Chickahominy River/Morris Creek Paddle 5/29/2012

On Tuesday, 29 May 2012, six Tuesday Groupers gathered at Chickahominy Riverfront Park with a plan to cross the Chickahominy River and paddle up the Morris Creek. It was a pleasant morning with a good breeze, the sun shining, and not too much churn on the water. Jean, Ken, Phyllis, Bill B, Jeanette, and Brian set out a little after 9:30 from the boat launch on Gordon’s Creek. Turning left to enter the Chickahominy River, they faced a stiffer wind than they felt on land. The wind was “in their face” so it made the paddling a little more of an effort. Ken was the star of this paddle. He had a brand new boat and this was his inaugural paddle in his brand new Necky kayak. We failed him though by not inspecting his gear and giving him our unvarnished advice—advice such as “Ken, where are your paddling gloves?” Ken paddled on and learned a new lesson on blisters. At least one of the group had an extra pair in their car. Whoops. But Ken took off and paddled like a pro. He was obviously comfortable in his new boat and enjoying the experience.

Not long after starting out, we passed by a Osprey nest atop a Cypress tree in the middle of Gordon’s Creek. Mom Osprey, or was it Dad, did its best to scare us away and affect the path of our paddle. Bill Billings showed that Osprey a thing or two and took his picture more than once! When we reached Morris Creek, the tide was high, so we paddled over the marsh which is inaccessible when the tide is low. This group was planning ahead in case we wanted to do a paddle to the end of Morris Creek. We didn’t. After paddling past the old put-in at the wildlife management area, at the 3.2 mile marker, we continued on for a few miles and decided to utilize the shade from a large private dock. We ate lunch in our boats under the dock. It was pleasant and the young boys fishing off the dock had a good time watching a bunch of geezers eating sardines and PBJ under their dock. I wonder what they were really thinking—was it complimentary??

We decided to backtrack and not push it this time. The weather was warming up—it was hot—and the breeze had settled down. So our return paddle was a meander. We saw a few Bald Eagles soaring, a few fish flopping , a few Osprey hunting, and a few water snakes convoluting their way across the water. But the return, again, was a meander. We were happy that the weatherman’s partial threat of a storm did not materialize. The massive cloud formations against a blue sky did provide a photographers dream background for photographer Bill B. Then it was over. After a 10.1 mile paddle we arrived at the take out, packed out, and three of the paddlers trekked to Brusters for Ice Cream. Note the capital letters for Ice Cream—that is a Tuesday Group emphasis.

A good day for paddling with good friends. It was just pleasant.

Brian

View Bill B's photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/TuesdayMay292012MorrisCreekPaddleChickahominyR?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSnkPrVwrLoyQE&feat=email#