It was a warm, slightly breezy evening with plenty of other locals also hitting the river on boards and kayaks as I loaded my kayak into the river.  I decided to head upstream to the dam and the falls since I had noticed it was looking impressive from the bridge above the last time I drove by a few days ago.

The trip started around 6:15pm on an elevated river (above 5’; lifejackets required) with a good strong current.  I hadn’t been on the James when it was at this level in years—usually it is low and slow.  I headed west, upstream against the current away from the new bridge that just opened still waters headed upstream and soon found a few places with a fairly strong current going around large rocks that were submerged, yet visible.  This was going to be a pretty good workout I thought as I plowed against the current.  Finally, I kayaked closer to shore where the water was slower and the going easier. I passed a few mallards who at first thought they might outswim me, but my pace was pretty good and they decided to slow down and let me pass before making their escape.

The breeze kicked up noticeably and with the sun reflecting off the water rather strongly, I heading slowly over to the north bank for a bit of shade and also a difference of view and sights as I usually stick to the south shore of the river.  As I got to the north bank, I was “greeted” by a few noisy Kestrels who would occasionally skim the water with their feet flying gracefully but relatively slowly amongst tree swallows and their acrobatic dives, turns, and other maneuvers.

I neared the Wiley Bridge (Parham Road, Stony Point Mall area) and swung by an island for a quick rest before proceeding to what I came for and could hear the last ¾ mile:  The James River dam and falls.  I disembarked on the south bank, met a couple of guys (regulars to the river they tell me) and rested.  I took a few photos and one video of the falls with the water churning nicely.  I bid the guys farewell and decided to get a bit closer to the falls in hopes of getting a nice push southward when I got sucked into a rip tide and was propelled closer to the falls than I wanted, but as they tell you to do in riptides, I just went with it and cut across the riptide 90 degrees and soon was in a strong outflow that gave me a nice boost away.  I few good strong paddle strokes and I was moving smartly home, passed the two guys who were slowly floating home snacking and relaxing.

I laid back and let the current take me home with a few bursts of the paddle to keep my speed up as I passed people relaxing on the shore taking advantage of the nice warm weather.  As I got closer to the landing (7:45pm) I spotted a Raccoon beginning his nocturnal forage by combing the south shore for a nice clam, crustacean or other morsel to fill his belly.

As I was got within 100 yards of the shore (starting point) the two guys that I had left at the falls slipped onto shore before me as they had been paddling hard to get back before it got dark.  I loaded up my truck and the two guys drove by with their canoe in the back of their truck and waved goodbye with a friendly “see ya later”.