March float trip

The Rivanna river is up and flowing fast, thanks to the rain we had early last week.  I heard that we have had 8" already this year, which makes for a lot of mud but good canoeing.

I made the trip in about 2 hours today, which is about as fast as I've ever done it.  There were snow flurries off and on throughout the trip, I was just glad it wasn't falling as rain.  It was chilly so I paddled for much of the way to keep warm.   

Look closely for the birds flying in formation.

I wasn't on the river early enough for early morning wildlife viewing.  Mostly I saw ducks and geese.  The most surprising thing I saw this time was other people.  Not too long into my trip I encountered a guy heading upstream in a canoe with a small electric motor attached.  He was equally surprised to see me.  A little while later I saw another canoe up on the river bank, apparently being stored there by the adjacent landowner.  That was surprising mostly because I had never seen it there before.  A ways further downstream I saw a tent pitched on a sandbar.  I'm guessing that may have belonged to the fisherman in the motorized canoe I saw earlier, perhaps he's making a weekend of it. 

When I got down to where the Pleasant Grove property abuts the river, I saw three people horseback riding on the Fluvanna Heritage Trail and the associated horse trails. 

Finally, when I arrived at the Palmyra bridge where I get out, someone was there launching a kayak and heading downstream towards Fork Union. 

That's more human activity than I usually observe on the river even in the summer, so it was very surprising to see it today.