Having been to Westhampton Lake, Pony Pasture, Brown Island, Huguenot Flatwater, and Belle Isle, I’ve seen a good portion of access points to the James River in the Greater Richmond area. My first impression is that the river and these points vary greatly in shape and ecology, yet somehow all belong to the same river.
It’s remarkable that a river can change so much over the course of a few miles, ranging from slow-moving, deep water to shallow, Class IV rapids. I understand how difficult it was for early explorers to navigate up the James since it changes so quickly and the Richmond part of the James is very rocky and fast-moving.
Reading through “An Interpretive Guide to Belle Isle” (which I highly recommend for informational reading), I was astonished at how much history was located just on that one island. It’s served as a mining site for granite, a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War, a hydroelectric plant to produce energy for the city’s trolley system (the first of its kind in the US), and an iron manufactory. The island today, serves as a popular recreation spot for swimming, fishing, kayaking, and general relaxation. This is the kind of historic spot you would expect to find in rural Virginia, not in the middle of a city.
My first trip to Belle Isle was about a year ago as part of Roadmap to Success and also happened to be with Dr. Lookingbill. He taught us some of the basics of our watershed and the geography of the area. I remember a specific point on the trip when I was one of a handful of students wading out into the water to look at the schools of fish when Andy Gurka made a comment that we would be the students in Earth Lodge. I feel this trip was so fitting to bring me full circle, a year later as a student in Earth Lodge, having learned SO much more about the James River and its geography from Dr. Lookingbill.
Another one of my favorite spots on the river is Pony Pasture park. It’s such a beautiful location even when the park is full of people. The blend of natural flora, shallow rapids, large, flat rocks, and ample opportunities for recreation make this a truly underrated spot on the James.
Overlooking the James from Pony Pasture park
Though the James River may have its fair share of ecological issues, I would consider the river a very rich source of recreational value. There are so many things to do on the river and many people do take advantage of it. Brown Island was full of families and dogs running around and enjoying the day. The Canal Walk attracted many people to take advantage of the local food venues and pop-up shop market happening last weekend. Even Belle Isle had its fair share of visitors even after the weather began to turn drizzly and gray.
A view of downtown Richmond from Brown Island
I’ve really enjoyed learning about the park system and having an excuse to step away from schoolwork and explore this beautiful gem in our own backyard. It also made me happy to see so many people utilizing the river, especially on a cloudy afternoon like this past Saturday. Richmond is a beautiful city and having the James River run through it makes it even more special. I think the river is a part of Richmond more than people realize and if everyone who lives here realized this, we could live in conjunction with the river, not just next to it.
Earth Lodge students sharing a moment of “Earth Lodge Love” near Brown Island
I love this story about Andy Gurka identifying you as future Earth Lodgers. Good mix of photos and hyperlinks. In doing your synthesis blog next week, you could consider linking back to a previous blog entry instead of reinserting a picture that was used in the entry. The essay does a good job of supporting a thesis statement about the variability of parks along the river. Is the wording of the thesis statement about shape and ecology exactly what you were going for? Precision is important here as it will set the stage for the rest of the article. Several of your entries up to this point have similar style opening sentences about having visited a site. Consider experimenting with different ways of starting the essay. Looking back on all your blogs there is a lot of great material for your first synthesis piece. Well done.