Fall Foliage Float

On Saturday I went with the Blacksburg Parks and recreation center on a canoe trip down the James River. The weather was supposed to be very cold (which is was) and sunny (which for the most part it was not!). But the colors are pretty good at the moment. On the way to the rec center I walk past this great derelict house and amazing tree.

Old house.

After meeting at the rec center, they drove us up past Roanoke to the drop off on the James river in Botetourt county. We got kitted up and waited for the instructors to unload the canoes and get the shuttle over to a pickup point.

Canoes at the ready

Ready to go.

Because I was on my own and everyone else was in pairs (the usual story), I ended up sharing a canoe with Travis, the guy in charge. Which had its good and bad sides. Good side - I was with someone who knew exactly that they were doing. Bad side - we went through all the rapids first to test out the best path and he was slightly insane! He liked to rock the boat. Literally! I really did think we were going to get dunked. Especially when he stood up in the canoe yelling "This is what not to do!" Thankfully that did not happe. (Did I mention it was really cold?)

Getting the canoes in.

Despite the clouds, the sun did come through a couple of times and it was very pretty and peaceful.

The James River

There were a lot of different groups on the trip. There were a few parent/kid groups (one of who were the first to going for an unplanned swim but despite being freezing the kid was a trooper!).  They were all great fun and we had a good laugh (usually when someone ran into a tree or kept going in circles).

Along the trip there were some quite impressive rapids as the water was really high apparently. I loved it! Despite the splashes of cold water. (And mild terror occasionally - maybe due to the crazy man steering!)

Camille (11) and her mom, Alex 

We stopped on the river for lunch. This was after a couple of big rapids (which I didm't get any photos of - I was too busy paddling and hoping not to go swimming) so it was nice to have a chance to dry off a little. and chat.

Climbing ashore for lunch.

The little guy is the one who went swimming.

Fall leaves

After lunch we headed out again. On this section, we spent some time holding onto each other canoes and just drifting while we waited for some else to be fished out of the drink. It was nice just to chill out and drift and chat.

Near miss with a tree!

Some rocky water

The sun did come out in the afternoon for a little and made all the difference. I got a bit wet in each of the rapids (Travis like to aim for the wave trains - the biggest waves - which was fun until you a re freezing after!). Anyway the heat from the sun was much appreciated!

The sun comes out.

Doesn't look like it but there was sun I promise.

The trees weren't as good as I had hoped. High winds have removed a lot of the leaves, especially the red one for some reason. (someone tried to explain but I didn't get it). But they were still pretty, especially in the sun.

Fall colors

Moody shot

And we were lucky enough to see a red-tailed hawk. This was the best shot I could get with my little waterproof. I would have loved to have had my DSLR but there was no way it was going anywhere near the water! (I didn't even ask it for the bus just in case I was tempted.)

red-tailed Hawk

The second stop was just to stretch our legs and try to scalage for a snack. Most people stayed in their canoes to avoid getting their feet wet. But mine were already wet (thanks to the amount of water now in the bottom of the canoe) so why not? A few of us went looking for pawpaws which are apparently a cross between a fig and a banana. I was very curious (they aren't sold in shops, generally scavenged from river sides, and are only available on the female version of the tree). Unfortunately it seems everyone else on the river before us had the same plan and the trees were bare. :-(

Break site.

Looking for extra layers to stay warm (Travis is the guy in red)

More fall colors

Getting out of the break site back onto the river was tricky. The water here wasn't very deep so we pretty much had to shuffle the boats along with our butts and paddles. Not the most elegant (and in fact quite comical at times) but it worked.

Some blue sky!

Of course as we got close to our takeout point (just before the bridge), the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Thankfully the last leg was uneventful (we did go through the biggest rapid and everyone got wet but no one went swimming there). Everyone was really grateful for the heat when we got out and desperate to get back to the shuttle to change into warm clothes!

Sunny at last!

In total only 3 people capsized. I was happy not to be one of them. In the summer, sure. But not in 50 F weather. It was a lovely day and I topped it off with Thai curry and R collection cab sauv wine when I got home. I'll definitely be doing more of the rec center trips in the future (one in a few weeks in fact) and certainly more of the canoeing/kayaking trips. But in the spring/summer!
Sunday was spent working. Boring but necessary. Also planning conferences and travel for next year though. So I have some fun things to look forward to! :-)