As I locked my helmet in place and zipped up my PFD and wetsuit, I looked ahead and saw my coworkers, Zach and Natalie, sliding down the stairs in their kayaks and plunging into the James, barely able to contain their excitement to get in the water. I smiled at their energy and my thoughts wandered off…
Picture taken after much struggle to get our kayaks to stay in one direction
As we drove over to Pony Pastures, I noticed multiple signs that said “Save Reedy Creek”. I had no idea that this many people were affected by the Reedy Creek project. I’ve never seen a collective group of houses stand up for such a cause. Also, every time I go out to the James, my appreciation for the river grows. Having clean river areas accessible to the public to enjoy is great, but it made me think back to the Cronan article on how people are disillusioned by clean areas of nature when the reality is that the James needs as much help as it can get. As a class, we learned about the true state of the James through events such as the tire pick up at the James and trash pick-up at Dutch Gap. As for the majority of the public, people are not as well-informed as they should be.
After the OAR team saddled up to head into the water, the instructor discussed the hydrology of the James River, showing us what to avoid and what to do in certain situations. We practiced maneuvering out of our flipped-over canoes and submerged into the 60 degree water. After going over the formalities and instructions, we finally started to paddle towards the rapid areas. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of flatwater kayaking, and I was excited to see how different flatwater kayaking to whitewater kayaking. As we started paddling, I noticed that the boats are extremely sensitive to the wind and flow of the water because they constantly had a tendency to spin around. Combatting the spinning of the kayaks took a lot of energy, so I would lean back on my seat out of exhaustion. As I leaned back, I noticed the clear blue sky. Many trees on both sides of the James River had hues of red and orange, indicating that fall is finally here. I noticed the cranes and tricerageese perched on rocks and roaming around small islands along the river, peacefully enjoying the river as we are ourselves. Thankfully, there was nothing out of place at the James, so there was nothing to report in the RiverRat Patrol form. As we paddled down the final section of the river with aching arms, I felt centered and at peace in nature, enjoying everything around me with all my senses, forever thankful for the river and forever proud to be a River Rat.