Week 2 "All about the Whitewater"

"Great spirits are often encountered by violent opposition from mediocre minds"
~Albert Einstein~

Ain't that the truth!

   After one week on the island I was starting to feel comfortable and stronger by the day.  I had lost a lot of weight, but it worked to my advantage in some ways.  Whenever I came off the island and saw people I knew, they seemed concerned about my weight loss, so they always gave me food.  I figured because I was homeless I should just go with it, and before long my car was stocked with a weeks worth of food, spices, and all sorts of good stuff to eat.  With my strength returning and my camp completed, I was feeling good.  On top of that, it had rained, and my front yard was running, so it was time to focus on what I had come here to do.......kayak my ass off!  So that is exactly what I did.
(all photos taken by me!)

   April 7th - Journal Entry - Day 6

   "When I awoke (from a nap) it was mid afternoon and the Middle Lines were in.......it was time to do what I came here for...kayaking!  I geared up, hiked to the top of the island, and slid my boat into the river.  I wanted to boof (I will explain what that means in a later post), and the level was around 6 feet (visual estimate), making Conception prime for boofing.  I paddled across the pool and then surfed the hole for a while just above the main drop of Conception.  Conception consists of one five foot ledge that has a perfect left side launch pad, allowing you to drive hard from right to left, planting a hard right handed boof stroke, before airing it out and landing with a right edge.  My first run felt good and I nailed my boof, but wanted to stomp it.  The walk back up to run the boof again is simple and takes 30 seconds.  I did "boof laps", analyzing the move each time, trying to find the best launching point.
   

A perfect boof at Conception

   After half an hour of boofs, I decided to look at some of the lines closer to camp.  I paddled over to Deception, knowing it was at the lower end of runnable.  I love Deception when it is low.  The line is still there, but it is thin and you must be precise.  The lower water levels also allow boaters to walk back up the rocks next to LuLu, as opposed to the rocks and logs you have to climb over on river left of Deception when the water is high.  I explored the giant car sized boulders that high water had pushed into the rapids, and shuttered at the terrifying wood stuffed sieve that had lots of water pouring through it.  This section of the James is very remeniscent of the boulder choked creeks of West Virginia.  Whenever I explore the Middle Lines of the James, I think about the Upper Blackwater and how it has this same style of rapid for seven straight miles."

Boofing Deception at a good flow

   The next exert from my journal is pretty funny, but I will warn you, it involves poop and doing something I normally don't do on the river, but sometimes, well, shit happens....literally.

   "After about three runs of Deception and some exploring of the boulders, I started looking at the low water line of LuLu, called Slick as a Whistle.  While doing so the beans and ravioli from the previous nights dinner hit me in the form of a four pound brick in my bowels.  There was no time to paddle back to camp, so I decided that pooping in the sieve was appropriate.  I tore off my dry top and pulled down my union suit.  I then squatted down, held onto a log, and dropped four pounds of pure evilness into that nasty little bitch of a sieve.  Then I proceeded to use the flowing water from the sieve to wash my backside European style (you know, like those funny little toilets that squirt water up in the air) which also solved the need for toilet paper.  I pulled my union suit up to my waist, and sat down shirtless in the afternoon sun.  I was proud of my accomplishment, despite the fact I had just pooped in the river.  I thought about naming the sieve after the experience, but got distracted when I realized that the hardest line on the James was in fact called 'The Poop Shoot'.  It is now my goal to go and poop in 'The Poop Shoot'. (which I accomplished on day 23.  WINNING!)  

   I decided against running 'Slick as a Whistle' because I was alone and the line had the need for safety.  I paddled up river and around the island of boulders between LuLu and Triple Drop, and turned down Triple Drop to head home.  I love the fact that my road home for the next six months consists of whitewater instead of asphalt.  I knew the boof at Triple was too low, but ran it anyway and landed hard on the rock below.  I then paddled up to the takeout beach, walked up the trail to camp, and leaned my boat against the tree holding my dry line.  I took off my gear, hung it out to dry, and hung my union suit up.  Then I walked to my lookout at camp and sat down in my camp chair, naked as a jay bird.  There I sat, in all my glory in the afternoon sun, looking out over the James and the skyline of RVa........I was home."

   "The song of a river ends not at her banks but in the hearts of those who have loved her"

~Buffalo Joe~

Always has been and always will be one of my favorite quotes.

   Living within the whitewater of the James truly is a unique experience.  As I stated in my first blog, there is only one other place I would rather be, and I can't be there, so I am glad I am here.  Since moving to the island, my ex-wife has cut all communication between me and my children.  I do not know why.  I assume she does not approve of what I am doing, but this experience is something similar to the dreams we used to share together, so I can only hope that deep down she respects me for the decision.  I hope she is just as confused as I am, because I don't want to think that she is making this decision with a clear mind.  So Marcelle, if you are reading this then I want you to know that I think about the boys all the time, and long for the day you will one day let me be a part of their lives again.  I can never afford the lifestyle you expect me to provide you with, and I do not hate you for your decisions, I simply cannot understand why you have decided to do what you have done.  I made many poor decision in the past, but this choice is not one of them.  I hope one day you can see that.

My boys and I.  I miss them every moment of every day.

   Kayaking is about so much more than the adrenaline rush of the rapids.  It is about the river, nature, the undiscovered places of our environment, and the ability to escape the world we are consumed by, if only for a few moments.  Go to the river and sit at the banks, and listen to the sounds of the rapids.  They will tell you more than you know, and they may even help you find a piece of yourself that at one time you had lost.  I lost it all, and the more I listen to the river, the more I learn about myself.  That is why I am here.  Kayaking is a means to my life now.  I no longer paddle simply for recreation, I paddle for survival.  I paddle to make it home, and I paddle because it is all that I know.  I leave you with a piece of writing that encompasses the experience of being on the island, and the reason this river will allows flow through my soul.

April 12th - Journal Entry - Day 11

   "I am sitting on the top, or Western Tip of the island.  Ahead of me the sun is setting behind the Manchester and Belvidere bridges.  The light is bouncing off the spray from 2nd Break rapid, and the fading clouds from the mornings front are dark pink and blue with silver linings as the race across the sky.  To the North, the massive skyline of the city looks out over the the river as a soft evening glow reflects off the the skyscrapers.  To the south, the James River Flood Wall snakes it's way up the bank, cutting off the river to the outside world.  The rapids wrap around the top of the island on both sides of me, and in the distance, one lone kayaker paddles toward Pipeline.  I can see the cars crossing the bridges, and see people taking walks on Brown's Island to the Northwest, but the sounds of the rapids drown out every bit of noise from the city.  Although I sit in the middle of a major city, I am alone, isolated from every bit of modern society, with nothing more than a pen, journal, and kayak to guide me towards my future."  

   Stay safe this week, and do something epic............go forth and be a force of the awesome.  See ya on the rivah!

I truly love this river!