Chickahominy River/Morris Creek Paddle 7/8/2014

On 8 July, 2014, the weatherman was predicting a high temperature of 99 degrees. Since a number of Tuesday Groupers have exceeded the age limit for extended exertion in an oven, there was talk of cancelling the trip on this day. But the minds of the groupers were considerable younger and thank God! Eight hardy souls ventured out to paddle and it was a perfect day. Bill B, Mark C., John F., Marsha, Jack, Buck, Gayle, and Brian arrived at Chickahominy Riverfront Park (CRP) with a nice stiff breeze blowing in the air. Jack was concerned with his shoulder freezing up on him, the waves on the River were riled by the wind and concerning everyone, so the group decided to cross the Chickahominy River and head up Morris Creek. Morris Creek provided some protection and made the paddling more pleasant. The group leisurely paddled until they came to the single put-in on the Wildlife Management Area side of the creek—the put-in we used to drive about fifteen more miles to get to before just putting in at CRP. We decided to embark to dry land for “just a minute” but the conversation lingered for about 45 minutes. We engaged in many deep topics of discussion—such as whether a vulture has an anus or just vomits its digestion, owl poop, et al—and finally decided to venture up the creek a ways to see if there was a spot for lunch. Trip leader, Brian, unbeknownst to the others was engaged in one of his directionally challenged forays of the mind. He had a picture of the “old lunch spot” in his mind but didn’t realize until about 12 hours later that his image was of a spot on another river—the Poropotank. O well, after a few miles we turned around and headed back to the single put-in and had our lunch. Again we approached the day with leisurely aplomb and a laid back lunch and a return to our deep topics of discussion. The heat was rising now and we headed off down the creek to once again cross the Chickahominy where the wind still whipped up whitecaps and got our blood flowing again. Most headed to Bruster’s for a cool down, and then home. It was a good day with friends who showed the ability to match the pace of their paddling with the pace of the day. And Bill took pictures!

Brian

View Bill's pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/117475145040031402609/albums/6034057144256237169?banner=pwa&authkey=CND77v-ujbzH8AE