Old Whitewater, Keep on Rollin’

By Nick Kotula, JRA Guest Contributor

In the west corner, formed almost 440 million years ago during the Taconic orogeny, the apple of the Appalachians, the stinger of the Shenandoah… The Piedmont!

In the east corner, with an average height of just 300 feet above sea level, the boundary of the ocean, the slugger of the seaboard… The Atlantic Coastal Plain!

 

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, these two heavyweights meet up downtown on a regular basis in one of Richmond’s oldest venues, the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line!  And what do we get when two areas with different sediments meet across a river?  (An escarpment!)  That’s right, rapids!  And what do we do with rapids?  We inflate pieces of rubber and hurtle ourselves down them!

That’s exactly what I did this past Memorial Day weekend with Riverside Outfitters.  We started the journey at the 35 Cent Bridge (calling it the Nickel Bridge is just lying to yourself) and wound up at the 14^th Street take out by the Mayo Bridge.  In between plummeting down Class II-IV rapids (the only ones that run through a major U.S. city, thank you very much) we were treated to a whole new way of seeing the river.  I was fascinated watching an osprey being chased by a bald eagle for the fish that he had, when suddenly we were plummeting down to Pipeline Rapids and the heronry!

 

 Afterwards, I headed over to check out how the GBHs react to the antics of the strange bipedal fleshy creatures that like to float on top of the water instead of standing in the middle of it like normal.  They seem generally unfazed.

In a couple of side notes:  The Albizia julibrissin (mimosa) trees are in full bloom by the Pipeline.  I find these fragrant flowers to be beautiful, but it should be noted that they are not originally native to Virginia.  Also, I saw some Gerridae (water striders) out enjoying the river.

Riverside Outfitters offers white water rafting and inflatable “ducky” kayak tours when the water level permits.  You can find them at their Southside location (6836 Old Westham Rd. Richmond, VA 23225) or wait for their new location that will be opening on Brown’s Island starting June 15! You can read all about it here!