Strokes of Heat

Relaxation

Day 18, July 12th

Last night was the hottest night for us. With little breeze and humid temperatures we knew today would be much like the night before. In preparation for ten miles of flat water, we made sure hydration was top priority. Not far into our day we met up with VCU students Ben White, Nicole Hill, Andrew Breth, Justin Bond, and Gabriel Mormile working on an environment sustainability project. The students were a group of engineers and an art major who were led by their professor, Ramana Pidaparti, to create fun board games about the James River. Due to the harsh temperatures we felt out of our element and indulged ourselves in an increased amount of paddle splashing between canoes which resulted in many soaking wet, yet happy, VCU students.

After dropping off the students about four miles down the stretch, we were ready to get off the water and away from vast amounts of motorboats. We also took the time to take a break from the heat. As we’ve become accustomed to mountain streams and a river surrounded by trees on both sides, we experienced a huge change of scenery as we entered the Richmond area around Bosher’s dam.  Mansions were set upon eroded banks on each side and wakes from motorized boats rocked the underside of our canoes. For the first time we felt out of place being in our much loved canoes. Very close to being at camp we stumbled upon a kayaker who had been following our blog, he called us celebrities which we were pleased to hear. Once we approached Bosher’s dam, we unpacked our canoes and were ready to portage our gear to the campsite.

Once arriving not only were we thrilled to sleep in a pavilion for the night, we were especially excited to have Ralph White, manager of the James River Park System, at our camp to prepare us for our time in Richmond and teach us about the differing wildlife in the area. To prepare for our big day in the city tomorrow we closed` up our day, all extremely eager to explore Richmond, meet our good friends at Dominion, and finally enter the tidal James.

By Caleigh Remocaldo and Isaiah Ralph

Bosher's Dam

Mansions