I spent the day alone on the James River, which runs close to my neck of the woods... The trip was relaxing and almost without mishap. :& I'll get to that. This is the first obstacle. There is a tree submerged under the bridge and if you don't know where it is you get hung up on it. The water here is about 15 feet deep, so no gettin off and pushing... can't see it? Me either. But I did manage to get thru.
The river thru this area is big history. Early residents used it to ferry goods and to move around. The old railroad bed has been replaced, but there is evidence of it all around. Most of it dates back pre Civil War.
The mishap I refered to worked out okay, but could have been a really bad mistake. I wasn't familiar with what the take-out looked like from the river. I rowed right past it, and ended up 4.5 mile downriver from where my car was... so far back in the woods the Presbytarians where handling snakes! Some "friendly riverfolk" helped me out and gave me a ride ( I only had to go down on them twice each, and pay them 100 bucks ) LOL! No, they were real nice folks and helped me out of a jam. I got a great picture of the take out as I floated by...
There is a lot of industry along the James, and a lot of pollution. Unfortunately, even the minimal steps they were being made to take to prevent it are voluntary under President Bush's law reforms. I took some pretty disgusting pictures of run off and leeching petroleum from limestone quarries I passed, but I'll spare you them. A lot of folks were out fishing and boating today. I would expect people that use and live by the James would be motivated to fight for it, but they seem satisfied that it just flows. It actually was one of the best Smallmouth Bass fisheries in the US, until flooding during the spawn two years in a row knocked the population back. That's not manmade, though. Floods happen. I wish we all could have seen the river when it wasn't so dirty. I still had a great day. Hope you like the pics.
