We scouted out the drop off and pick up locations the day before to make sure I'd have cell service to call Clay to come get me. It was my first float on the James River. We've had a lot of rain lately and it's fairly high. Clay did some searching on the internet and read that there were some Class I and II rapids on the section of the James I'd be floating, so we stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods in Charlottesville on Saturday evening and I bought a PFD, personal floatation device. Class I and II rapids aren't all that serious, but it's more than I encounter on the Rivanna. I put in at the Hardware River Wildlife Management Area about 9:45 Sunday morning. The river is beautiful, full of islands of varying shapes and sizes so there are a lot of route choices to make. I pretty much hugged the left bank for most of the trip, especially after testing the depth of the water with my paddle and failing to touch bottom. The islands and all the inflowing tributaries make for a lot of unusual currents, which were visible on the surface of the water. There's also a lot of rocks in that section of the river and the combination of those elements made for some interesting and occasionally exciting rapids.
The only real problem I had, and I immediately recognized that it was a big one, was that I dropped my paddle. I dipped it for a stroke and I guess the water caught it and pulled it out of my hands. The full meaning of the phrase "up shit creek without a paddle" soon became all too apparent. I was going through some rapids at the moment and really needed that paddle to steer. I watched it float away ahead of me while trying to steer the canoe through the rocks using my body weight and paddling with my hands. The only good thing was that the current was carrying both canoe and paddle in pretty much the same way. I kept the canoe pointed downstream and tried to keep the paddle in sight. This went on for about 100-150 yards I would guess. I kept hoping that the paddle would get hung up on a rock and I was prepared to bail out of the canoe to go after it. I was also thinking, worst case scenario, I would make my way to the shore and locate a branch I could use to pole myself down the river if it came to that.
Eventually we came to calmer spot where there was some distance before the next set of obstacles and rapids. The paddle slowed down and I headed straight for it, paddling with my hands for all I was worth, knowing that this was my last best chance to retrieve it. I got it and pulled it into position just in time to steer through the next set of rapids.
Finally all the madness ended and the river became wide open, unobstructed, clear and calm, although the current was still moving right along. At that point I got into my dry bag and retrieved my phone, discovered that there was cell service, and sent a text message to Clay: "nice river." That's also where these pictures were taken. If I still smoked, I would have had a cigarette.
I don't think I'll do that section of the river again until the water level is down, or until I get a rubber raft. It would have been great fun in inner tubes. I have a spare canoe paddle and I'm going to secure it inside the canoe in case that were to ever happen again, or I may get a wrist strap that attaches the paddle to me. I got out of the river at Bremo Bluff, making the trip in under two hours. I called Clay and while I was waiting for him to pick me up I talked to two guys with kayaks who were putting in there and floating down to Columbia. It sounds like that next stretch of river is calmer and slower, more my speed, so I may try that sometime. Actually, I think I'll go back to the Rivanna until it gets too low to float a canoe this summer.
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