On the River

By Sarah Barnett, JRA RiverRat

As August 2011 was coming to a close a group of 18 far flung friends from Richmond, Lynchburg, Washington D.C. and several other cities descended on Appomattox VA to paddle a section of the James River. We put in at Glasgow where the Maury River dumps into the James River and took out just before the dam. The main attraction for our group would be mid day in the trip going over the rapids at Balcony Falls. Our group of enthusiasts ranged in age from 23 to 61 with all levels of paddling experience. We had someone who had guided on the Gauley, a few folks who had never been on a boat other than a cruise ship, and all experience levels in between. Our group members were using all varieties of boats including sea kayaks, whitewater kayaks, and canoes. Since we wanted everyone to enjoy themselves it seemed the August lower water levels would be just right.

Unfortunately a footbridge was washed out so to get the boats to the river access we had to hand them across a streambed. Way to go guys!

From the beginning we knew the float would be fantastic. We had great weather and the water was perfect.

We stopped for lunch just above Balcony Falls. Wadding down to the rocks beside Balcony Falls we wanted to scout the rapids ahead of time and make sure everyone knew the best line to run.

Despite the varying ages and abilities everyone in our group made it down the rapids successfully without tipping over or falling out of their boat. We did have experienced safety boaters on hand just in case.

Later in the day we stopped to enjoy jump rock for those who wanted to take a plunge into the river from a few feet higher. Here we saw a water snake with bright orange markings sunning itself. We didn’t bother the snake and the snake didn’t bother us.


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