony Pasture Rapids
I spent a good part of this past summer in Richmond and somehow never made my way to this part of the river. This is mainly why I chose this as my reflection spot and I’m glad I did because it’s become one of my favorite parts of the river.
I walked a short ways down the path to a spot on the rocks away from other people. I sat down and just observed for a while. I took in the light breeze coming off the water, the feeling of a late summer evening, the sound of geese swimming on the opposite side of the river…
From the banks of the river
This part of the James River is located just upstream of the city of Richmond. Its southern banks are lined with large boulders that lead into the sandy-bottomed, shallow swimming area. Many types of riparian tree species grow between the rocks like River Birch, Sweet Gum, and Black Willow. A few tiny clam shells are scattered along the bottom of the river. A dragonfly dances around my hands as I take notes in my field journal. Across the river is William’s Island, an uninhabited 100-acre area that can be reached by swimming or paddling across the river.
A view of William’s Island from the opposite bank
Captain Christopher Newport may have passed through this area on foot in 1608 as he led an expedition in search of gold. This area was part of the land the colonists claimed for their king. Today, it’s a popular spot for kayaking, swimming, painting, and general recreation. The road leading to Pony Pasture is accessible by walking, running, and biking and the Class II rapids offer a great spot to launch kayaks, canoes, and floating tubes.
For me, this spot offered a nice way to get away from the campus and school work for a bit. I drove to Pony Pasture for this first visit, but I will definitely be biking here on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the near future.
Driving along Riverside Drive (James River to the right)
For more information about the park, I encourage you to visit: http://richmondoutside.com/destination/pony-pasture-rapids-jrps/
All pictures were taken by the author and information about the park was taken from the above website and signs posted by the James River Park System.
I loved how you also chose a place off-campus, too, Marissa, and what better place than Pony Pasture. It’s definitely troubling how we can be so close to something as wonderful as the James River and Pony Pasture, and yet I’m sure there are plenty of other people who live in the UR bubble we call our campus that have never dared to venture there on a beautiful day. I also appreciated your thorough descriptions of exactly what you heard and saw from your reflection spot. It really gave me a much better sense of where you were sitting and what you were feeling, as did the visuals.
Lastly, I loved that you incorporated lecture material and additional information from the park systems website. It’s one thing to visit a place and fall in love with it for its aesthetics; that’s not hard to do. It’s completely different to be genuinely interested in learning all about a place, from its history to its geographical layout. I feel like you touched on all of these areas in some way in your first reflective piece, and it was well done.
This entry has all the makings of a great geostory. Photos do a great job of supporting the story that you are developing.
See last year’s class geostory about pony pasture here.