James River Expeditions: Wednesday, July 30th 2014 - Fort Pocahontas to Chickahominy Riverfront Park

It’s been five long days… and I can still smell the fresh tortillas! Well, safe to say, we are paddling our way on the backs of catfish down the James for our last major day of paddling. Today we were lucky enough to have pancakes that tasted like they were made fresh straight from Belgium itself! Our chefs, Dylan and JW, prepared it before our long journey to the Chickahominy River Front Park. As the day’s journey began we found ourselves much more relaxed and full of energy! Not to say it didn't have its challenges, especially navigating the strenuous and nerve shattering Temple of Doom.

Getting ready to start the day's paddle

Lot's of energy this morning!

The day's beautiful weather was definitely something to smile about

Alice took our lunch spot's name, "Dancing Point," to heart!

As we passed the ship of dreams (and it was, it really was) the Temple of Doom began on Dancing Point, an island just west of the Chickahominy. The challenge began with using a large tarp divided in five by seven squares, as each member of our community had to take a step forward not knowing whether it was the correct step or not. As Georgia became our very own Randy Jackson, giving us an uplifting yes, or an encouraging no, our river community worked not harder but smarter as we slowly began to see a pattern to the Temple of Doom. One step at a time we began to gain ground through the challenge, repeating mistakes no more than seven times. Finally through very little trial and error our wise member Dylan lead us to the final steps of the gauntlet! Looking back the Temple of Doom was more than a great game to build our team but it was also a great example of how fourteen members can communicate and come together in such an amazing way.

Nice find, Nasir!

Good food and even better company

After the Temple of Doom we made our way down the James and made our approach to our camp site. Safe to say, one of the biggest surprises to this camp site was running water! It is truly amazing how much you appreciate the small things in life when you don’t have them! After setting up camp we had a delicious meal prepared by the JRA staff. After enjoying a great meal we had the opportunity to ask them questions about not only their jobs but also future career opportunities within the environmental field and JRA community. At the end of the day we had another great time on the river and became closer as a river community, till next time stay classy San Diego.