Paddle Diascund Creek/Chickahominy River 7/17/2012

17 July 2012 started out warm and slowly upped the temperature from there. Cheryl and Brian arrived at the put-in on Diascund Creek and naturally, Bill B was already there. He has the furthest to go so he makes an adventure out of it from the start. He probably passed through Norfolk for coffee, Smithfield for a b’fast ham biscuit and Richmond for a chew by the time he get to rural James City County. Bill M, Mark C. and Jeanette also made the trek to Diascund Creek. We entered at the Liberty Baptist Church on Route 60 in Lanexa. Before shoving off we first shuttled cars to the downstream takeout at Brickyard Landing off the Chickahominy River. Cheryl was nice enough to help shuttle cars before heading out line dancing. The tide was low, but it was coming in. That gave us a little water depth to enter our boats by the time we were finished with the car-shuttling. Bill B was the first to shuttle and he used his waiting time to clean the mud off a Railroad Tie that we used as our launch pad. And off we went—against the tide. The tide did not feel very strong at the end of Diascund Creek where we put in. It increased its resistance when we approached the big waters downstream near the Chickahominy River.

We meandered among lush lily pads, following the push of natures detritus downstream. We irritated a number of Great Blue Heron, a few Bald Eagles and loads of Osprey. The temperature continued to rise. The water was placid. On this day we were hoping for a summer storm—it never came, even a breeze. The paddle was uneventful—no snakes, lightning, or mishaps. We plugged along for 5 miles on Diascund Creek and 2 miles on the Chickahominy until we arrived at Rivers Rest Marina. It is a good thing the Blue Heron Restaurant has vinyl covered seats. Bill B had coached all the paddlers on how cooling it was to dip your hat in the water and soak your head. And like potatoe chips, we couldn’t settle with one. We were dripping in the restaurant. Mark had a mud extrusion that had the waitresses talking, the rest of us just looked like we had gone for a swim. We opted for the cool air conditioned comfort inside instead of the slow warm breeze of the veranda. And we ate. All good. And we stayed. Good. And then we got the nerve to venture out and finish the trip. With great Tuesday Group fortitude, no-one took the shortcut route, skipping the cut through and paddling the long reach of the river to the takeout at Brickyard Landing. The heat continued unabated and most lost their appetite. But two decided to respect tradition and headed to Handel’s Ice Creamery to celebrate survival in the heat. It topped off a good day in the outdoors with good friends. It was only 101 degrees.

Brian

P.S. I had advertised this as an 8 mile paddle for about 3.5 hours. It turns out it is 10.1 miles and it took us 4.5 hours. Details, details. Did I tell you the temperature was 101 and there was no breeze?

View (and comment upon) Bill's pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/b.billings/TuesdayJuly172012DiascundCreekChickahominyR?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2_wKj-nIXOVw&feat=email#